Iain Murray, Australian Sailing Team Leader said, “We are almost half way through the regatta today and up to this point, the feeling within the squad is fantastic. Between the team of sailors, coaches and support staff there is a lot of comradery and helping each other out. We all come together at the containers in the boat park each day, and that’s the nature of who this team is.
There’s a lot of interest and cheering from the sidelines from the non-competing athletes to the racing athletes. The team has developed that over the past few quads and that ethos carries on.”
Weather
“Today we are expecting quite a similar day to yesterday. It’s coming from a similar direction with perhaps just a little bit more wind. The winds will be in the 180-200 region at 12-20 knots, with gusts of just over 20 knots and 12-15 knots as more of an operating velocity.
It’s a southerly gradient breeze that is going to bring good racing to all the courses today.”
– Iain Murray
Laser – Matt Wearn (2nd overall – 1:05pm AEST)
“It is business as usual for Wearny today. He knows he needs to perform in every race, and being a Western Australian he will be very pleased with the forecast today.
The ball is in his court to make sure he gets a good start in his races. There are two races today which will take him to 80% of the way through his races so it is another hugely important day for Matt.”
– Iain Murray
Nacra 17 – Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (3rd – 1:05pm AEST)
“Jason and Lisa raced really well yesterday. They didn’t get such a good start in their second race but definitely made the most of their opportunities.
As forecasted and as we’ve seen for a long time, the Italians are fast in strong wind and have proved themselves as the boat to beat with two wins and a third in yesterday’s racing. It’s important for Jason and Lisa to bring home some solid scores today to get that consistency going for the second half of the regatta.”
Iain Murray
49er – Will Phillips and Sam Phillips (3rd overall – 1:05pm AEST)
“The boys are out on Zushi course early today, ahead of the 470s this afternoon. Another day just like yesterday is just what the doctor ordered for the Phillips.
They would have gone to bed last night praying for conditions like yesterday’s and they’ve got it.”
– Iain Murray
Women’s 470 – Nia Jerwood and Monique De Vries (9th – 1:05pm AEST)
“The girls are in on the Enoshima course today. They got off to a solid start yesterday with some keeper races. We expect them to keep that going today as the wind strength will be to their liking.
If they can get some good starts then we expect them to carry on with it and score some bankable results.”
– Iain Murray
Laser Radial – Mara Stransky (18th overall – 1:15pm AEST)
“Today is another day in her journey and it is great to mix it up with a bit more wind than she has had so far. Mara is a bit smaller than others in the fleet, so it will be a tougher day for her but her boat skills are great which means she might lose a little bit upwind but make it back up downwind.
We aren’t expecting to see Mara finishing in the top three places today, but she will race hard as she always does.”
– Iain Murray
Finn – Jake Lilley (9th overall – 3:35 AEST)
Jake’s an all-rounder these days so he is sailing equally well in the light stuff as he is sailing in the strong stuff. It’s a really tough, close fleet and he’s doing a really solid job.
The Finns are a really intense class where tiny misses result in big losses. Jake had one of those (tiny misses) yesterday, so he’s well aware of what he needs to work on and we expect him to work his way through the gears today.”
– Iain Murray
Men’s 470 – Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (1st overall – 4:05pm AEST)
“Today is a great opportunity for Mat and Will out on Zushi course later in the day, as it will probably be the most open and windy course.
As much as they were happy with their 5th in the second race yesterday, they were probably a little bit disappointed that they didn’t quite get the wind shift prior to the start. There has been a good analysis of the race and we are expecting really strong results from them again today.”
– Iain Murray
For more, see: https://mailchi.mp/sailing.org.au/australian-sailing-updates-from-tokyo-280721?e=a067627422
– Australian Sailing
