WAIS Sailors Compete at European Champs
A group of WAIS sailing athletes are currently involved at the 49er and 49erFX European Championships in Denmark.
After shifty conditions made for a long day on the water at the start f competition, Wednesday improved condition wise, allowing the fleets to complete a full quota of races in Aarhus.
Olivia Price and WAIS athlete Caitlin Elks are the top placed Australian crew in the 49erFX fleet, ending the day in 10th overall.
Price and Elks crossed the line fourth in race one and fifth in race two, before finishing 20thin the final race of the day.
One place behind is fellow Australians Ella Giudice and Kate Lathouras, with the fellow Western Australian Institute of Sport pair finishing with a 26th, an 11th and a 23rd on Wednesday.
Haylee Outteridge and Nina Curtis currently sit 20th overall after a mixed day on the water. Outteridge and Curtis suffered gear breakage in the opening race, forcing them to retire, but after some repairs finished the day with a pair of 21sts.
Beijing 2008 470 gold medallist Tessa Parkinson (WAIS) and new crew Chelsea Hall (WAIS) are in 24th position, following a sixth, a 24th and a 30th.
The three 49er fleets all managed to complete four races on Wednesday, with plenty of movement up and down the leader board.
Will Phillips and Rhys Mara ended the day as the top placed Australian crew, currently in 20th position. Phillips and Mara began the day with a third, before finishing with a 12th, a 19th and an 11th.
“It was a pretty difficult day for us,” said Phillips. “We had a decent result in the first race but struggled in the next three, we found it a little hard to find ourselves a lane on the racetrack.
“But we ended up with four decent results and have qualified for the gold fleet, it should be a good day of racing tomorrow,” he said.
The 91 49er crews will now split into gold, silver and bronze fleets for the final series with the top 31 boats qualifying for the finals.
New Queensland 49er crew Joel Turner and Lewis Brake took the last place in the finals series after moving up from their overnight 39th to be 31stoverall.
Turner and Brake had four good results on Wednesday, finishing with an 11th, a ninth, an 18th and a sixth to qualify for their first gold fleet in just their second 49er regatta together.
WAIS athlete David Gilmour and Sam Phillips finished the qualification series in 38th, with Luke Parkinson and Fang Warren 46th.
Peter Kendall and Harry Bethwaite are in 54th, ahead of George Davies and Jack Lloyd who are 63rd.
Meanwhile in Brest, France, the 2013 RS:X European Championships entered their second day of competition.
Australia’s Joanna Sterling ended day two 15th in the women’s fleet following a pair of 28ths and a 10th, with fellow Australian Paris Stowell currently in 37th.
In the youth event Annalise Gilbert finished with a 41st, a 21stand a 35th to be 27th overall in the women’s fleet, with Jock Calvert currently 49th in the youth men’s category.
Racing continues in Denmark for the 49er and 49erFX fleets on Thursday, while in France the RS:X competitors have a rest day.
Full results from the 49ers can be found here, the 49erFX hereand the RS:X here.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.auand follow the Team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.
– YachtingAustralia