Sailing athlete Matt Wearn has taken third place at the 2017 Delta Lloyd Regatta in the Netherlands.
The 21 year-old finished behind champion Elliot Hansen of Great Britain and US competitor Charlie Buckingham.
The result will feel like something of a missed opportunity for Wearn, who was forced to include a 25th place finish in race five after following up with a blag flag in race six. The points subsequently accrued, meant he settled for third step on the podium rather than challenging for the win.
Fellow WA sailor Luke Elliott slipped from early contention to finish the regatta in 15th place.
As the first major regatta for the Laser squad, Australian Sailing Laser coach Michael Blackburn was pleased with his squad’s performance and noted significant improvements across the board in light conditions.
“We had some really good light winds for four of the races in the regatta, the sort of conditions we don’t get much of back in Australia, so the experience with starting and working with strategy in those conditions was very valuable,” Blackburn said.
The Australian Sailing Laser Squad will now return to Australia for a training camp before heading to Japan at the end of June.
In the laser radial class, emerging WA athletes Zoe Thomson and Elyse Ainsworth have finished 37th and 49th respectively whilst both enjoying the opportunity to race against a higher class of competition experience.
