Strong start for Aussies at Kiel Week
by Blue Robinson 24 Jun 02:21 BST
Elyse Ainsworth (ILCA 6) competing at Kieler Woche in Kiel, Germany © Beau Outteridge / Australian Sailing Team
Wednesday's light wind frustrations were forgotten for the Australian sailors competing at Kiel Week in Germany, as a thermal breeze came through mid-morning which built to 7-10 knots giving the fleets a full day of competition.
The breeze suited many of the Aussie athletes, with the standout performance coming from Tokyo Olympian Mara Stransky who leads the ILCA 6 fleet with a 4th, 2nd and 1st place today.
"'With 8-10 knots onshore, it was still quite patchy, but it was great to get the same conditions for three races in a row. It really allowed us to focus on the key points."
Prior to this event, the ILCA 6 squad worked in Holland with National Coach Carolijn Bouwer, finetuning their prestart work and that paid dividends today as Mara explained.
"In the first race I didn't get the best start and was playing catch-up for a little while, so from then on it was about refining the process. The downwind legs gave us all passing opportunities and interestingly upwind as well, with each side of the course pretty even. A clean start was really important, and by doing that well it put me in a strong position to take the 2nd place in race 2 and then 1st place in the final race of the day. It was really great sailing and a lot of fun."
Assistant National ILCA 6 Coach Ben Walkemeyer was delighted with today's results.
"All three races started on time with no general recalls, which is a bonus on the days where we are trying to catch up after yesterday's cancellations," said Walkemeyer. "All four Australian ILCA 6 squad sailors had solid days. They were very consistent, all sitting in the top ten, with a race win for Mara in the last race and a second place for Casey Imeneo in race one. I am really pleased overall."
The Nacra 17 crew of Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin finished today in fifth place, with the last race their worst result of the day.
"Coming in from the Australian team's win at the Chicago SailGP event, my connection from London was cancelled, meaning another day's delay there," said Waterhouse. "All this means we are a bit undercooked in our preparations here, but I am happy with the day. I was perhaps a little fatigued on the start line in the last race and I made an error. I wasn't thinking straight which resulted in that 17th place, but other than that we are fine."
Jason is very clear on the level of competition throughout the Nacra 17 fleet at Kiel 2022.
"We have thirty-one boats, and I don't think we are missing any key names in the fleet, as they are all preparing for the Europeans in two weeks' time up in Denmark. The breeze today was good, going from non-foiling upwind to foiling crossover, so that was great."
Jake Liddell and Lucy Copeland are in 16th place with a 21st, 19th, and 14th with their best result of the day an 11th place in race 4.
Chris Charlwood and Amelia Catt in the Mixed 470 are poised just outside the top ten group in 12th place, with Nia Jerwood and Conor Nicholas currently in 23rd place.
Olivia Price and Evie Haseldine are the best placed Australians in the 49erFX fleet in 22nd place with an 11th, 8th, 3rd and 8th in the sixty-four boat fleet, with Tess Lloyd and Dervla Duggan in 27th place and Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot 30th.
In the 49er fleet, Thomas Needham and Joel Turner were the highest placed Australians finishing the day in 15th, with Jack Ferguson and Max Paul 25th, Jim Colley and Shaun Connor 26th, Otto Henry and Flynn Twomey 39th, with Tom Burton and Simon Hoffman's UFD in race 1 dropping them down to 42nd place.
Racing continues from 11am local time Friday 24th June. The athletes are set for a big day of competition with a stronger breeze forecast, plus hotter temperatures, which are set to rise to 29 degrees.
Visit the event website here: kieler-woche.de/en
Follow the results of Kiel Week 2022 here: kieler-woche.de/en/sailing/results.php
Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) and Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) entries at Kiel Week 2022:
470 Mixed (40 entries)
12th- Chris Charlwood and Amelia Catt (ASS) 3, (20), 15 = 38 points
23rd- Nia Jerwood and Conor Nicholas (ASS) 14, (30), 24 = 68
29th- Sophie Jackson and Angus Higgins (ASF) (36), 31,22 = 89
49er (96 entries)
16th Tom Needham and Joel Turner (ASS) 1, 3, (10), 9 = 23 points
25th Jack Ferguson and Max Paul (ASS) 5, (12), 8, 9 = 34
26th Jim Colley and Shaun O'Connor (ASS) 5, (12), 8, 10 = 35
39th Otto Henry and Flynn Twomey (ASF) (18), 8, 10, 18 = 54
42nd Tom Burton and Simon Hoffmann (ASS) (31 UFD), 9, 7, 22 = 69
47th Thomas Cunich and Miles Davey (ASF) (17),13, 12, 16 = 58
68th Ryan Littlechild and Jack Hildebrand (ASF) 25, (26), 18, 19 = 88
49erFX (71 entries)
22nd Olivia Price and Evie Haseldine (ASS) (11), 8, 3, 8 = 30 points
29th Tess Lloyd and Dervia Duggan (ASS) 7, (15), 10, 5 = 37
30th Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot (ASS) (12), 7, 6, 10 = 35
33rd Mina Ferguson and Madeleine McLeay (ASF)15, 11, 1, 23 (RET) = 50
52nd Lilly Richardson and Matilda Richardson (ASF) 15, (19), 16, 14 = 64
54th Chloe Fisher and Laura Thomson (ASF) 18, 18, (20), 13 = 69
ILCA 7 (105 entries)
DNC Luke Elliott (AST)
ILCA 6 (42 entries)
1st Mara Stransky (AST) (4),2, 1 = 7 points
4th Zoe Thomson (ASS) (6), 6, 2 = 14
7th Elyse Ainsworth (ASS) 7, (9), 5 = 21
8th Casey Imeneo (ASS) 2, 12, (22) = 36
27th Evie Saunders (ASF) (30), 25, 19 = 74
Nacra 17 (34 entries)
5th Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AST) 2, 3, 9, (17) = 31 points
16th Jake Liddell and Lucy Copeland (ASS) (21), 19, 14, 11 = 65
18th Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown (ASF) 11 STP, 18, 20, (23) = 72
27th Archie Garrett and Sarah Hoffman (ASF) 20, 25, (30), 29 = 104