Racing began over the weekend at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Buzios, Brazil, with Sydney cousins Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin leading the charge for the OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Sailing Team.
The Hobie 16 crew had the perfect day on the water with two race victories from two starts to lead the fleet at the end of day one, with the South African crew in second and Dutch pairing in third.
“We couldn't have had a better day out there than we did today,” said Darmanin. “The conditions varied with the first race very windy and bumpy and the second quite shifty so it was nice to see that we were consistent across all conditions.”
“So far we've been able to execute everything we've trained for back at home but it's still early days yet,” she said.
Skipper Jason Waterhouse said the pair took a lot out of the first day of competition in Brazil.
“Days like today are just the way we like it,” he said. “We had big swells and medium winds but after a few days here we knew what to expect out there.”
“The plan is to go out and do the same thing again tomorrow and keep treating it like any other regatta,” he said.
In the Laser Radial fleets Curtis Skinner had a mixed day and is sitting in 31st in the boys class while Ashley Stoddart picked up a fourth placing to finish the day tenth in the girls fleet.
“I'm really happy with where I'm sitting after day one,” said Stoddart. “If you look at the results everyone had a good and a bad race so I can't complain.”
Adelaide's Lauren Thredgold and Megan Soulsby had a solid day's racing in the 420 girls fleet and sit in tenth after a 22nd and fourth placing, while West Australians David Gilmour and James Omay are 17th in the 420 boys class.
Luke Baillie is in 20th position after two races in the RS:X boys fleet with fellow Queenslander Joanna Sterling in 13th in the RS:X girls fleet.
After day one Australia sits in seventh place in the race for the prestigious Volvo Trophy, just three points behind Singapore in sixth and four behind Brazil and New Zealand who are tied for fourth.
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