470 World Championship at San Isidro, Argentina - Day 5
by International 470 Class Association 27 Feb 2016 05:18 GMT
20-27 February 2016
Weather extremes this morning delivered thunder, lightning and heavy rain, keeping fleets ashore, before a breeze of 38 knots swept across the race track.
The wind died, picked up and then settled at around 17 knots for racing, serving up the breeziest day of the Championship so far.
An early 0930 hours decision by the Race Committee to postpone racing until 1300 hours, meant teams could stay at their accommodation or at least stand down their level of preparedness. A further one hour postponement until 1400 hours, before the fleets headed out to the track, with 2 races completed for each fleet.
A crunch day and last chance for teams to secure their place in the top ten leaderboard who advance to Saturday's medal race. Getting the mix to work out on the race track was crucial, with some intense jostling for positions makng the difference between success and heartache.
Their leading position and points advantage at the 2016 Worlds marks the strongest chance yet for Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic (CRO) to unseat the dominance of Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS). The Croatians hold a 13 point advantage over second placed Paul Snow-Hansen/Daniel Willcox (NZL) on 55 points, with Belcher/Ryan in third on 58 points - with each of these three teams capable of securing gold. The only other team with a shot at the podium are fourth placed Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion of France, but the best they can upgrade to is silver or bronze.
In the 470 Women, Camille Lecointre/Helene Defrance (FRA) also hold a useful points advantage, although not quite as significant as the Croatians. Counting a 44 point scoreline gives the French team a 6 point margin over defending World Champions Lara Vadlau/Jola Ogar (AUT), with 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists Jo Aleh/Poly Powrie (NZL) 1 point behind in third. Points are close and any of the top 8 teams have a punt at the podium.
On Saturday 27 February, the 470 Women will race first at 1100 hours, followed by the men at 1145 hours. The course format changes, with a short, sharp 25 minute windward/leeward race.
470 Men
No surprise to note that three of the top four teams going into the 470 Worlds Medal Race were the top three teams at the Rio 2015 Test Event - they are simply amongst the best in the world.
A perfect day for Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic as they get ready to rise to the challenge of medal race success and potentially walk away with the gold medal tomorrow. A 2,1 scoreline boosts their advantage to 13 points, which is not insurmountable, but will prove tough to crack for the other two teams in gold medal contention.
"We had a great day in a difficult spot like any other day, and I am really pleased how Igor and I sailed today, practically and technically as well," said Fantela. "I am just feeling happy and relaxed right now. It was another long day and we are just looking forward to tomorrow, to stay focused, stay calm and that is the plan."
The pair has stood on the 470 Worlds podium every year bar 2013 since they won gold in 2009, and 2016 marks their closest prospect since to claim victory. They are guaranteed a medal whatever their result.
"This time we are closer than in Haifa [2015 470 Worlds] to win the gold, so it's all good. We came here not with a huge imperative to win something. We have had good sailing and our goal is the Olympic Games, this is just all part of it. If we win we will be happy, and if we don't win we will go on," continued Fantela.
Behind the Croatians, the Kiwis, Aussies and French could walk away from the medal race very happy or hugely disappointed, as they have as much chance of securing a medal as not.
Closest in pursuit of Fantela/Marenic are Paul Snow-Hansen/Daniel Willcox (NZL).
"Our goal before the regatta was to be in the shot for a medal and we have put ourselves in a position to do so," said Willcox, "so we are just excited and happy to be here and will enjoy getting amongst it tomorrow in the medal race.
"It's going to be tight and exciting racing. In Olympic sailing the competition is so close and if you make a mistake you feel it, so tomorrow is going to be about whoever can put together a good performance around the medal race course. It's going to be close and we are looking forward to it."
Mat Belcher, six time consecutive 470 World Champion, has more often than not led the series going into the medal race.
"The challenge for most of the sailors for the last couple of days has been staying out of trouble," reflected Belcher. "We are pretty happy with our results, although certainly during the races today we stopped a lot. It is just tough racing and something we are not quite used to," he said referring to the added race track dynamic of the weed.
"That's nice, that's part of it," Belcher smiled about the three-way battle for gold. "That's why we are here, it's good competition and I am sure everyone's going to be going out pretty hard and that's why we do it. It's will be interesting to see how it all works out."
An opening race 9 win to France's Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion (FRA) pushed them up to third, dropping to fourth after a 6th in race 10. The team, who were 470 Junior World and Junior European Champions in 2009 and 2010, can move on in to claim either the silver or bronze medals tomorrow.
