It was a challenging day three (Wednesday, 14 October 2015) at the 470 World Championships in Haifa Israel with light and tricky winds resulting in several postponements and a tough race course.
Defending World Champions Mat Belcher (QLD) and Will Ryan (QLD) struggled in the light conditions and an upset in the first race of the day (race six) pushed them to a 22nd finish, following up with a 15th in race seven. As a consequence they had to hand over the lead to Croatians Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic, with eleven points separating the two crews and tied on points with third place.
“It was a tough day on the water for our team. When you are up against the best and in tricky conditions, I guess you know your turn will always come with the good and the bad,”, Will Ryan said. “We are sailing quite well, but unfortunately today we didn’t quite get the opportunities we needed, and that is certainly part of racing.
“Light winds, short choppy waves, and big variations in pressure made the course a tactical battlefield and I’m sure most teams would agree they had some zero to hero moments and vice versa. Tomorrow is another day with two races, and the event is far from over – it’s just getting interesting,” he added with a smile.
Two days of final series remain to regain points before the top ten, double points Medal Race on Saturday, 17 October.
In the women’s 470 Carrie Smith (WA) and Jaime Ryan (QLD) had a strong first race of the day finishing eighth, but with both Australian crews suffering a black flag disqualification in the second race they now sit in 20th (Smith/Ryan) and 30th (Ryan/Catt).
In the Silver fleet (31-59) of the men’s 470 Australian Sailing Squad’s Angus Galloway (QLD) and Joshua Dawson (NSW) posted a fourth place in the first race of the day, followed by a 27th and now sit in overall 46th. Patrick and Alexander Conway (NSW) are ranked 48th.
Two races are scheduled in both the women and men’s fleets for Thursday, 15 October 2015. The women will be first at 13:00 local time (21:00 AEDT) and the men following after.
2015 470 World Championship Format
Racing for the world’s best Olympic 470 class sailors got underway on Monday 12 October in the coastal city of Haifa, with a qualifying and final series for the 470 Men who are split into two fleets for the 11 races followed by the Medal Race for the top ten teams. The 470 Women races a single series of 10 races before the top ten advance to the Medal Race on Saturday 17 October.
For more event information see here: http://2015worlds.470.org/en/default/races/race
Results: http://2015worlds.470.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall
2015 470 World Championships Australian Sailing Team & Australian Sailing Squad current standings:
Men’s Two Person Dingy – 470M
– Mathew Belcher (QLD/QAS) & Will Ryan (QLD/QAS) – AST: 1, 1, 1, 2, 10, 22, 15 – 2nd
– Alexander Conway (NSW) & Patrick Conway (NSW) – ASS: 18, 13, 18, 27, 26, 15, 19 – 48th
– Angus Galloway (QLD/QAS) & Joshua Dawson (NSW) – ASS: 22, 23, 9, 27, 22, 4, 27 – 46th
Women's Two Person Dinghy – 470W
– Carrie Smith (WA/WAIS) & Jaime Ryan (QLD/QAS) – ASS: 17, 11, 19, 38, 8, BFD – 20th
– Sasha Ryan (QLD/QAS) & Amelia Catt (TAS/TIS) –ASS: (33), 24, 13, 8, 36, BFD – 30th
