Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships - Day 9

Four new world champions took to the podium as dusk fell over Perth and marked the end of a full day of medal racing.

It was a day enjoyed by sailors and public alike, with spectators lining the beach and filling the grandstand at Bather’s Bay to see who would win gold in the Finn, Laser Radial, Men’s 470 and Women’s RS:X classes on Sunday.

In the evening, the medal ceremonies in the Worlds Village, close to the sailing venues, attracted an enthusiastic crowd of onlookers as athletes draped themselves in national flags to receive their gold, silver and bronze medals.

Finn

Giles Scott won a game of cat and mouse on the water to secure the title of Finn world champion and the Finn Gold Cup, beating Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) by just one point in a tense final day of racing.

Postma needed Scott to finish at least third in order to win overall. He started playing tactics on the third leg, allowing Denmark’s Jonas Hoegh Christensen to catch up so as to put Scott second on points.

Scott remained in third place until the last leg, when he sped past Hoegh Christensen and secured second place in the Medal Race, enough to put him on 30 points overall to secure the championship and Gold medal.

“I came here looking to win,” Scott said. “I felt like I needed to prove myself. I made things difficult for myself at the start but I managed to seek out some decent waves and it was an emotional finish, I nearly ended up in tears.”

While Postma was first over the line, cheered on by a big crowd of supporters on the breakwater, the man from the Netherlands had to settle for the silver medal with 31 points overall.

“I wanted to win here.” Postma said. “Giles did a better job, he won this week and congrats to him.”

Former world champion Ed Wright (GBR) took the bronze medal finishing fifth in the Medal Race taking him to 35 points overall.

The Finn championship title race was thrown wide open with the disqualification of overall points leader and triple Olympic Gold medalist Ben Ainslie on Saturday.

An international jury disqualified Ainslie from both of Saturday's races for gross misconduct. As the disqualifications could not be discarded from his point score, Ainslie ended up out of the medal race and finished the Regatta in 11th place

Laser Radial

World number one Marit Bouwmeester (NED) held off a determined Evi van Acker (BEL) to claim her first world championship title.

“I feel awesome,” she said. “I wanted to dominate the week. It was a really, really tough week and I was happy.”

Only six points separated the two going into the Medal Race and while van Acker worked her way to a point where she could have taken the title, a penalty for pumping kept Bouwmeester ahead on points until the finish.

“I think I could have won,” van Acker said. “Some mistakes were made, that’s what cost me the gold medal.”

Paige Railey (USA) won the bronze by the smallest of margins, taking the medal by a single point.

“It’s a huge relief. I’m extremely happy to see all the hard work pay off,” she said.

The Laser Radial Medal Race sailors had winds of 8-13 knots, but the pressure constantly changed. The spectator breakwater also played a role in defining race tactics.

Veronika Fenclova (CZE) came from 6th to win the Medal Race, which saw many different leaders, but Bouwmeester’s fourth place finish was enough to secure the world title.

Men’s 470

With an 18-point lead going into the Medal Race, Australia’s Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page sailed a smooth safe race to claim the men’s 470 world title.

The Australian duo’s fourth place finish was enough to secure Malcolm Page his fifth world championship title.

“We didn’t have to win,” Page said after the race. “We didn’t have to be so risky. It’s just as satisfying. I’m sure anybody in the fleet would’ve loved to swap with us, to be in that position. Coming across fourth on the line [in the Medal race], it’s just fine.”

Great Britain’s Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell led the field for the entire race to cross the line first but had to settle with silver.

“I’m most proud of our partnership,” Bithell said. “We have had a lot of pressure this week that we have had to deal with. We have two other very successful teams so we have had to chase them all week, so I’m just proud that we have stuck together as a team and, well, the rest is history.”

The biggest cheers at the boat park were reserved for bronze medallists Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO) were greeted by an excited crowd at the Royal Perth Yacht Club Annexe.

“We fought really hard,” Marenic said. “We deserve the bronze.”

Women’s RS:X

It was a battle of three of the best and a race between three good friends in the women’s RS:X Medal Race with Israel’s Lee Korzits taking gold over “sisters” Zofia Noceti-Klepacka (POL) and Marina Alabau (ESP).

“These girls are my team. We all won, all three of us,” the Israeli said.

