Australia’s Sonar Crew in Medal Hunt at World Champs in Medemblik
WAIS sailors Colin Harrison and Russell Boaden, along with crewmate Jonathon Harris currently occupy fifth spot at the 2016 Para World Sailing Championships in the Netherlands.
In light of this year’s Paralympic Games in Rio, the 2016 World Championships have been shifted to run in conjunction with the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, a venue that Australia’s sonar crew have enjoyed medal winning success at in the past.
Harrison, Boaden and Harris made a bright start to racing, despite dull and cold conditions to finish third and second in their opening two races, before slipping back on day two, with 12th and fourth place efforts.
Their scorecard currently reads 21 points, with the US crew leading sway on 14 points, ahead of Great Britain (16pts) and Germany (17pts).
Harrison – who skippers the Australian sonar crew – said they would be looking to get the most out of this regatta in terms of competition and race experience.
“It’s exciting to be back in Medemblik. We’ve had some good results here in the past. The weather today just seems to be typical cold wild weather off the North Sea but at least it’s not raining. Every regatta has some significance in value – it’s just a case of getting out there, enjoying the experience and learning.”
The Australians have already qualified their boat for Rio and are expected to be announced as the three-man crew to contest to the sonar event in Rio in September.
In other sailing news:
WAIS scholarship athlete Matt Wearn upstaged Australia’s Olympic selected laser sailor Tom Burton when he finished fourth ahead of his AST teammate Tom Burton at the Laser World Championships in Mexico.
Wearn’s sixth place in today’s first race looked promising for a podium finish; however, Dutchman Ruter Van Schaardenburg made a last minute dash for the Bronze in the final race of the regatta, winning race 14 and moving up into third place overall just two points clear of Wearn on the overall leaderboard.
“We saw some big left shifts today that we haven’t seen for the past two weeks,” said Wearn at the conclusion of racing. “It made racing extremely difficult. I sailed well in the first race to give myself a nice buffer going in to the final race; but didn’t get the shifts right in the final race and made some big errors.
“All-in-all I’m happy with the result. It has been a tough week both mentally and physically. I’m extremely happy to get another solid result at a world championship and even though I may not be going to the Games it’s nice to take something out from the year and show my potential.”
Fellow WAIS scholarship athletes Luke Elliott and Mark Spearman were also in action, finishing 42nd and 48th respectively.