Season’s Greetings was the theme at day two of Sail Melbourne International 2018, with sailors battling the elements of sun, rain, not enough and then too much wind on Port Phillip today. The day started out with a light breeze, which quickly died down, before it picked-up again later in the day before the day finished with an approaching rain front.

The focus of day two of the four-day Olympic and Invited class regatta were the fleets that did not get any racing in on the first day, with the 49er, 49erFX and 29er making the most of the opportunity of three races on Friday.

Australian Sailing Team’s David Gilmour (WA) and Lachlan Gilmour (WA) had a mixed day winning the second race of the day and finishing third and second in the other two races to finish in second overall.

“It was finally good to get out and do some sailing, we had some really nice southerly conditions for about an hour and a half or two hours and got through three races. We had mixed results, but it was good racing with the other guys,” David Gilmour said.

Leading the 49er fleet after three races are Jim Colley (NSW) and Shaun Connor (NSW), who won the first and last race of the day and finished fourth in the second.    

“After missing yesterday’s racing it was great to get out there, we sailed out in champagne conditions, ten knots, sunny, it was beautiful, and then a couple of clouds came in from different directions, which made the course fairly interesting. Then halfway through the last race, unfortunately we were laying the top mark from the start, and then this big storm came in and we rounded the bottom mark and kept going and headed home,” was how Colley explained the events of the day.

“It is a great fleet, with a lot of good Aussie boats here on the start line. It’s also great to sit on the start line with the FXs, which makes it exciting – at least for us. I think the FXs might not enjoy it as much as we do, but it means that we have about 25 boats on the start line, which is what we get in Europe” Colley said about the mixed 49er and 49erFX fleet.

Australia Sailing Squad’s Tess Lloyd (VIC) and Jaime Ryan (QLD) are leading the women’s 49erFX and posted a first, seventh and third.

Locals Laura Harding and Laura Thompson are sitting in sixth place after their first day of racing and are enjoying the opportunity to get out there and race.

“I feel like we’ve learnt a lot from Sail Sydney, and are really working on the things that we have improved on, Laura Harding said. “The FX Worlds are in February in Geelong at the start of 2020, so we are really looking forward to that. It is just across the bay, so we will travel down there, do some training and keep working on our goals.”

Australia Sailing Team’s Matt Wearn (WA) won the one and only Laser race of the day, with New Zealander Sam Meech leading the fleet after a first and second on day one and a third place today.  

“We had a late start today starting at three in the afternoon as there was not much wind before that, so we got quite lucky that we could come down and just head out racing and get the best of the breeze. I seemed to enjoy the conditions a little bit more than I did yesterday and got the race win which is nice, but a big storm was coming over the back of the city so that cut things short and we ended up only getting one race in.” Wearn said.

In the Nacra 17 two races were completed in light conditions earlier in the day with Jake Liddell (NSW) and Emma Jones (NSW) winning the last race of the day. After five races Victorians Tayla Rietman and Lachlan White lead the fleet.

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“Conditions were good today and it was good training for us. Racing is pretty tight and we are all still quite new to the class, so it is a great training regatta for all of us. We didn’t really set a goal in terms of points or leader board, we just want to improve in all aspects of the racing,” Liddell said.

In the Invited classes the OK Dinghy and WAZSPs joined the racing action with racing cut short due an approaching storm front. The WAZSP class is making its debut at Sail Melbourne with the class continuously growing in popularity around the country.

“The Waszp is a fairly new class and the first time we are sailing it at Sail Melbourne, which is exciting. It’s a class that is growing very quickly, we have more than 100 boats across the country and 700 hundred worldwide, so this is a really good event in the lead up to our worlds in Perth in about four weeks’ time,” Jack Felsenthal (VIC) explained. Felsenthal is leading the fleet after a first and second place in the two races of the day.

With a mix of Olympic and Invited class sailing, Sail Melbourne International offers a great opportunity for Australia’s up and coming sailing talent and the young champions of the future to mix it up with the national and international champions of today, especially when your goal is to become an Olympic sailor.

