Aquece Rio – International Sailing Regatta - Day 5
by ISAF 20 Aug 2015 14:12 BST
15-22 August 2015
Sailors were tested by a northern Rio breeze for the first time at the Aquece Rio - International Sailing Regatta in a testing day for the sailors and officials.
Heading into the day, upon viewing the forecast, many believed the Race Committees would be hard pressed to fit in any racing with 2-6 knots present.
A northern early afternoon breeze enabled the Nacra 17 and RS:X fleets to get some racing in before the breeze slowly turned round to the south.
It was a long day for all of the competitors as they waited for a breeze suitable for racing. The Finn and Nacra 17 fleet completed two whilst the 470s, 49erFX, Laser, Laser Radial and RS:X fleets got one race apiece in. Only the 49ers were unable to get any racing in.
Men's and Women's RS:X
Aichen Wang's (CHN) Olympic gold medal winning coach Tom Ashley (NZL) described his athlete's performance as, "one of the best I have seen," after the Chinese sailor opened up a 17 point lead over his Men's RS:X rivals.
Ashley, who won gold in the Men's RS:X at Beijing 2008, has guided Wang to five race victories from nine fleet races with the remaining results all in the top five.
The ball is firmly in Wang's court heading into the Medal Race and Ashley was full of high praise after racing, "He's been amazing this week. I have rarely seen anyone give such a good performance. All the years that I was sailing and the last couple of years I've been watching as a coach, so far, it's been one of the best performances I have seen. We have still got the Medal Race tomorrow and we'll see how that goes but it's been really good."
Ashley knows it's not about what you do now that matters. Athletes have one more year to wait until the Olympic Games so there's time to finalise and fine tune therefore Ashley won't be getting too carried away, "I think he and I both know we still have a lot of work to do. There are a few issues that we need to solve. Obviously they haven't shown up here because of the conditions we have had but for us to be absolutely bullet proof next year we still have work to do."
Asked who would win between Wang now and Ashley at his peak the Kiwi replied with a smile, "him for sure but people are just better now. The level of the fleet is so much higher than it used to be.
"Before I imagined I would teach him techniques from the other sailors and from what I used to know. Recently, I've started to think he has a lot better potential than what I had.
"This week he has shown what he can do and I would have never been able to sail like that on my best days. It's exciting to see that potential come out."
And Wang's potential has shone brightly indeed with only the second placed Pierre Le Coq (FRA) able to overthrow him if eight boats separate the duo. In all likelihood Le Coq will be aiming to protect his silver medal with Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) six points behind and Ivan Pastor (ESP) ten points behind heading into the Medal Race.
France's Charline Picon had the "power to do good" in the Women's RS:X as she took the bullet in the single race of the day.
After a bad day on 18 August that saw her finish 13th Picon's day was made worse after her coach was unable to take to the water on 19 August after violating the support boat regulations.
Picon came out to show the fleet she meant business as she explained, "I had a good race today," smiled Picon. "It was important for me because yesterday I had a bad race. I had a bad start and after that it was easy for everybody to stay up front. The water is very flat and in light wind, if you are at the back, it is very hard because everybody is very fast. I did my best but I was frustrated.
"Today I had to prove to myself I could have a good race in light wind and I did it. I'm happy with that.
"I didn't have my coach today because yesterday he went out of the coach boat zone for 20 metres for 10 seconds so he was in the jury room last night and he couldn't enter the marina today so I was without my coach and I had the power to do good."
And Picon was powerful, working her way through the pack to take a 36 second victory over Tuuli Petaja-Siren (FIN).
As a result, the French racer tops the billing heading into the Medal, albeit via countback as she sits tied on 29 points with Malgorzata Bialecka (POL). Spain's Blanca Manchon is third on 31 points and it could be a three way shoot out in the Women's RS:X Medal Race.
Nacra 17
Australia's Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin were dominant in the Nacra 17 taking both race wins to advance to the top of the leader board, "It was an interesting day today, we got to sail into a different direction," commented Darmanin.
"We've been here for a month and it was the first time we raced in a northerly, which was very interesting to see how it played out. But it was good and we had a good first race and got a bullet, so I don't mind this direction," Darmanin said laughing.
"The wind wasn't happy after that and we had to wait a long time while it decided what it wanted to do. Finally it settled from the south and we got another race in. Two races for us today and two bullets so we are pretty happy."
Waterhouse and Darmanin have played the long game in Rio, sailing effectively to put together eight top seven results. They lead early pace setters Paul Kohlhoff and Carolina Werner (GER) who dropped down to third after a 13-10 with Mandy Mulder and Coen de Koning (NED) moving up to second after a 3-4.