"It's long to get to the top as there are teams with a lot of experience so we are fighting," Mion commented about the years spent mastering their craft in the 470 fleet. "We did good at the 2013 470 Europeans and won, but the Europeans is not the World Championship and the Worlds is more intensive as it is the most important event for every country, so everybody wants to be the best at this moment. So it is very nice that today we can be in the top four for sure. We are happy as we know we can do it, but at the Worlds it is different and it would mean a lot for us to get a medal."
Clambering into the top ten after today's two race go Germany's Ferdinand Gerz/Oliver Szymanksi in 6th overall and Luke Patience/Chris Grube (GBR) in 8th.
The 470 Men fleet was put on notice that South Africa's 470 sailors are well and truly in the hunt for glory when Asenathi Jim/Roger Hudson's scorching performance on day 3 at the 470 Worlds saw them take the series lead. The pair grappled to find consistency in the second half of the regatta, wrapping up in 11th overall, but still marked a career best performance at a 470 Championship.
"We are very delighted especially in this year's Worlds as we build up to the Games," said Jim. "I can say it is the right message to our competitors, and it is the right step for us to see what we can do with good equipment. It has given us more motivation of what we can do and where we need to work now."
"Sure the boat has helped," commented Hudson, referring to the new boat they raced at the Worlds, "but we have been training like crazy for a very long time and it is nice to be paying off. 32nd at the ISAF Worlds in 2014, 21st at the 2015 470 Worlds and 11th here. We are making progress in the right direction which is the most important thing. And we are hungrier than ever to keep working hard and get to an end goal. It's a real honour to come 11th in a fleet of this calibre – as there are such good sailors all the way through."
470 Men Medal Race Top 10: (full results here)
1. Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic (CRO 83) - 42 pts
2. Paul Snow-Hansen/Daniel Willcox (NZL 2) - 55 pts
3. Mathew Belcher/William Ryan (AUS 11) - 58 pts
4. Sofian Bouvet/Jérémie Mion (FRA 27) - 62 pts
5. Panagiotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis (GRE 1) - 91 pts
6. Ferdinand Gerz/Oliver Szynmanski (GER10) – 93 pts
7. Gabrio Zandona/Andrea Trani (ITA 2) - 93 pts
8. Luke Patience/Chris Grube (GBR 868) – 94 pts
9. Anton Dahlberg/Fredrik Bergström (SWE 349) - 98 pts
10. Onán Barreiros Rodríguez/Juan Curbelo Cabrera (ESP 9) - 109 pts
470 Women
There has been no stepping on the toes of France's Camille Lecointre/Helene Defrance who have controlled the 470 Women fleet since race 4. The pair has never before been in the position of leading going into a medal race, a fact not lost on Lecointre.
"We are very happy to be in this position right now and we think after being third or fourth going into the medal race, we think it is good to go into the medal race with points ahead. Yes, we are very positive."
The French took bronze at the 2015 470 Worlds.
"We are all very close, 6 points is nothing, but it will maybe help and we will focus tomorrow on sailing the best we can and we will have our fingers crossed for first place," she added.
It would seem a foregone conclusion that the team will be in Rio, but they are still waiting for confirmation from their national authority.
"We are very happy for our week and we really hope the selection will be announced as soon as possible, but all this time with Helene we have been really focused on Rio. It is very different from the last campaign," she said referring to the build up to London 2012 with former crew Mathilde Geron where the teams in contention for national selection were much closer, "but here we feel much freer and our sailing has got better."
Collect a medal here tomorrow and it might come sooner than expected for the French.
There is no underestimating the strength of mind of Austria's young protégé Lara Vadlau and crew Jola Ogar. When Vadlau wants something, she has shown she is more than capable of getting it, and a third title is at their fingertips.
"First of all it has been a really tough event and we did a pretty job today. We didn't have the easiest job in the second race, as we had a brilliant start, brilliant upwind and then we caught the sea grass and it went in our centreboard case," explained Vadlau on their day.
"I think it is really nice to go into the medal race like this, because usually we go as leading position and we will have had a great week and we can think oh we can't muck up the medal race. And so tomorrow, we are really excited to go into the medal race like this. It's going to be fun," she added with a smile.
Whilst there is no denying the plants on the water have been a challenge, many teams, including the Austrians, recognize it is a perfect training ground ahead of Rio.
"I think Rio is worse, because here you can see the grass floating and you can see from far away where the weeds are," commented Ogar. "But in Rio the trash is submerged half a metre and you can't see it from far away, and only see it when you are virtually on it. I think this is good training, and if you can do well here, you will do well in Rio."
On her expectations for Saturday's medal race making it a World Championship hat trick, Ogar wisecracked, "I would prefer to have two World titles, and a gold medal in the Olympics!!"
'On it at last' would be fair sentiments for the 2012 Olympic Gold medallists, Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL) as they took out their first win of the series in race 8, followed up with a 7th and are now ready to race for a medal tomorrow.
