Matt Wearn claims silver at 2020 Laser World Championships
Matt Wearn has claimed the silver medal for the third year in a row at the Laser World Championships, with a strong final day in the medal races.
The 2020 World Championships, held in Melbourne, Victoria as part of a month-long festival of sailing that also included the Australian Championships and Sail Melbourne, incorporating the Oceania Championships.
Wearn, the first Western Australian athlete selected in the Australian Olympic Team for the Tokyo Olympic Games again showed his class as one of the best and most consistent sailors in the world, finishing on the podium for the fourth time in four years.
“I’m a little bit disappointed not to be on the top step but Philipp clearly out sailed me this week. This regatta sets us up well for Tokyo. We’ll go home and sort a few things out and iron out the creases to be ready and fighting for the Olympics in five months,” said Wearn.
“It’s been a windy regatta throughout which our boys have loved and hated,” said Australian Sailing Team Head Laser Coach Michael Blackburn. “We know Wearn has some things he can still work on. We are still encouraged ahead of the games that he will do really well.”
Despite inconsistent winds Wearn produced strong performances across the three days of qualifying, with his 11th in the final race dropped to give him 16 net points. The top seven sailors were separated by just 12 points ahead of the gold fleet with Wearn in fourth and fellow WAIS sailor Luke Elliott in fifth.
The first day of gold fleet racing on Friday was abandoned due to lack of wind. The day off the water certainly did not hinder Wearn with a fourth, eight and second place finishes among winds of 20-25 knots moving him up to third and closing in on Germany Philipp Buhl who had led from the opening day.
Second in the first race of the final day earn further closed to the gap to Buhl. A ninth place that was his low drop and sixth in the last race moved Wearn up to silver on a net of 38 points, 12 shy of newly crowned world champion Philipp Buhl.
Wearn adds world championship silver to his Australian and Oceania titles in a strong start to 2020.
A tough final day for Elliott saw him drop to finish seventh, a still impressive performance by the rising talent and a major improvement on his 38th finish a year ago.
“I made a few poor choices in the second race and ended up back in the pack,” said Elliott. “Luckily in the last race I managed to find my way to the top which helped me to consolidate seventh overall. I want to get home and recover. I’ve been trying to deal with an injury all week which has been interesting. Hopefully we can get that sorted as soon as possible and get ready for Europe.”