Two Australian teams hit the lead at Tokyo 2020 Olympic regatta
by Michael Martin, Australian Sailing 29 Jul 2021 14:19 BST
Mat Belcher and Will Ryan - Tokyo 2020 Olympic regatta © Sailing Energy / World Sailing
Two Australians sit atop the leader board after day five of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic regatta, with Matt Wearn (Laser) and Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (Men's 470) making the most of favourable conditions in Enoshima today.
Wearn put together a stunning day, he led at every mark of both races on his way to posting two race wins. The results were enough to turn a nine-point deficit to Cypriot Pavlos Kontides coming into the day into a fifteen-point lead with just three races to come.
"You're never going to feel bad coming off the water after two wins," said Wearn in his usual understated manner. "There was a bit more breeze today which made for great sailing. It felt like I had underperformed earlier in the week so it was nice to be able to go out and put together some performances like I would expect myself to do."
The strong breezes played in to Wearn's hands, but he was more than ready to make the most of his opportunity when it was presented.
"You get days like that which Australians absolutely love with a bit of breeze and some nice waves," he concluded. "It was nice to unleash a bit of speed today, but I know that there is still plenty of racing left."
Days don't get much better at an Olympic regatta than posting back-to-back bullets when you are already wearing the leader's gold bib, but that is exactly what our Men's 470 team of Mat Belcher and Will Ryan did today.
"Today was one of those days where it felt like we sailed really well and did what we are capable of doing," said Rio silver medallist Ryan.
The pair have set themselves up nicely, but with only four of eleven races in the books they know they must always be on their toes no matter the conditions.
"Mat did a really good job of keeping us fast through the racetrack on a pretty changeable day," continued Ryan. He and I are working on a united strategy, one where we always challenge each other to make sure you are getting the best out of each situation."
The Olympic regatta continues tomorrow with action in the Men's and Women's 470, Laser, Laser Radial (2 races each), 49er and 49erFX (3 races each) classes.
You can follow live tracking of the races on the Australian Sailing Team website.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Regatta standings:
49er (19 boats)
1st: Dylan Fletcher-Scott and Stuart Bithell (GBR) 2, 8, 4, 1, (12), 2 - 17 pts
2nd: Diego Botin and Iago Lopez Marra (ESP) 5, 1, 2, 5, 4, (10) - 17 pts
3rd: Jonas Warrer and Jakob Precht Jensen (DEN) 6, 5, (10), 3, 1, 4 - 19 pts
8th: Will Phillips and Sam Phillips (AUS) 7, 4, 1, 8, 11, (15) - 31 pts
49erFX (21 boats)
1st: Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey (GBR) 1, 1, (6) 4, 2, 5 - 13 pts
2nd: Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED) (13), 8, 2, 1, 6, 1, - 18 pts
3rd: Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Martin (ESP) 2, 10, (22 UFD), 2, 3, 3 - 20 pts
11th: Tess Lloyd and Jaime Ryan (AUS) 9, (11), 7, 9, 11, 10 - 46 pts
Finn (19 boats)
1st: Giles Scott (GBR) (9), 9, 1, 1, 1, 1 - 13 pts
2nd: Joan Cardona (ESP) 3, 3, (5) 3, 2, 3 - 14 pts
3rd: Zsombor Berecz (HUN) 2, 2, (9), 4, 6, 7 - 21 pts
8th: Jake Lilley (AUS) 10, 8, 4, (11), 7, 9 - 38pts
Laser (35 boats)
1st: Matt Wearn (AUS) 17, (28), 2, 4, 2, 2, 1, 1 - 29 pts
2nd: Pavlos Kontides (CYP) 4, 7, 5, 1, 20, 1, (36 RET), 6 - 44 pts
3rd: Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR) 3, (18), 15, 2, 6, 8, 10, 5 - 49 pts
Laser Radial (44 boats)
1st: Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) 6, 5, 3, (13), 4, 4, 2, 1 - 25 pts
2nd: Tuula Tenkanen (FIN) 9, 6, 14, (33), 5, 3, 6, 3 - 46 pts
3rd: Josefin Olsson (SWE) (34), 15, 8, 4, 1, 6, 4, 9 - 47 pts
20th: Mara Stransky (AUS) 12, 26, 19, 10, 19, 16, (BFD), 24 - 126 pts
Men's 470 (19 boats)
1st: Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) 2, (5), 1, 1 - 4 pts
2nd: Luke Patience and Chris Grube (GBR) 3, (8), 2, 4 - 9 pts
3rd: Anton Dahlberg and Frederick Bergstrom (SWE) 1, (15), 8, 5 - 14 pts
Women's 470 (21 boats)
1st: Agnieszka Skrzypulec and Jolanta Ogar (POL) 1, 1, 2, (5) - 4 pts
2nd: Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) 4, 3, (7), 1 - 8 pts
3rd: Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz (FRA) 3, 2, 4, (7) - 9 pts
11th: Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries (AUS) 7, (12), 12, 8 - 27 pts
Nacra 17 (20 boats)
1st: Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti (ITA) 1, 3, 1, 2, (5), 1 - 8 pts
2nd: John Gimson and Anna Burnet (GBR) (7), 5, 2, 1, 1, 2 - 11 pts
3rd: Paul Kohlhoff / Alicia Stuhlemmer (GER) 5, 1, 7, 3, 3, (11) - 19 pts
5th: Jason Waterhouse / Lisa Darmanin (AUS) 2, (11), 4, 4, 7, 8 - 25 pts