"It's been a pretty hard week," said Aleh. "We have struggled a bit with a few different issues, so are sort of surprised we are still in the mix, which makes tomorrow fun.
"I haven't really looked at the results that closely, but the way it looks everyone is pretty close so it's just going to be a matter of sail the race. Sail the race to win the race, and I guess we'll be doing that, so it's just another race but 10 boats, which will be a nice change. It will be a good challenge."
Up close behind the Kiwis in 4th place are China's Xiaoli Wang/Lizhu Huang. The halfway stage of the regatta marked a tipping point for the pair, as they accelerated from thereon in, and now both silver and bronze medals are within reach. At the 2013 470 Worlds, history was made for Chinese sailing, when Wang with her former crew claimed the nation's first ever medal at a 470 Women World Championship, securing bronze. They could match or improve on that tomorrow.
Bronze medallists at the 2015 470 Europeans and winners of the Rio 2015 Test Event and Annie Haegar/Brianna Provancha found themselves in a bit of a spin today, and go into the medal race in 8th.
"We made most probably every single mistake you could make in the first race, didn't fetch the pin, didn't get the time, didn't have a line sight, fouled at the mark, missed the layline three times, couldn't get the rudder down on the downwind, it was the snowball effect," said a tired Provancha after racing.
Despite past performance, for them national selection to Rio 2016 comes down to their results here and at the 470 Europeans – a tough process. A perfect example of their resilience was their ability today to climb from last place at the first mark to 15th by the end.
"Hats off to the girls that had a good day, because it was very challenging out there," said Provancha.
In an amazing display of raw talent, Israel's Noya Bar-Am/Rimon Shoshan left the fleet in their wake in the final race of the day, coming alive in the stronger breeze to wrap up a race win.
The top ten leaderboard at the start of the day featured the same teams two races later, just a different order, apart from the French leaders.
470 Women Medal Race Top 10: (full results here)
1. Camille Lecointre/Helene Defrance (FRA 9) - 44 pts
2. Lara Vadlau/Jolanta Ogar (AUT 431) – 50 pts
3. Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL 75) - 51 pts
4. Xiaoli Wang/Lizhu Huang (CHN 1221) - 56 pts
5. Fernanda Oliveira/Ana Luiza Barbachan (BRA 177) - 58 pts
6. Sydney Bolger/Carly Shevitz (USA 88) - 63 pts
7. Agnieszka/Irmina Orozek (POL11) - 67 pts
8. Anne Haeger/Briana Provancha (USA 1712) - 68 pts
9. Bàrbara Cornudella Ravetllat/Sara López Ravetllat (ESP 14) - 75 pts
10. Afrodite Zegers-Kyranakou/Anneloes Van Veen (NED 216) - 76 pts
Participating Nations: (teams from 6 continents / 27 nations)
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, USA.
Useful Links:
NZL hunting medals (from Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting New Zealand)
It's all on for the NZL Sailing Team for the final day of the 2016 470 World Championships with New Zealand vying for medals in both the men's and women's divisions after a solid penultimate day.
Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox have relinquished their overall lead but go into the final day lying 2nd overall, while Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie have continued their climb through the standings to hold 3rd place with one day left.
With its brown, muddy waters San Isidro, Argentina is a challenging venue to sail, as the 49er and 49erFX Olympic sailors discovered last November, however this year an unusual prevalence of weed on the course areas is adding yet another dimension.
Images and footage show floating fields of green weed, and teams are reporting that is making for interesting racing. Today brought thunder storms, rain and strong winds as well!
Men's 470
Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox are guaranteed of their best ever result from a 470 World Championships regatta, now assured of finishing within the top four in Argentina.
The Croatian pair of Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic outperformed the kiwis today with a 2nd and a win, while Snow-Hansen and Willcox are now lying 2nd overall after placing 4th and then 14th in today's two races.
They're anticipating a close battle tomorrow and are looking forward to it. Willcox says, "It's going to be tight and exciting racing tomorrow. In Olympic sailing the competition is so close and if you make a mistake you feel it, so tomorrow is going to be about whoever can put together a good performance around the medal race course."
He continues, "Our goal before the regatta was to be in the shot for a medal and we have put ourselves in a position to do so, so we are just excited and happy to be here and will enjoy getting amongst it tomorrow in the medal race."
"We have sailed a solid week you know, and it's been tough conditions with long days on the water, but the Race Committee has done a great job in getting a full series under the belt. Feeling happy that we have got through the week."
They're being coached in Argentina by Hamish Willcox, a three-time 470 World Champions himself in 1981, '83 and '84, and also coach to Peter Burling and Blair Tuke.
