Coaches blog #8 by Tony Bull
Buongiorno
Well what a day! More twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel. But the simple upshot was a very good day in general for the Aussies.
We were the beneficiaries of an unfortunate incident where the leading team of Jamie and Bettine Harris scored their second penalty early in a race from the on water jury, this results in a disqualification from that race and the rules ask they leave the course promptly.
Unaware of these requirements they continued to race and crossed the finish line. This meant instead of a DSQ they had to cop a DNE (do not exclude). In this series (as in most) it is possible to discard some of your poorer races, we have 12 races and the best 10 count toward your pointscore. You can drop a DSQ but not a DNE as the name implies. To all those budding sailors out there it was highlighted in the sailing instructions and shows the importance of reading them and understanding them. Go through them point by point and LISTEN if someone is doing it for you.
It was a real shame for a couple of very nice kids who started sailing four years ago in an old £200 clunker. Keep your chin up family Harris, you have many more successes coming you way.
Back to the sailing, we have a lot of boats in good positions and have the series leader overall with one race to sail. The day was a long one and we were kept ashore under an AP flag for a while. A light breeze filled in and we left the shore and proceeded to race area up the lake a bit. We eventually got underway in probably the lightest conditions we have had all week. Three races were sailed and as always in light airs the results were a bit mixed. But overall our position improved.
It is interesting the sailors in our team have been moaning about the lack of heavy wind, but they are doing a very good fist of sailing in the light medium winds we have had.
So today we have everything to sail for, it will be quite nerve racking for a lot of people. But when it comes down to it it is just another race and if we sail well we do well. So just focus on sailing well. Do that and the results look after themselves. All our team will be striving to finish on a high note. It is so important to embrace the day, not be intimidated by it. From the moment we set foot in a boat, this is the day we have strived for. We are here, so enjoy it. We will give it our absolute best shot and if it doesn't eventuate we will be the first to congratulate the winners, we will have made them earn it. That is as always our team ethos.
Results at moment
Sam Abel and Hugo Allison 1st
Angus Price and Archer Ibbot 4th
Julian Sasson and Mischa Suda 8th
Marty Hood and Jack O Donnell 10th
Will and Laura Cooper 11th
Ollie Manton and Ben Garner 28th
Dominic Randall and Ella Purnell 31st
Over on the promotional fleet, Alanna and Cooper Field had a good day as well with their second podium finish and move up to 9th in a 65 boat fleet. Well done to them too.
