WAIS Sailing News
Boat Class Championships have been dominating the sailing landscape in recent times, with WAIS athlete Matt Wearn currently tackling the Laser class European Championships, whilst Olympian Tessa Parkinson prepares to depart for the 49er World Championships in France.
Wearn is one of four Australians competing at the 2013 Laser World Championships in Ireland, and has moved himself into 18thposition after three days’ racing.
At 17 years of age, Wearn is considered one of Australian sailing’s brightest prospects, in a sport that alone as Australia’s most successful at last year’s London Olympic Games. He has medalled at world cup events and has been ranked at his zenith in the world’s top five.
Another WAIS athlete set for a busy competition schedule is 2008 Beijing Olympic Champion Tessa Parkinson. Parkinson won gold in the women’s 470 class in China alongside fellow West Australian Elise Rechichi. Parkinson has since switched to the 49er class that will feature in Olympic class for the first time in Rio 2016.
Parkinson will join another Western Australian talent in Chelsea Hall, with the pair embarking on their first World Championships journey together later this month in Marseille, France. David Gilmour is currently in Europe match racing and will join them as he contests the men’s 49er competition.
On the domestic front, Lachy Gilmour has taken a new path towards his youth sailing and is now up crewing for Emerson Carlberg.
2012 Youth World Champion Mark Spearman is currently working closely with WAIS strength and conditioning coach Greg Morgan in an attempt to add muscle mass as he prepares for the shift to senior ranks in the Laser Standard, from the Laser Radial.