Tricky, shifty conditions on day one at Sail Sydney

Belgium sailors negotating Sydney Harbour in the Laser Radial fleet at Sail Sydney © Robin Evans

Day one of Sail Sydney 2016 is done and dusted with 10 classes racing on Sydney Harbour, kick starting their regatta campaigns.

Shortly after the Race Briefing at Woollahra Sailing Club, competitors launched into day way with moderate visibility and a 10 knot breeze. Principal Race Officer, Colin Chidgey said that the conditions throughout the day varied with competitors managing the shifts, visibility and Harbour traffic.

"The fleets are performing well under difficult conditions and our volunteers are also working well as a team to manage the changing conditions," Colin said.

"It's early days in the regatta but today has been another spectacle on the Harbour. We had Beau Geste andScallywag charging through at one stage as they prepare for Sydney Hobart. Our Race Officers are situationally aware so it makes the challenge of the Harbour easier to manage."

The 470, 420 and Laser Radial & 4.7 fleets were first off the dock in the morning session with plenty of international representatives out to compete against Australia's best dinghy sailors.

Rio Olympians and Australian Sailing Team 470 Women duo, Carrie Smith and Jaime Ryan finished the day with two wins and one second.

"Racing today was pretty tricky out there, typical Sydney Harbour, lots of land influences and it was good to be back here racing because we haven't trained here since before Rio," Carrie said. "It's unusually cold and wet out here for December.

"We are racing together with the men's fleets so it is really nice because we can get a lot out of it, the boys really push us in conditions like today, especially when we are on the wire, they can really push us to sail better and race harder."

In the 470 Men, the Conway boys in Alexander and Patrick head into day two with a one point lead after two wins and a second today.

Charlotte Griffin and Kate Richardson lead the 420 class after sailing their dinghy Crush to one win and two third places.

The Laser Radial and 4.7 fleets relished in conditions with the two Laser Radial Belgium sailors, Emma Plasschaert and Maite Carlier both posting impressive results across four races with Emma leading the fleet and Maite in second.

In the 4.7 class, Jack Littlechild from the host club, Woollahra Sailing Club posted one win, two seconds and a fifth to head into day two of racing leading the fleet by three points. On the back of winning at Sail Melbourne last week, Jack is keen for the winning pattern to continue.

"Today the conditions were difficult it was shifty and gusty conditions," Jack said. "It was anyone's game out there today and the key for me was consistency.

"It helps a little bit that Woollahra is my home sailing club but I have never sailed in that area between the heads and Shark Island across the channel that we did today.

"My game plan for tomorrow is to get to the club, get on the water and sail to the best of my ability."

Afternoon action from Sail Sydney seen the Finn, 49er, 49 FX and 29er fleets flying across the Harbour. With an excess of 30 29er boats out for Sail Sydney glory, the conditions didn't favour anyone but Tom Crocket and crew Max Paul negotiated things perfectly to come out on top.

29er fleet in action at Sail Sydney - photo © Robin Evans

"We knew that it was going to be a tough day but we just did our best and posted some really good results," Tom said.

"Tomorrow's conditions are expected to be much of the same so we will just try to come out and emulate our performance today.

David Gilmour and Joel Turner from Western Australia hold a narrow lead in the 49er class heading into day two while Amelia Stabback and Pia Doyle lead the 49FX fleet.

Australian Sailing Team's Matthew Wearn bounced back after the Sailing World Cup Final in Melbourne to sit in second position behind Jeremy O'Connell from Sandringham Yacht Club in Victoria.

"It was a tricky spot to be racing today, in amongst the ferry lane altered racing which was a challenge but still provided good racing," Matt said. "It's definitely not an easy fleet to be racing against, its quiet tough as the results indicate.

"The turnaround between Sailing World Cup and here is a bit quick but Sail Sydney is a short regatta so it's easy to just smash it out."

Rio Olympian Jake Lilley is leading the Finn Class with two wins and a fifth on the first day of racing.

Sail Sydney is proudly supported by the NSW Government through Transport for NSW, Nautilus Marine Boat Insurance, Gill Marine Technical Clothing, Steve Jarvin Motors, Tohatsu Outboards, Lejen Marine and Sydney Harbour Boat Storage. Drummoyne Yacht Club and Vaucluse Yacht Club are proud partners of Sail Sydney 2016.

More information and full results on the event website, www.sailsydney.org

* All results posted and quoted in this article were correct at the time of publication pending protests.