Olympic laser sailing is the goal of Northern Territory’s only representative at Sail Melbourne, Aden McGrath, who is sailing in the Youth feeder class, the Laser 4.7. Coming from sunny Darwin, McGrath was enjoying the sun on day two, after a rainy and challenging day one and posted a strong ninth place.

“It’s pretty exciting to be here because I haven’t really done many things in the Laser and this is only my second laser competition. I am pretty light still, so I am just going to try and do my best, but I’m thinking of doing Olympics one day,” the 14-year old said about his goals.

“Yesterday it was bit hairy and there were lots of big waves and lots of wind and it wasn’t heaps of fun, because it rained a lot, but today there’s lots of sun, just like in Darwin,” McGrath added about the conditions.

“In Darwin conditions are shifty and gusty and the waves are smaller, they are choppier, but not as big as here. At least there are no crocodiles here. At home we occasionally get called off the water during the race because a croc has been spotted, and then coach boats have to chase it off, which is exciting,” McGrath explained the challenges of racing up North.

Daniel Costandi (NSW) is leading the Laser 4.7 posting two bullets across the two days of racing. Brooke Wilson (NSW) is ranked second, while Evie Saunders (NSW) is sitting third.

2018 Sail Melbourne International also includes the inaugural Australian Para-sailing Championships and after racing was cancelled on day one, all classes managed to get two races in on Friday.

2018 World Para-sailing Champion in the Hansa 303 Chris Symonds (TAS) won both races of the day with the lighter winds suiting his abilities, ahead of South Australian Bob Schahinger in second. Victorian Alison Weatherly finished third and was the second ranked para-sailor, first Hansa 303 female. Colin and Bradley Alderton had two bullets in the Hansa 303 Double.

"This is the inaugural Para Championships which is really special. I've been sailing in paras for four years now, we've been competing overseas and did really well so it's lovely to come back home and be able to compete in para nationals in Australia,” Symonds said about the first-time event.

“It's a mixed fleet and everyone is looking forward to 2020 even though they are not eligible for the Paralympic Games. I am a world champion but in a strong wind my body is not so strong. I won the world championship in a lighter wind, so Melbourne will be a challenge for me." Symonds said.

Local Royal Brighton Yacht Club sailor Neil Patterson is leading the para-sailing results in the 2.4mR after winning the second race of the day and despite an OCS in the first race. Overall leader in the mixed fleet is Michael Leydon (ACT).

In a tight Skud18 fleet Queenslanders Ross Mannings and Maximillion Quan are leading the fleet after a second and a first in the two races today. Matt Speakman and Emma Bailie won the first race of the day and came home with a third in the second to move into second place. Neil Rowsthorn and Peter Shepherd are ranked third after a third and second place.

Racing continues tomorrow, Saturday, 15 December with a full schedule of three to four races across the classes.

Racing at Sail Melbourne International runs from Thursday, 13 December to Sunday, 16 December 2018 with 375 competitors from 18 countries contesting the event.

See results here: http://bit.ly/SailMelb18Results

ABOUT SAIL MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL

Sail Melbourne is Australia’s premier Olympic and Invited Classes Regattas, held annually in the waters of Port Phillip, Victoria and is the largest annual ‘Off the Beach’ regatta in the southern hemisphere. The regatta has attracted the best of the best in the Olympic, para-sailing and Youth classes.

Less than two years out from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and with Victoria hosting a series of the World Sailing Olympic qualifying regattas next “2020 Summer of Sailing”, Sail Melbourne International is a welcome opportunity for domestic and international sailors alike to test Port Phillip’s waters.

The world-class regatta this year also features the inaugural Australian Para-sailing Championships

Sail Melbourne International is World Sailing 100 points graded Olympic sailing events and as such are ranked as major international events on the World Sailing event calendar.

See entries here: http://www.sailmelbourne.com.au/competitors/

Follow results here: http://bit.ly/SailMelb18Results

Follow Sail Melbourne International #sailmelbourne:

Website: www.sailmelbourne.com.au

Facebook: @SailMelbourne

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Twitter: @sailmelb

Photo Credit: Beau Outteridge