Day one of racing at the 2009 Sail Melbourne regatta is complete with a strong breeze and big waves providing perfect racing conditions for the opening round of the 2009-2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup.
Australia's 2008 Beijing Olympic Games gold medallist
Malcolm Page and skipper
Mat Belcher led the Men's 470 fleet from start to finish, recording two wins to open the regatta.
"For the first day of a regatta it was a pretty good one for us," said Page. "We were in front throughout both races and we didn't get crossed all day which is always a good sign."
"We made a few basic errors with our crew work but we can't complain too much after winning two from two," said Page.
The pair won the Men's 470 class at Sail Melbourne in 2008, their first regatta together, and will be looking to continue their good run on Port Phillip Bay this week.
"The conditions were nice today, wind in the high teens and big waves, typical Melbourne stuff," said Belcher. "It was certainly nice when you get it right, making sailing downwind easy."
American's
Stuart McNay and
Graham Biehl are second with Singaporeans
Roy Junhao Tay and
Terence Koh third. In the Women's 470 fleet New Zealanders
Jo Aleh and
Olivia Powrie lead with two wins ahead of Australians
Stacey Omay and
Chelsea Hall.
Dawn Liu and
Siobhan Tam (SIN) lie in third.
Local sailors
Will Phillips and
Sam Phillips (AUS) are leading the way in the 49er fleet after the opening three races. The Phillips brothers won the day's first race, following up with two seconds to finish the day with a two point lead over New Zealanders
Peter Burling and
Blair Tuke. Reigning World and Australian 49er Champions,
Nathan Outteridge and
Iain Jensen sit in third position, four points of the lead after a second, first and sixth.
Racing was fierce throughout the small but competitive fleet, demonstrated with the top three crews each having a race victory.
In the Finn class South Australian
James Paterson and Great Britain sailor
Henry Bagnall shared the honours, with a race win and second placing each, ahead of
Warwick Hill (AUS) in third.
Canadian sailor
Michael Leigh is first in the Laser class, just one point clear of German
Malte Kamrath with New South Welshman
James Burman (AUS) six points back in third position. The Laser fleet has a definite international feel with the top ten featuring sailors from seven nations.
In the Laser Radial women's fleet
Paige Railey (USA) is first, with a win and a second placing, ahead of German
Franziska Goltz and Dutch sailor
Marit Bouwmeester.
Laura Baldwin (AUS) is the best placed Australian in fifth place, ahead of
Alex South (AUS) in ninth.
Three-time Olympian
Jessica Crisp (AUS) started her regatta in the best possible fashion, winning the opening two Women's RS:X races to lead the fleet, ahead of
Jannicke Stålstrøm (NOR) and
Angeliki Skarlatou (GRE). Columbian
Nicolas Lozano also had two first places in the Men's RS:X class, with Singaporean
Leonard Ong second and Queenslander
Joel Tyack (AUS) third.
Amongst the Paralympic events, Peter Thompson (AUS) leads the way in the 2.4m fleet, winning the opening two races, ahead of 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games gold medallist, Canadian Paul Tingley, who finished behind Thompson in each race.
Father and son team Peter Macgregor and Duncan Macgregor (AUS) had a perfect day aboard their SKUD18, winning both races to sit on top of the ladder ahead of Krista Bailey and Michael Lewenhagen (AUS), with New Zealanders Tim Dempsey and Paulien Eitjes in third.
In the non-Olympic classes, Victorians James Sly and Andrew Gillies are tied for the lead with Byron White and Thomas Koerner in the 29er class with Adam Lahey and Troy Rushton third. In the Laser 4.7 fleet Queenslander Josh Franklin is first, ahead of local sailor Lloyd Collings with Ella Evans third. George Davies and Timothy Hannah are first in the 420 class, ending the day with a first and a second, with Angus Galloway and Andrew Gough second and William Llewelyn and Lewis Duncan third.
Racing continues on Tuesday, beginning at 12:00, with the ISAF Sailing World Cup Dinner to be held at Sandringham Yacht Club tomorrow evening.
For more information go to www.sailmelbourne.com.au.
Find out more about the ISAF Sailing World Cup, including more on the seven events, photos, videos, the latest World Cup Standings and the scoring system at www.sailing.org/worldcup.