Smith Makes Steady Start at 470 Worlds
Rio Olympic hopeful Carrie Smith has made a steady start to the 470 World Sailing Championships in San Isidro, Argentina.
Smith, competing with her crew Jaime Ryan (QLD) currently hold 18th position at the close of day three, following four completed races.
The Australian pair, can secure Olympic selection with a top six finish, whilst an appearance in the top ten medal race would also go a long way to consolidating their nomination credentials.
A tough start to proceedings saw the duo record a 28th place finish in the first race, which they have dropped (each competing crew can cancel one result from their overall score).
This was followed by an encouraging eighth place finish in the second race, before a 19th position effort in the sole race on day two and a 23rd position finish on day three, left them with an accrued 50 points and 18th overall ranking at the mid-way point.
The scoring system follows a theme similar to golf, in that points are attributed to your fleet position. The objective is to tally the fewest points, in order to hold the strongest ranking.
The Australians are currently 26 points adrift of the Spanish pair in 10th place, meaning they will need some strong results at the front of the fleet in coming days, in order to fight their way into the concluding medal round (top ten) at the business end of the Championships.
Smith and Ryan have qualified Australia’s boat for competition at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and currently hold the highest international ranking of any Australian women’s 470 crew.
The 2016 470 Sailing World Championships in Argentina run until Saturday, 27 February.