Almere, Netherlands: Five Australians will go into tomorrow’s Medal Race at the Olympic classes Allianz Regatta with a chance to secure a World Cup medal.
The Australian Sailing squad has proven they know how to bounce back with the young contingent putting key lessons from earlier in the season into play at the Hempel World Cup event.
The entire Australian 49erFX squad booked their spot in the Medal Race today with two teams giving themselves an opportunity to come away with some World Cup hardware. Olympic silver medallist, Olivia Price, alongside new crew Evie Haseldine are third overall, just five points off top spot.
Following closely behind in fourth place are Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot, also with medals in their reach. They are chasing the reigning world champions Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz (NED) in first and Isaura Maenholt and Anouk Geurts (BEL) who are just four points adrift.
Harding is embarking on her first international season and is relishing in the experience to fight it out at the top against some of the best teams in the world.
“Annie and I are both super stoked to be in our first Medal Race together,” Harding shared. “It’s great to have the whole FX squad in the Medal Race as well, it’s awesome to see all of our hard work paying off together after a lot of training back home.”
Tokyo 2020 Olympian, Mara Stransky, moved up three places in the overall rankings and is in the hunt for Bronze as she sits in fifth going into the Medal Race, just out of reach of the top two places.
Dutch sailing legend, Carolijn Brouwer, is coaching the Australian ILCA 6 squad and knows “it doesn’t get any better than this in Holland.” She continued, “We had a really nice 8 to 12 knots from the north-east with long slow shifts.
“I am really proud of the girls and how they sailed this week. To have both Mara and Elyse in the Medal Race is a great result and Casey is only a few places outside the top ten. There is still a lot of room for improvement which is very promising.”
Malcolm Page will be guiding the Mixed 470 crews through their first World Cup Medal Race tomorrow, with Chis Charlwood and Amelia Catt just eight points off the lead.
“Being in the Medal Race creates an opportunity for both teams and for Chris and Amelia to learn how to fight for that medal,” Page said. “They’ve got some great potential and skill but it’s about putting it together with that whole package.”
Lake Macquarie sailor Jake Liddell and Sydney-based crew Lucy Copeland are sixth overall in the Nacra 17 after four gruelling three-lap races today. The pair will go into the Medal Race without a chance to win a medal but are ready for some tight racing.
Just one team will be representing Australia in the 49er Medal Race with 19-year-old Jack Ferguson and crew Max Paul in contention for Silver and Bronze. The gold medal has already been decided with the world champion Dutch pairing already securing the Gold with an impressive 30-point lead.
“Being in the Medal Race is a great achievement for both of us and we can’t wait to give it our best shot and contend for a medal,” Ferguson remarked.
Racing is set to kick off at 11:00 local time with conditions that are expected to be fantastic for the final day of racing.
In the words of Ferguson, “Flat stick but not too crazy, it should be glamour.”
Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS), and Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) entries:
470 Mixed (17 entries)
3rd – Chris Charlwood and Amelia Catt (ASS) 5, (11), 4, 3, 4, 2, 5, 5 – 28 points
10th – Nia Jerwood and Conor Nicholas (ASS) 11, 7, (UFD), UFD, 8, 4, 4, DSQ – 64 points
49er (44 entries)
5th – Jack Ferguson and Max Paul (ASS) 6, 4, 3, 4, 3, 18, 9, 3, 6, (18), 5, 5 – 66 points
12th – Tom Needham and Joel Turner (ASS) 7, (17), 3, 6, 17, 5, 15, 12, 7, 8, 6, 3 – 89 points
13th – Tom Burton and Simon Hoffmann (ASS) 14 5, 5, 8, 5, 13, 8, 6, 13, 10, (16), 11 – 98 points
15th – Ryan Littlechild and Shaun Connor* (ASF) 3, 10, 7, 11, 5, 14, 17, 5,11, 12 (19), 17 – 112 points
*Replaced Jack Hilderbrand on day 3 due to injury
49erFX (26 entries)
3rd – Olivia Price and Evie Haseldine (ASS) 3, 9, 2, 2, 8, 7, 9, (20), 2, 3, 10 – 54 points
4th – Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot (ASS) 1, 3, 10, 5, 3, 5, 6, 11, (UFD), 12, 5 – 61 points
10th – Tess Lloyd and Dervla Duggan (ASS) (DSQ), 2, DSQ , 6, 5, 9, 8, 3, 6, 9, 8 – 83 points
ILCA 6 (62 entries)
5th – Mara Stransky (AST) 17,13, 6, 1, 27, 3, 3, 29 – 73 points
10th – Elyse Ainsworth (ASS) 10, 14, (29), 9, 16, 10, 8, 25 – 95 points
15th – Casey Imeneo (ASS) 6, 6, 37, 49, 19, 24, 15, 15 – 122points
43rd – Paige Caldecoat (ASF) – 48 10, (BFD), 41, 32, 45, 30, 54 – 265 points
Zoe Thomson (ASS) – withdrawn from racing
Nacra 17 (15 entries)
6th – Jake Liddell and Lucy Copeland (ASS) 3, 6, 2, (NSC), 6, 3, 9, 5, 6, 6, 6 – 52 points
Formula Kite – Men (54 entries)
20th – Hector Paturau (ASF) 10, 10, 13, (17), (16), 12, 6, 8, 10, (19), (18) 14 – 99 points
Full results: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/AR22#!/results?classId=c08727d9-0e57-4aef-a4cc-5f9710cc7d42
Lisa Darmanin/Australian Sailing media
