The Australian Sailing Team's Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen have won the 2009 Australian 49er Championship, dominating the regatta from start to finish, continuing their unbeaten record together.
The pair won 10 of the 13 races across the regatta, with their two second places coming to eventual runners up Peter Burling and Blair Tuke of New Zealand.
“This win means a lot to us,” said Outteridge. “Not only is it our first win in Australia but it's the first time we've competed together in the country and to do it at our home club where we both learnt to sail is pretty special.”
The current 49er World Champions won the final nine races of the regatta, including the two held on the final day, raced on the flat waters of the bay in front of the Wangi RSL Amateur Sailing Club in shifty winds up to 20 knots.
The regatta had some incredibly close racing with Outteridge and Jensen beating Burling and Tuke by just one thousandth of a second in the eighth race of the regatta.
Irish crew Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern finished third overall while brothers Will and Sam Phillips came home in fourth position. Euan McNicol and Tim Austin were fifth, ahead of Tom Johnson and Rhys Mara, who finished the regatta strongly, coming second in the final race.
“We had strong winds throughout the regatta and the final day was no different, we set a new speed record for us of 23.3 knots over ten seconds only to be beaten by the Kiwis on the final afternoon who set 23.6 knots,” said Outteridge.
“The Kiwis pushed us hard all regatta, they're an experienced crew with Peter Burling skippering a 470 at the Beijing Games and Blair Tuke winning silver at the Youth Worlds in 2007,” he said. “We've developed a good training partnership with them over the year but it's always good to beat them.”
The 2009 win was Outteridge's third national title and he is now closing in on Chris Nicholson's record of five titles, while for Jensen it was his first, having finished second in 2008 in Perth.
“We've got a busy few weeks coming up as we prepare for the Worlds in the Bahamas starting on the second of January,” said Outteridge. “Next stop is Sail Sydney beginning on Saturday and then off to Sail Melbourne before a couple of days rest over Christmas before we fly out to the Worlds.”
RESULTS
Place Sail No Skipper Crew Sers Score Race 13 Race 12 Race 11 Race 10 Race 9 Race 8 Race 7 Race 6 Race 5 Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 AUS1 Nathan Outteridge Iain Jensen 12 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 [2.0] [2.0] 1
2 NZL1103 Peter Buling Blair Tuke 24 [8.0] 2 2 [11.0] 2 2 3 4 2 1 1 1 4
3 IRL26 Ryan Seaton Matt mcGovern 47 6 4 5 4 4 3 5 5 5 3 3 [20.0O] [8.0]
4 AUS1062 Will Phillips Sam Phillips 49 5 [20.0C] 3 3 [20.0O] 4 2 2 6 10 9 3 2
5 AUS1051 Euan McNicol Tim Austin 63 [20.0F] 3 6 2 3 12 9 6 4 8 [12.0] 7 3
6 AUS1069 Tom Johnson Rhys Mara 64 2 8 9 9 5 [10.0] 6 3 3 4 8 [9.0] 7
7 RSA1010 Clynton Wade-Lehman Jo De Kock 70 3 5 7 7 9 8 4 8 8 [11.0] 6 5 [11.0]
8 GRE858 Stelios Noutsos Dimitris Benakis 82 [20.0F] [20.0C] 8 8 6 5 10 7 7 5 10 6 10
9 AUS1140 Steven Thomas Luke Parkinson 90 4 20.0O 4 12 [20.0O] 7 8 [20.0O] 10 7 5 8 5
10 AUS413 Andrew Chapman Peter Kendall 91 [20.0F] 10 12 6 11 6 7 [20.0O] 9 6 11 4 9
11 AUS1063 Robbie Gibbs Jamie Woods 100 9 6 11 5 [20.0O] 11 11 10 12 9 4 12 [20.0C]
12 AUS1139 Sean O'Rourke Harry Bethwaite 104 7 7 10 10 7 [14.0] 12 9 11 12 7 [20.0F] 12
13 AUS931 Nigel Littlewood Luggi Bruen 130 20.0C 9 [20.0C] 13 8 13 13 11 [20.0C] 13 13 11 6
14 AUS676 Paul Peters Matt Brodman 161 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C 14 12 9 14 [20.0F] [20.0C] 14 15 10 13
15 AUS216 Byrce Waters Mattie Zuppini 186 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C 20.0F 10 20.0C 20.0C [20.0C] [20.0C] 15 14 13 14
16 AUS4 Cat Sturrock Rob Sangster 210 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C 20.0F 15 15 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C [20.0C] [20.0C]
17 AUS875 Cameron Robinson David Robinson 214 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C 20.0F 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C 20.0C [20.0F] 14 [20.0C]