With Poland’s Noceti-Klepacka taking silver and Alabau (ESP) the bronze, the three women hugged and drank champagne together when they got to shore, but it was a different story during the race.

“When I go onto the water I am like a warrior, even to my friends,” Korzits said. “On the beach we are like best friends but in the water we are competing.”

The race, with light winds and seaweed, tested the strength and balance of all competitors with the sailors having to pump furiously to get to the windward mark.

While Maayan Davidovich (ISR) charged ahead on the easier downward leg to finish first in the race, it wasn’t enough to secure her a place in the top three.

Star

Great Britain’s Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson lead in the overall standings after the opening day of racing in the Star class on Sunday, with Robert Stanjek and Frithjof Kleen (GER) in second, Ireland’s Peter O’Leary and David Burrows third after two races.

Race one averaged wind speeds of 13 knots, which clearly benefitted Polish pair Matuesz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki who won by 63 seconds form Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih (USA).

Germany’s Stanjek and Kleen finished in third, one second ahead of Percy and Simpson (GBR).

Race two went to Portugal’s Afonso Domingos and Frederico Melo while O’Leary and Burrows (IRL) came in a close second, just 14 seconds behind the frontrunners.

Percy and Simpson placed third, while Sweden’s Fredrik Loof and Max Salminen came fourth.

Race one winners Kusznierewicz and Zycki did not finish race two after they were forced to retire after a double yellow penalty flag.

Women’s Match Racing

A lazy Fremantle doctor – the local seabreeze - again hampered Women’s Match Racing, delaying the start by three hours on Sunday

Flight 62 saw some exciting racing with the matchup between the two Australian teams of Nicky Souter and Olivia Price.

A number of lead changes and some very close sailing had many fans in the grandstand, including Nicky Souter’s family, on the edge of their seats.

But it was Olivia Price’s AUS-2 team who managed to edge over the line first.

There was close racing all day as the round robin repechage stage continued, and with only four points between the top and bottom teams, there was plenty of opportunity for sailors to advance through to the quarterfinals.

At the end of Sunday’s racing, Price (AUS-2) was leading with 7 wins and 2 losses, followed by Macgregor (GBR) on 6 wins and 1 loss, and Kjellberg (SWE-1) on 6 wins and 3 losses.

Racing begins on Monday 12 December at 1000 local time, with the last three repechage flights left over from Sunday, followed by the three remaining flights of the Gold seeding.

TAG Heuer Awards

The TAG Heuer Awards for the best male and female athlete of the first week of the Worlds were awarded to Australian Men’s 470 sailor Mat Belcher, who won gold with team mate Malcolm Page, and Dutch Laser Radial gold medallist Marit Bouwmeester. The individual awards take into account sporting achievement as well as the athlete’s contribution to the promotion of sailing as an Olympic sport.

Day 9 Highlights Video:

www.Perth2011.com

Annalise finishes 6th At the World Sailing Championships in Perth (from Fiona Bolger, Irish Sailing Association)

There were light difficult conditions for the Ladies Laser Radial medal race in Perth at the ISA World Sailing Championships. Annalise lead leg but was overtaken by Bouwmeester (NED) and sailed in to a wind hole before finishing eighth in the race to secure a sixth place overall in the championship.

After the race a disappointed Annalise stated ‘I sailed very well at this event but I was very unlucky at the end however I have achieved my objectives which were to qualify Ireland for the Olympics and finish in the top 10.’

This was a first gold medal at the World Championships for Marit Bouwmeester (NED) who was chased closely by silver medallist Evi VanEcker (BEL). Bronze went to Paige Railey (USA) who stated after the race that she felt lucky to have won bronze.

‘Finishing sixth at the World Championships is a personal best for Annalise’ stated ISA Performance Director, James O’Callaghan. He continued ‘She paid a big price for a small mistake but this event carries the same pressure as the Olympics and Annalise handled the pressure incredibly well. We need to stand back from the final result & focus on her excellent performance which included 4 race wins more than any other competitor. The focus pre Olympics will be to work on consistency’

Sailing continues in Perth until Sunday 18 December with Ireland's Star, 49er and Men's Laser sailors all hoping for Olympic 2012 qualification.