The Australians took the first race win of the day by 41 seconds but were pushed a little harder in the second, crossing the line 11 seconds clear.
One day of fleet racing remains ahead of Friday's Medal Race and Waterhouse is happy with their positioning, "Lisa did a great job keeping the boat going forward and we were making good decisions and that's all you can ask for in a venue like this. This puts us into first place overall and that's where we want to be in the end. We hope to consolidate tomorrow and to improve on our result going into the Medal Race because anything can happen at the Sugar Loaf (Medal Race Course)."
Men's and Women's 470
Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO) advanced up to first overall in the Men's 470 following victory in the single race on the Pai course, the furthest away from Marina da Gloria. The Croatians were comfortable on the race track and finished 26 seconds clear of Onan Barreiros and Juan Curbelo Cabrera (ESP).
They lead overnight leaders Stu McNay and Dave Hughes (USA) by just two points after the Americans came through in fifth.
In the Women's 470 Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha (USA) held onto top spot with a smart performance. In the single race that saw ups and downs amongst the top five teams the Americans held firm to sail their way to a second. Afrodite Zegers and Anneloes van Veen (NED) took the race win and moves up to sixth overall.
Laser and Laser Radial
It was one race apiece for the Laser and Laser Radial fleets outside of Guanabara Bay on the Copacabana race course.
Francesco Marrai (ITA) extended his lead in the Laser by taking a second, behind race winner Jean Baptiste Bernaz (FRA). The Italian has subsequently moved 13 points clear of Lee Parkhill (CAN) and Robert Scheidt (BRA) who are tied on 43 points apiece.
In the Laser Radial, Paige Railey (USA) reduced the gap on Gintare Scheidt (LTU) to four points. Railey's sixth compared to Scheidt's ninth was enough to put her within touching distance.
Sweden's Josefin Olsson took the race victory and occupies ninth.
Finn
Jonathan Lobert (FRA) and Giles Scott (GBR) shone in the Finn and reeled in the early pace setter Pieter Jan Postma (NED).
Scott put in the outstanding performance of the day with a 1-3 to move up to fourth overall whilst a third and a second for Lobert sees him tied on points with Postma who sailed his way to a 16th, which he discards, and a sixth.
49erFX
The 49erFX got one race in before the sunset, starting at 17:05 on the Escola Naval course. Ida Marie Nielsen and Marie Olsen (DEN) picked up the victory and move up to fifth overall.
Overnight leaders Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) slipped down to third after a 16th. Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich (ITA) move back up to first overall following an eighth. Argentina's Victoria Travascio and Maria Sol Branz remain in a podium position after discarding their 19th.
Racing is scheduled to commence at 12:00 local time on Thursday 20 August. The Men's and Women's RS:X will roll out first to complete their week with the Medal Races.
Tracking and Competition Status Screen at www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/multimedia/live_tracking.php
Results at www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/results
Useful links:
Six Kiwis lying top ten (from Yachting New Zealand)
It was a mixed bag for the NZL Sailing Team crews that did sail in the challenging conditions. Going into day six of the eight day regatta, six of the seven kiwi crews are within the top ten of their fleet.
The planned racing schedule was interrupted, with reduced racing across most fleets and none at all for the 49er meaning Peter Burling and Blair Tuke remain in the lead.
Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders in the Nacra were the first fleet to race today and they opened well with a 2nd place.
"We got sent out in the northerly breeze and we raced in that which was a bit of a surprise, but it was steady and fair," says 21 year old helm Gemma Jones.
Then the wind shut down and the multihull fleet drifted on the bay, in anticipation of the south easterly which didn't eventuate until around 4o'clock.
"We raced another race in that breeze which was very flaky with tide lines. It was a crazy race in which we recovered well to get 6th so we were happy."
Asked about how the day went overall Jones was relieved with the outcome; "It could have gone really bad, lots of good boats were not doing well. It was tricky and we managed to get two keepers so we're really happy."
"We'll have four races tomorrow, which will be fun. I think there is a bit more breeze scheduled which will be nice – to get a good range of conditions. And it's all very close on points so tomorrow will be a big day."
Just one race was possible for both the Men's and Women's 470 classes. Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie placed 12th in their race and end the day in 9th overall, while Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox placed 16th today to hold 16th overall in the men's division.
Josh Junior opened with his best Finn race of the regatta, finishing 2nd, but wasn't able to replicate that in the subsequent race recording a 17th which becomes his drop score. Junior is in 7th on 23 points just one adrift of Norway in 6th.
A 3rd on the water today for Andy Maloney in the Laser class is his best race of the regatta so far and it lifts him from 10th up to 8th overall going into tomorrow. Maloney reported a decent breeze of around 12-15 knots on the Copacabana course for their single race.
