420 Worlds at Mornington Yacht Club - Day 1
by Di Pearson 6 Jan 2004 14:14 GMT
The fleet start at the 420 worlds in Melbourne © Sport the Library / Sail Melbourne
Great Britain leads 420 World Qualifiers and Ladies World Championships
British competitors lead both the 420 Open Qualifiers and Ladies World Championships on the second eve of the Sail Melbourne event hosted by Mornington Yacht Club.
On the Open course, Nathan Batchelor/Joe Crabb's (GBR) second place in Race
6 and consistent places in their other races, with one race drop in play;
have finished in the lead of the six race qualifier series with 22 points.
After today, the open fleet will be split, the top 32 finishers of the
64-boat fleet will sail in Gold Fleet for the World Championship, the lower
half will sail in the Silver fleet for minor placings.
Michael Anderson-mit//Graham Biehl (USA) finished the qualifier in second
place one point behind the leaders, with current 420 Youth World champions,
Nathan Outteridge/Ayden Menzies (AUS) on equal second points, but relegated
to third place on count back.
Italian, French, Singaporian, German and New Zealand competitors also made
the cut into the Gold fleet, as did the lone entries of Croatia, Matija
Longin/Pavle Kostov and Greece's Georgios Vassilas/Evangelos Mitakis, much
to thrill of the other competitors and Mornington officials alike.
Other Aussies to make the cut include former World champion, Matt Belcher
and his crew Rike Ziegelmayer, brothers Nathan and Jeremy Wilmot, sailing
separate entries, Nathan and his crew Malcolm Page competing for some
extended practice prior to their 470 Olympic Class final selection regatta
starting Monday next, and Jeremy, freshly out of the Youth class sailing
with his crew David Stevens.
In the Ladies 46-boat 420 World Championship, Alison Martin/Bethan Carden
(GBR) have a large lead after four races with 17 points from Elise
Rechichi/Tessa Parkinson (AUS) on equal 29 points with sisters Lucy and
Nicola Macgregor (GBR), the former in second place on count back.
Rechichi and Parkinson, who come from Perth, are the holders of the Youth
420 World championship and outsailed many in the Open section of the
Australian Championship to finish sixth overall, beating all the Open Ladies
competitors to claim the Ladies title. Their future looks bright.
Camille Lecointre/Gwendolyn Lemaitre (FRA) currently fill fourth place with
34 points, then comes Maria Stella Turizio/Maria Carolina Renda (ITA) on 38
points.
The fleet sailed in light, tricky, shifting winds all day today, underneath
grey overcast skies, experience telling in the results.
Officials have been warned of 30 knot squally, rainy weather tomorrow, which
would certainly keep competitors ashore.