WAIS Sailors in Action
It is competition time for athletes in the WAIS sailing program, with the National Championships for many classes being held over December in the Christmas and New Year period.
Last week Sail Sydney was the first regatta on the east coast for much of the WAIS squad. In the 470 class Stacey Omay and Chelsea Hall finished second overall to Shane Hughes and Felix Paterson from South Australia, a result WAIS Head Coach Belinda Stowell believes will kick start a successful summer period.
“The second place finish was a good start for their summer season and they are showing improvements in their racing approach and management,” said Stowell. “In amongst the men’s teams they showed great promise again with a couple of first places and sailed well on the last day to move up a spot and take second place overall.”
Tim Lynch is sailing with Tristan Brown, who has stepped out of the Laser class and into the 470 class to try his hand at sailing with a crew.
“They are going well with some good race results towards the end of the regatta, and improving as Tristan manages to get familiar with the controls and gear changes, and Tim settles in with the new combination,” said Stowell.
Luke Parkinson and Steven Thomas, in the 49er class have been training regularly with teams from NSW and Victoria since the Australian Sailing Development Squad camp in Hamilton Island in November. Both men are showing improvements in their race management and 49er sailing skills.
They finished fifth at Sail Sydney behind a strong lead from Great Britain, and Olympian Nathan Outteridge and his crew.
Tom Johnson and Rees Howell have been steadily improving in their racing and skills and are great training partners for the WAIS team.
Ryan Hannan in the Laser class had some good racing on Sydney Harbour with three finishes inside the top 10 to hold onto a top 20 finish. Hannan claimed 19th position and was fourth of the Australians competing.
Racing on the last day was tough with 22 knots and the fitness was a big test going into the last race. The same applied for Mark Whittington who raced in his first laser regatta nationally, and after winning Sail Sydney last year in the 420 class, was keen to compete again on the harbour. He sailed well with consistent scores in the top five, but the last day was a tough one for the hiking sailor, where he dropped a few places but learnt a lot. Whittington will be contesting the Youth Worlds selection in January.
Sail Melbourne and the International Classes regatta from Royal Freshwater Bay yacht club are the next events on the horizon, and as always wais.org.au is the best place to get the latest news.