Star sailors Peter O’Leary & David Burrows lying 3rd after Day 1 at the ISAF World Racing Championships in Perth (from Fiona Bolger, Irish Sailing Association)

Two of Ireland's most successful sailors, Peter O'Leary and David Burrows have come together to campaign a Star boat for the 2012 Olympics. Today at the ISAF World Championships was their first step towards Weymouth and they finished in third place overall after an eighth and a second place finish in light conditions in Perth. They were just 14 seconds behind the winner in Race 2.

Overall standings after two races put Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR) in first, Robert Stanjek and Frithjof Kleen (GER) second and third is Peter O’Leary and David Burrows (IRE).

David Burrows is one of Ireland’s most experienced Olympic athletes. This will be his fourth Olympics having previously represented Ireland in 1996 in Atlanta in the Star class and in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 in the single handed Finn Class. Peter O’Leary represented Ireland at the Beijing Olympics 2008 in the Star Class. He won a gold medal at the Sail for Gold 2010 regatta in Weymouth and the Eastern Hemisphere Champions 2009, both in the Star.

Racing continues until the Medal Race on Sunday 18 December 2011. Competition starts tomorrow Monday 12 December 2011 for Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern in the 49er class and James Espey in the Laser class.

Paige Railey Wins Bronze (from Dana Paxton, US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics)

On the final medal race day of the ISAF Sailing World Championships, Paige Railey won a bronze medal in the Laser Radial, while Zach Railey finished 9th overall in the Finn. In Women’s Match Racing, Genny Tulloch, Jenn Chamberlin and Alice Manard Leonard went continued in the repechage round, and Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih were the top scoring US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics team in the Star class.

“It’s good to win bronze here,” said Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) shortly after arriving on Bathers Bay Beach from the medal race course. “It’s a bigger win than any of the other Worlds, and I’m proud to represent the US and win a medal.”

Going into the medal race, Railey was in bronze medal position with a chance to move up to second overall with a good performance. Soon after the race start, Railey found herself on the wrong side of the course and slowly fell behind the fleet at the weather mark rounding. “Off the start there were a lot of quick moves and I was just on the wrong side of them,” she explained. “At first weather mark all I could think is ‘I have to catch up’ and I was thinking ‘please let luck be on my side here’.”

She fought hard, but the medal race is only 30 minutes long and with only nine other competitors, a bad start and first leg can cost dearly. Railey finished the medal race in 9th. “When you’re in the back it definitely feels like a really long race,” she pointed out.

Railey was third to overall winner Marit Bouwmeester (NED) and second place Evi van Acer (BEL).

Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) saw his overall position change overnight in the Finn class from 9th place to 8th when British sailor and overall points leader Ben Ainslie was disqualified from race 9 and 10. “It didn’t change our plan at all, the points stayed the same,” said Railey.

Going into the race, Railey concentrated on executing a plan against the nine other helmsmen. “The goal going into the race was to stay close to the Estonian sailor and to finish ahead of the British sailor,” he explained. “That would have moved me up to 7th overall. Unfortunately it didn’t go that way.”

The medal race has a target time of 30 minutes and it can be very intense. Railey had a strong start and held a fourth-place position for the first upwind leg, then tightened the gap on the first downwind. From the gate rounding, he was fouled on port tack by a competitor and that cost him a good position on the course.

“I felt like I was in a very good position at the top of the second beat with a full downwind and another lap to go,” he explained. “Unfortunately, after that, the two sailors I was watching went ahead of me. From that point on I wasn’t able to get back into it. But, we’ll try to learn from it and not let it happen the next time.”

The Finn class medal race was on the last held for the day and it took place on the same spectator-friendly bay course. The spectators were out in full force cheering on their favorite country. Overall winner was Giles Scott (GBR

After a three-hour postponement in Women’s Match Racing, Genny Tulloch’s (Houston, Texas/Sausalito, Calif.) “Team GETSailing” of Alice Manard Leonard (New Orleans, La./East Haven, Conn.) and Jenn Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.) has four wins and four losses in the repechage round. Racing continues on Monday.

The Star class racing, which is scheduled for Dec. 11-17, began with two races. Mark Mendelblatt (Miami, Fla.) and Brian Fatih (Miami, Fla.) had the top USSTAG performance of the day with second- and ninth-place finishes. They are in 4th overall in the 26 boat fleet, behind Percy/Simpson (GBR), Stanjek/Fritjof (GER) and O’Leary/Burrows (IRL).