Para World Sailing Championships at Royal Yacht Club of Victoria - Day 5
by Bernie Kaaks 2 Dec 2015 22:39 NZDT
28 November - 3 December 2015
Mixed fortunes for Aussies
The highlight of today's racing at the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria in Williamstown, Australia, was the performance of Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch in the SKUD18 fleet. At the Para World Sailing Championships the pair racked up another two wins to wrap up the World title with one race still to go.
They withstood enormous pressure from the Dutch crew of Rolf Schrama and Sandra Nap, clinging to a narrow lead at the beginning of the last downwind leg to cross the line just nine seconds ahead of the plucky Netherlands team.
In the second race of the day, in winds that increased to more than 15 knots, it was the Polish crew of Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki who hassled the Australian all the way, but once again, Fitzgibbon held his nerve and the Polish crew trailed them by just seven seconds in one of the most exciting finishes in the series.
Their two victories today places the Australians in an impregnable position at the end of the day, with a total points score of 11 after dropping their worst score – a third. Even if they do not sail in the final race tomorrow, they cannot be beaten for the World Championship.
Trailing the Australians on the leader board are the British crew of Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell, who sailed consistently today to score two thirds and now have a total of 26 points. Third is the Italian combination of Marco Gualandris and Marta Zanetti with 39 points. The Dutch team, with their second and seventh places today still have a chance to displace the Italians, lying just three points behind them at this stage.
It was a different story on the Sonar course today, where the usually consistent Australian crew of Colin Harrison, Russell Boaden and Jonathan Harris really struggled to find any rhythm. They experienced problems yesterday, which were mainly due to really tough weather conditions and huge swings in wind direction. Today's racing was in stronger breeze, with lesser swings, but particularly in the second race, big seas were challenging for all crews on the windward legs. The Australians were 13th in race 9, their worst result so far, and 10th in race 10.
If conditions were hard, it certainly did not worry the British crew of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas, who came away with second and third places from today's races to lead on the points score table with 31 points. With their worrying day today, the Australian crew loses its place at the head of the leader board but remains in a podium position with French team of Bruno Jourdren, Eric Flageul and Nicolas Vimont-Vicary.
"We struggled for boat speed all day today," said Australian skipper Colin Harrison, "Boats that were behind us at the start were beating us to the windward mark." Coach Grant Alderson will be trying to return his team to the routines that brought them success in the early part of the regatta.
In the 2.4mR fleet, Frenchman Damien Seguin has improved at every outing. He sailed consistently early, but has been increasingly dominant in this fleet at every race. He was unflappable today despite the pressure being heaped on him in the early stages in each race, finding his way to the front by the first mark and then extending his lead to finish the day with two firsts. Australia's Matt Bugg scored a second in race 9 and was right on Seguin's tail for most of the race but could not find a passing lane. He was fifth in race 10. Germany's Heiko Kroeger sailed consistently again for third and fourth placings to remain second on the leader board with 28 points, 10 behind the Frenchman.
Helena Lucas will rue the "U" flag disqualification she incurred on the first day. With a 10th place as her worst score, she may well have been in a podium position at this stage and has sailed consistently near the head of the fleet in every race.
Seguin can go into the final race tomorrow full of confidence with a ten point buffer over his nearest rival.
Conditions for tomorrow are forecast to be much lighter than today and racing will be followed by the presentations in the evening.
More information on the event website.
Paralympic champions Fitzgibbon/Tesch win 2015 Para World Sailing Championships with a day to spare (from Australian Sailing)
Nine months out from the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, 2012 London Paralympic SKUD18 gold medallists Dan Fitzgibbon (NSW) and Liesl Tesch (NSW) have won the 2015 Para World Sailing Championships in Melbourne on the event's penultimate day (Wednesday, 2 December 2015). This World title win continues Fitzgibbon and Tesch's unbeaten run ever since getting back into competition post their 2012 Paralympic gold medal and after winning last year's World Championship.
Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch defended their 2014 title with one day to spare and after a dominant series, winning seven out of ten races with two seconds and a third place as their worst result over the week. With this impressive score line, they secured their second World title with an unassailable fifteen point lead ahead of the second ranked British crew and ahead of the final regatta day tomorrow, Thursday, 3 December 2015.
Tomorrow, two more medals will be up for grabs across the three Paralympic boat classes with Australian Sailing's Sonar Team of Paralympians Colin Harris (WA), Jonathan Harris (NSW) and Russell Boaden currently in silver medal contention and Paralympian Matt Bugg (TAS) ranked third in the 2.4mR.