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke did not sail today and remain in the lead in the 49er class. They will be back on the water tomorrow.
The lack of wind over days four and five of 2015 Rio Test Event sees the schedule of competition compressed tighter into the remaining three available days with race officials doing their utmost to get races underway where possible.
Team Manager Jez Fanstone says, "It's been tricky for the race officers the last couple of days. We haven't had good steady winds and so it's been really hard to set a course. And it's also been really tricky to sail in."
"For the rest of the week it means they may well try and squeeze more races in tomorrow. For example on the Nacra course there could be four races in one day which can make a big change to the whole outlook of the regatta."
"At the moment we're looking at a southerly front to come in with a bit more wind, so we're all hoping for a more stable set of conditions, and I know that's what the Principal Race Officer will be hoping for as well."
Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin hold first place (from Australian Sailing)
Australian Sailing Team's Jason Waterhouse (NSW) and Lisa Darmanin (NSW) have taken the lead in the Nacra17 at the Aquece Rio – International Sailing Regatta 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil after winning both their races on Wednesday (19 August 2015).
The Nacra 17 and the Finn were the only boat classes to get two races in with another day of unusual wind challenges resulting in the cancellation and reduction of races.
All Australian crews were meant to be racing on Wednesday, but in the end the Men's Skiff (49er) were sent home and Laser, 470M, 49erFX only got one race in, while the Finn completed two instead of the scheduled three.
Winners of the day from an Australian point of view were cousins Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin who have sailed a consistent regatta and put in their strongest day thus far.
They kicked off the day with a race win and had to wait for several hours on the water before they could get another race in, and they won that as well.
"It was an interesting day today, we've got to sail into a different direction! We've been here for a month and it was the first time we raced in a Northerly, which was very interesting to see how it played out. But it was good and we had a good first race and got a bullet, so I don't mind this direction," Lisa Darmanin said laughing.
"The wind wasn't happy after that and we had to wait a long time while it decided what it wanted to do. Finally it settled from the South and we got another race in. Two races for us today and two bullets so we are pretty happy."
And helm Jason Waterhouse added: "The key for us today was that we got off the line really well in both races, which is something we've been working on. The boat felt really comfortable in a light up and down race. Lisa did a great job keeping the boat going forward and we were making good decisions and that's all you can ask for in a venue like this. This puts us into first place overall and that's where we want to be in the end. We hope to consolidate tomorrow and to improve on our result going into the Medal Race because anything can happen at the Sugar Loaf (Medal Race Course)."
It is a tight game in the Nacra17 fleet with the pair now leading by only two points ahead of the second ranked Dutch, but reflecting their consistency they carry a very low seventh place to drop.
While it was smiles in the Nacra17 team camp, the day did not go as planned for Olympic gold medallist Mat Belcher (QLD) and World Champion crew Will Ryan (QLD). The pair were first across the finish line in the one and only race of the day but were black-flagged (disqualified) after being ahead of the line at the start.
"We actually sailed really well with good boat speed and did the basics right. But unfortunately, we were over the start early. It wasn't our best day, but tomorrow we've got three more races, hopefully on an offshore course and good winds. So we are looking to make amends," Will Ryan said after the race.
"It was actually a scheduled rest day for us today, but due to not getting any racing in yesterday, they brought us down again this morning, which was good. Unfortunately the wind didn't show up this morning, so it was another day of waiting around in the heat here. Fortunately, when we got to the furthest offshore course late this afternoon we had a good sea breeze and got one race in."
The pair currently sit ten points behind the leading team from Croatia.
The Laser fleet managed to get one race with a ninth place for Tom Burton (NSW) who holds on to his fourth place.
"A long day again. We waited until two o'clock and the race committee sent us out on the Copacabana course, so a long tow out there. It's not as far as the Pai course, but still a long tow. As soon as we got there, the breeze was in and they started us off straight away. I managed to get a ninth. Solid compared to some of the things that can happen out there on the tricky course. I was better at times, but I was worse at time as well. So this was a solid result, but not as good as yesterday," Tom Burton said.
One race was also sailed in the 49erFX with Olympic silver medallist Olivia Price (NSW) and crew Jaime Ryan (QLD) with the fleet finishing in the dark. The pair posted a 14th place and sit in 15th overall.
In the Finn class, Jake Lilley (QLD) moved up one spot into 12th after posting a tenth and a 12th
Racing was cancelled for Olympic gold medallists Nathan Outteridge (NSW) and Iain Jensen (NSW), who are currently ranked fourth in the 49er. With only on race day left ahead of Friday's Medal Races in the 49er/FX, Laser and Nacra 17 the pressure will be on in Thursday's racing.
With a front expected to come through, the hope is for better winds on Thursday and the remainder of the event.