WAIS Sailing Update: Champions for 2009/10
December and January is traditionally a busy time for those in the sailing community and as Perth 2011 edges closer this has definitely been the case for the WAIS sailing squad. WAIS Sailing Head Coach Belinda Stowell reports from Adelaide on the latest athletes to be crowned national champions:-
It has been a very dynamic December and January with National Championships in most classes, a World Championship for the 49er class and a World Cup event where the WAIS sailors have done very well.
The depth in the classes has increased, especially in the Youth categories, where we have more sailors in the top 3, but there were a few who lost on countback, and coming second by close margins is always a tough result to celebrate!
Preparation was positive at the World Cup event, Sail Melbourne where WAIS and WA sailors were on the podium or close to it : Chelsea Hall and Stacey Omay in the Womens 470 – silver, Tim Castles in the Finn – Bronze, Tim Gourlay on RSX, Silver, Tristan Brown in Laser radial – 4th and Eamon Robertshaw 1st in Youth RSX.
Early January was the start of the 49er World Championships in the Bahamas. It was the 2nd Worlds in the class for both Steven Thomas and Luke Parkinson, but their first together as team. They sailed well with a good first day ensuring they were in line for Gold fleet qualification. The Gold fleet finals were tougher, but they finished well to move up a few spots to place 21st overall and 3rd placed Australian. 2009 World Champions, and AST members from NSW, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen finished 2nd overall.
Back in Australia, National Championships and selection trials for Youth World Championships have been the main topics for the last week!
In Sorrento, Melbourne in the 470, Chelsea Hall and Stacey Omay are the 2009/2010 Womens’ 470 National Champions.They finished 4th in the mixed fleet racing, behind 2008 Gold Medallist Malcolm Page and his helm Mathew Belcher who won all the races! The girls sailed well to finish 3rd Australian boat overall.
In the Finn class, Tim Castles had a poor start to the regatta, but improved throughout, finishing 6th overall with Olympian Anthony Nossiter winning the title again.
In the Youth classes, it was a busy time. Most classes had their National titles followed closely by the Australian Youth Nationals. The combination of both events made up the qualification, and in the event of a tie, those winners at the Youth Nationals prevail for qualification for the Youth Worlds team.
They were all held in Adelaide and there was no shortage of heat – in competition and weather!
Eamon Robertshaw on the windsurfer, the Bic Techno, won the Youth Nationals and his place on the National Youth Team travelling to the Youth World Championships in Turkey in July. He will now step up to the RSX and compete on the Olympic equipment for the Championships. It is a bigger sail and board, so his programme is exciting as he aims to improve his strength and power for the RSX.
The 420’s were a close fought battle in both the men and women, where WA and Queensland were fighting for selection. Matt Jerwood and Patrick Vos after a year of juggling study for year 12 and sailing, had a tough game to play. They improved with more racing, and sailed really well on the last day of the Nationals to win and become the 2009/2010 National Champions.
Their training partners, Carrie Smith and Ella Clark won and are the Womens Youth National Champions, after beating the Queensland girls on a countback.
The Youth Nationals followed, and were held during the Adelaide heat wave. 43 Degrees of heat has a big effect on the breeze, and it was a very light wind regatta for them, with no racing on the last day.
The boys stumbled a little on the last legs of racing, giving some valuable points to their opponents. These points cost them, losing to the Queensland boys who sailed consistently well throughout. This loss cost the WAIS boys the spot on the National Youth team.
Ella and Carrie also lost on a countback to Queensland. This was a steep learning curve, but at 13 and 14 years old, it is a great result and they will gain from this in the future.
These results are slightly down on the wins, but encouraging for WA and WAIS to have both teams so close and we can see a strong future for the 420’s as WA won the team trophy for the best performing state.
Nationals in the Laser class were also in Adelaide. Ryan Hannan did not compete in the Nationals this year due to personal circumstances.
In the Laser Radial, Tristan Brown finished 4th overall, and 2nd Australian, losing on countback with the laser scoring system focusing on qualifying series not finals.
Mark Whittington who sailed really well in finals was also seen to drop places after having to count a poor result in qualification, and not gain from his very well sailed final series. Mark finished 7th overall and 4th Australian. The Youth Nationals proved a big test for Mark with light winds demanding of his 190cm frame. His training partner, fellow Fremantle Sailing Club member with a bright future, Mat Wearn finished 2nd overall. Mark Spearman, another young developing laser sailor from Fremantle Sailing Club won the 4.7 laser class and qualified for the Youth Olympics in Singapore later this year.
It has been a great summer of competition for sailing, and the WAIS sailors are all showing marked improvements in their racing and regatta management. We have 3 more summer months of great sailing to take advantage of which will be exciting.
Many thanks to all who have supported the WAIS program, including ProChoice, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, Yachting WA and Yachting Australia, with particular thanks and congratulations to the coaching team who support me. Dave Mann worked with the 49ers, Arthur Brett with the Lasers, boards and 420’s and Peter Vos with the boards. They support me incredibly well and with such a big programme, it is invaluable to have such a great team to work with.
Thanks again to all, and I wish you great winds for 2010!
Regards
Belinda