Rechichi and Parkinson Return to Racing
The 470 State Championships were held over the weekend out of WAIS sailing program partner Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, with the highlight being the return to racing of Gold Medallists Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson.
Even though it was a small fleet, the quality was there, with Rechichi and Parkinson coming back and winning the event. It was their first regatta since the Olympic Games and was an important step in getting back into training and racing in preparation for the World Championships in Denmark in August.
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Fellow WAIS sailors Stacey Omay and Chelsea Hall struggled on the first day after the former had spent a week in bed with the flu since returning to Perth from Europe. Their great final race in Kiel has given them confidence and they sailed well on Sunday to climb up to second overall.
In Europe, the WAIS sailors have made some gains, with the Finn Gold Cup finishing a day ago.
Tim Castles competed in his first Finn World Championship and made marked improvements throughout the regatta. Castles had a tough first day, but with great help from the Australian Sailing Team coach Mike Fletcher he worked through the basics and improved.
Castles finished 50th out of 87 sailors, with WAIS sailing coach Belinda Stowell commenting that it was a solid result.
“Tim still needs to gain weight and strength for this class so it is a good result for the early stages,” she said.