Victor's Dream Teams win Zhik Australian 470 Class Championship

Mat Belcher and Will Ryan dominate the Men's Australian 470 Class Championship © Victor Kovalenko

Sarah Cook & Carrie Smith win the Women's Australian 470 Class Championship © Cook

Victor's Dream Team at the Australian 470 Class Championship © Will Ryan

Mat Belcher and Will Ryan dominate Australian 470 Class Championship — Sarah Cook wins second consecutive 470 National Title

Olympic champion and 2013 Rolex World Sailor of the Year Mathew Belcher (QLD) and World Champion crew Will Ryan (QLD) have taken home another Australian Championship title in the Olympic 470 class event. The crew won the national championship regatta convincingly by winning every race they contested in the eleven boat fleet. The pair opted not to sail yesterday's final race ten, but by that time victory was already well and truly secured.

It was the eighth nationals win for Mat Belcher, the second for Will Ryan and the second national title for the crew Belcher and Ryan since the duo got together post the London Olympic Games.

"It was a good event with tricky conditions. While the fleet was not huge, we had some very close racing, which was great practice before heading to Europe later this month. We have a strong squad and it's been very good for our preparation to train and race with these guys. My guess would be that we'll see the top six nationals crews go well on the European circuit as well. Our first 2014 European regatta will be the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Palma de Mallorca, Spain at the end of this month," Ryan said post the event about the current level of the Australian 470 class and the plans ahead.

Australian Sailing Squad athletes Angus Galloway (QLD) and Timothy Hannah (VIC) finished second, while Matt and Rob Crawford (NSW) came fourth. Alexander and Patrick Conway (NSW) were third.

The most special moment for 25-year-old Ryan was not winning the event though, but being awarded a "Victor's Dream Team" hat by Olympic medallist and winning America's Cup skipper John Bertrand, AM at the prize giving.

"It's a hat our Head Coach Victor Koavalenko, OAM, had made back in 2000 and there's only a limited number of these embroidered hats. Victor has been very selective who he gives one to and it has only been awarded to selected national champs. But the recipients so far have all subsequently won an Olympic gold medal - for example Mat, Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson. Being awarded this cap out of the hands of John Bertrand was a real privilege. Sarah and Carrie received one as well, so Victor has high hopes for this squad."

It also was the second national title in the female fleet of the 470 class for Olympic rower turned sailor Sarah Cook (ACT/VIC) racing together with 2013 ISAF Youth Sailor World Champion and Australian Sailing Squad member Carrie Smith (WA). The pair finished an overall 8th behind the male fleet.

"It was a tough week for Carrie and I. We've come a long way since the Melbourne World Cup though, which is really encouraging. On the back of primarily hot and light wind training over the last month in Melbourne, we had a bit of everything during the nationals with winds ranging from 5-25+ knots and gusty strong conditions. Due to our lack of time together, particularly in windy conditions, we battled to overcome the elements. However we managed to keep our frame of mind positive, and viewed every race and every condition as a training opportunity and a chance to grow and take steps towards our European campaign. Towards the end of the regatta things really started to come together for us. We raced smarter, and found ourselves being competitive with the men's fleet and were able to win the women's category", Sarah Cook described the regatta.

After winning her second national sailing title, Cook added: "I was delighted to win a second championship and it was the first for Carrie. But for Carrie and I the biggest thing is just learning as much as we can about the 470, whilst still pushing our limits competitively. This ended up putting us in the water on a few occasions, but I think it's important to always push the limits of where we're comfortable, and as a result we were able to see big step ups and growth throughout this regatta."

With Elise Rechichi out of the boat due to medical reasons, Cook and Smith will continue to race together for the start of the European season and will be heading to Europe to race at the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Hyères in France in April as well as at Garda Olympic week in Italy at the beginning of May. The current plan is for Rechichi to be back in the boat in May.

Belcher and Ryan as well as Cook and Smith will be at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra for a joint training camp of AST/ASS athletes this week, before heading to Europe later this month.

The Zhik 470 Class Australian Championship were held at Sorrento, Victoria from 19-23 Feb 2014.

Overall Results:

Australian Sailing is the performance arm of Yachting Australia in partnership with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and with support from the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC).

The Australian Sailing Team (AST) is the national representative team for Olympic and Paralympic class sailing.

The Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) is the development program of the Australian Sailing Team and provides the pathway from elite youth to Olympic level competition.

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