Snow-Hansen and Willcox's previous best result at a 470 World Championship Regatta came in 2013 when they placed 7th in La Rochelle, France. The year prior Snow-Hansen, then partnered with Jason Saunders, represented New Zealand at the London Olympic Games where they finished 5th.
Women's 470
Finding consistency has been tough for everyone in Argentina, and New Zealand's Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie are no exception with some double-digit scores seeing them chasing the front runners as the regatta has unfolded.
"It's been a pretty hard week, we have struggled a bit with a few different issues, so sort of surprised we are still in the mix so that makes tomorrow fun," Jo Aleh says about their performance so far.
Today was their best day yet and they're now within the top three ready to do battle in what promises to be a very close fought medal race. Just eight points separate 5th and 2nd place, with a handful of crews all within reach of the gold medal or a podium finish.
Aleh and Powrie, supported in Argentina by long-time coach Nathan Handley, opened today with a race win, and followed that with an 8th place which lifts them from 5th to 3rd.
Asked about their strategy for tomorrow's medal race Aleh says, "I guess I haven't really looked at the results that closely, but the way it looks everyone is pretty close so it's just going to be a matter of sail the race. Sail the race to win the race, and I guess will be doing that, so it's just another race but 10 boats, which will be a nice change."
Camille Lecointre and Helene Defrance (FRA) have the overall lead, six points in front of defending champions Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar (CRO), with the New Zealand pair very close behind just one point back. China's Xiaoli Wang and Lizhu Huang had their poorest day of the series in the stronger winds and have dropped back to 4th.
This World Championships is a key event in the build-up to August's Rio Olympic Games and everyone is upping their game and making the most of the competition environment.
Aleh says, "The fleet is slowly getting deeper and deeper and there are more people who can be up there for a race here or there and even consistently up there all week and I guess this whole regatta we have had pretty soft conditions until today, and that really mixes things up a bit. A good challenge."
Mat Belcher and Will Ryan in podium spot (from Cora Zillich, Australian Sailing)
It will all come down to the Medal race with defending World Champions Mat Belcher (QLD) and Will Ryan (QLD) wrapping up fleet racing at the 2016 Men’s and Women’s 470 World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Friday, 26 in third.
Two races were completed on the penultimate day of the regatta with Mat Belcher and Will Ryan posting an eighth and a second to hold on to third overall after a total of ten races and ahead of tomorrow’s, Saturday, 27 February 2016, Medal race.
On another tough day with lots of weed obstructing the way of the sailors, Croatia moved to the top of the lead board and now hold a sixteen points lead over Mat Belcher and Will Ryan in third, with three points separating Australia and New Zealand, who are in second.
“Again it was a tough day with plenty of weed. It's just bad sailing. Like everyone else, we’re spending all our time clearing the weed to actually sail the race. But we’re still in with a chance. We closed the gap to second so looking forward to tomorrow,” Mat Belcher said.
And recapping Friday’s racing he added: “The first race we were forced to do an outer loop with the girls as there wasn't any chance to get back down to the start because of the weed. We raced it well but got caught up in a few weed islands, which hurt a bit.”
“In the second race it became too shallow as we were hitting the bottom with our boards so we had to move the course again which proved better. It was heavily shore influenced which made it tricky but we managed a good race. Apart from the first day's racing we were really happy with how we came back. Looking forward to a good rest and fight for tomorrow.”
It has been a long week for the pair and despite a challenging start to the regatta and coping with a ‘weed-obstacle course’, the pair had a strong come back from 33rd on the first day to third on the penultimate day.
Leading Croatians Fantela/Marenic were the last team to win a 470 World title, before the six year run of World title success by Mat Belcher, three golds with Malcolm Page and three with Will Ryan. Saturday’s Medal race will be ultimate decider on who will come out on top, but the Croatians are in a great position.
“It’s been really hard racing here having only the one fleet and with the conditions we’ve had, the regatta has become a bit of a marathon. The weed has made it very difficult to race our normal style and after not a great day one, we have been happy to survive each day. We are in medal contention and still have a small chance to win and it's never over until the end. So as always we will go out there and try our best,” Wil Ryan said.
On the last day of fleet racing, Australian Sailing Squads Patrick and Alexander Conway (NSW) posted a 17th and 22nd to finish the event in overall 22nd. Victorians Tom Klemens (VIC) and Tim Hannah (VIC) wrapped up the regatta with a 15th place to finish the event in 34th.
In the Women’s fleet, two races were completed on the penultimate day with Australian Sailing Team’s Carrie Smith (WA) and Jaime Ryan (QLD) posting a 24th and 27th to finish the regatta in overall 18th.
Australian Sailing Squad’s Sasha Ryan (QLD) and Ella Clark (WA) posted a 32nd and 24th and finish ranked 27th.