Two-Person Keelboat – SKUD-18
Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch, coached by Geoff Woolley, went into the penultimate day of racing after a consistent series of top results. Leading the second ranked British crew with a comfortable eleven points lead they sealed the World title win one day early after a dominant last day and winning both races.
"Last worlds we won by one point and coming into this we wanted to make it better and winning by one day is better than winning by one point," Dan Fitzgibbon said laughing.
"With the strong lead we had, we planned to be conservative and just bring it home. The way it worked out, we did a bit more than that and I think got even more points in front. We don't have to sail tomorrow if we don't want to and that's a good situation to be in."
And about the day he added: "It was actually a tricky day, shifty and up and down. We got into the battle and fought our way through the fleet and got away with a win in the first race. In the second race the breeze came in quite hard and the waves starting rolling and it was actually quite an exciting race. We battled to the lead and won the second race too and now we're World Champions and very happy."
And looking ahead to Rio 2016 the dual Paralympic medallist Dan Fitzgibbon added: "This is a good step towards Rio 2016 and we're on the right track. Obviously we've got something there and we just got to keep working and not rest on this. It's a great journey and we have more things to work on to get better and better. Rio is such a tricky place we really want to do as much as we can to be dominant there."
Fitzgibbon and Tesch teamed up after the 2008 Paralympic Games and have proven to be a successful duo ever since they started competing together in 2011. Tesch, who was recruited into sailing by Fitzgibbon, already was a five-time Paralympian and three-time Paralympic medallist in wheelchair basketball before winning gold with Fitzgibbon in London 2012 – a feat they plan to repeat in Rio 2016.
"This is a really nice momentum to be in as we prepare for Rio. It was a real struggle to put space between us and the rest of the fleet coming into last year's World Championships, but this is a nice step towards Rio," Liesl Tesch said.
"I still think we have a long way to go though and in every single race we are learning stuff. We'll have to get it all right for that big event next year which is going to be even more challenging than surfing down these gorgeous waves of Port Phillip Bay."
And about the race win she added: "Winning the World Championships with an unasailable lead is exciting. But we were so focused on just going out there to do race by race that it wasn't until our awesome boat crew handed us the Australian flag that we realised we actually just won the World Championship and its game over. We have another race tomorrow and every single race that we can do against this fleet to practice is another practice for the Paralympics next year."
Fitzgibbon and Tesch have been a mainstay at the top of the podium over the last 12 months after winning the 2014 World Championships in Nova Scotia, Canada in August, followed by gold at Sailing World Cup Melbourne and Miami as well as a win at the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, the Netherlands last May.
Australian Sailing's second SKUD18 crew of Ame Barnbrook (NSW) and Brett Pearce (NSW) is ranked seventh ahead of the final race tomorrow after posting a 16th and sixth.
Three-Person keelboat – Sonar
Colin Harrison, Russell Boaden and Jonathan Harris had a tough day, which saw them drop from first into second. Going into Thursday's four points separate them from Great Britain in first and it will all come down to the final race.
The last race of the 2015 Para World Sailing Championships is scheduled for 13:00 on Thursday, 2 December 2015 out of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria in Williamstown, Melbourne, Australia.
One-Person Keelboat – 2.4mR
Australian Sailing Team's Paralympian Matt Bugg defended his third place after a strong day posting and is in medal contention going in the last day.
"Yes, it was a good day for me. I love sailing in Melbourne on days like today so that's why I love coming here. We had lots of wind, big waves, I loved it and I got two pretty good results," Matt Bugg said.
"Tomorrow definitely still counts. I need to have a look at the scores, but I believe I have to finish within ten points of Helena Lucas from England (fourth ranked) to get third and I think Heiko (Germany, second) is still 12 points ahead of me so maybe I can catch him and get into second, but we'll see."
Fellow 2.4mR teammate Neil Patterson (TAS) climbed up into 23rd after a 32nd and 19th.
Sailing out of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria (RYCV) in Williamstown, all five crews of Australian Sailing Team's (AST) and Squad (ASS) Paralympic boat class sailors are contesting the event and aiming to defend their 2014 Nation's Cup win as the team prepares for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games (7 – 18 September 2016).
140 sailors from 31 nations are competing across three Paralympic events and over six days on Port Phillip, Melbourne, Australia from 28 November to 3 December. It is the largest Paralympic World Sailing Competition in the lead up to the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.
With less than a year out from the Paralympic Games the Australian Sailing Team is looking strong after multiple top podium finishes across the international season.
Find out more about the stories behind Australian Sailing Team's sailors here: http://www.australiansailing.org/aus-paralympic-sailors-ready-for-world-championship-challenge/