Australian Sailing Team Leader Iain Murray said, “Today brings a much lighter weather pattern and a mix-up of courses, so racing conditions will be dependent on each fleet’s start time.
Every day is critical, but today is a super important day to get races in and bank some good scores.”
Weather
“We have light and variable winds right now, and we are expecting the sea breeze to build as a thermal breeze starting around midday (JST). I wouldn’t be surprised to see us start in the minimum weight of wind, probably around six knots with the breeze out of the south and then build through the first set of races with the best breezes coming at 2 or 3 o’clock.
It’s going to be a much tougher day in terms of performance because of the lighter breezes and the wider tacking angles. My guess is that we are going to be under the non-pumping rule for the day, so I expect more balance across the field and much tougher competition today.”
– Iain Murray
Men’s 470 – Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (1st overall – 1:05pm AEST)
“Mat and Will had a fantastic day yesterday, they sailed their boat very precisely and accurately. Today in the lighter breezes, the fleet will steady up a lot and again it will be crucial to get clean starts into fresh air and to place their boat exactly where they want it. These guys always leave very little on the race course and we expect that again today.
In the lighter breezes, the Spanish and Swedish boats have performed very well over the past year or so and they are also up against Luke Patience in the British boat who was the runner-up in 2012. However, the boys tend to focus on sailing their own race and using their coaches in regards to their strategy. They are ready to go.”
– Iain Murray
49er – Will and Sam Phillips (8th overall – 1:05pm AEST)
“The boys have three races out on the Kamakura course today. They had a great day on Wednesday and a tougher day yesterday, so they need to bounce back in the lighter breezes today. That’s an area they put an intense amount of work into with their coach, Malcolm Page.
Getting their start right and getting the correct strategy up the first windward beat will be race determining. It’s going to be a testing day for them and hopefully all of their hard work will bear some fruit”
– Iain Murray
Laser Radial – Mara Stransky (20th overall – 1:05pm AEST)
“Today is Mara’s opportunity to show exactly what she is made of. The weather should make for a good day for her, there’s nothing to lose and I think she could spring a few surprises today.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Mara produce her best races today.”
– Iain Murray
Women’s 470 – Nia Jerwood and Monique De Vries (11th – 1:15pm AEST)
“Nia and Monique have put an incredible amount of work into their light air sailing, and today we expect them to convert that into some low points being scored on the board.
They’ve got to get a good start, get their strategy right, get around that first mark in a reasonable place and be able to put the boat where they want it instead of having that dictated by the other competitors.”
– Iain Murray
Laser – Matt Wearn (1st overall – 3:35pm AEST)
“It’s a day of ‘business as usual’ for Matt. There is less breeze today, so he needs to execute his race and continue with everything he has been doing; which is a combination of proper risk management, great speed, good technique and staying out of trouble. He’s looking to add another two strong races to his card today.
Matt is in great spirits, I saw him having a great chat with Mat Belcher at breakfast this morning so he is in a good place.”
– Iain Murray
49erFX – Tess Lloyd and Jaime Ryan (11th overall – 3:50pm AEST)
“Tess and Jaime have been really consistent so far with most finishes in and around that top ten. Given the lighter breezes today, I expect them to go out to the race course with more risk, aggression and the intentions to pop onto the podium.
They will take a few more risks and try to up their average.”
– Iain Murray
For more, see: https://mailchi.mp/sailing.org.au/australian-sailing-updates-from-tokyo-300721?e=a067627422
– Australian Sailing
