Australian Sailing Team (AST) and Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) athletes showed no signs of rust on day two of a windy Sail Sydney after a long competitive lay-off. 

Forced to wait out the day yesterday after a southerly buster forced the cancellation of racing, race organisers added an extra race to today’s schedule for most classes. The Aussies were ready when their time came, with AST and ASS athletes currently sitting atop the leaderboard in all Olympic classes.

Victorian 49er team Sam and Will Phillips were one of those to impress, recording three bullets (first place finishes) and a second from their four races.

Will and Sam Phillips

They were one of the last batch of athletes to be named to the Australian Olympic Team for the Tokyo Games before they were postponed, and today they showed their preparation is right on track.

“We haven’t raced since the beginning of the year in Geelong, so it has been a long time coming,” said Sam after racing today.

“There were certain things that you miss when you have just been doing the training without the racing,” he continued. “I think that intensity and the set start time was really good for us to lock into our routine, so we were pleased to have had that opportunity today.”

Tom Needham and Joel Turner

Rio Olympic silver medallists Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin were another team to put in a strong showing, recording three bullets from their three races in the Nacra 17 class.

“It was good to be back racing here at Sail Sydney in the sound with a nice big chop,” said Darmanin.

Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin

“It was an east-sou-easterly today and it was pretty messy, but with twelve to fifteen knots and a few fun puffs out there it made for good sailing.”

Tomorrow’s racing is expected to bring its own challenges, with increased traffic on the Harbour sure to play a role.

“We are expecting pretty similar conditions tomorrow, maybe a click lighter,” Darmanin continued. “But it is also Saturday on Sydney Harbour so there could also be a few more obstacles out there.”

Racing is scheduled to resume at midday tomorrow, with lighter 8-12 knot south-easterly winds predicted

Australian Sailing Team and Australian Sailing Squad entries at Sail Sydney 2020

49er (10 boats)
1st: Will Phillips and Sam Phillips 1, 2, 1, 1 – 5pts
3rd: Tom Needham and Joel Turner 5, 3, 3, 3 – 14pts
4th: Jim Colley and Shaun Connor 7, 1, 7, 4 – 19pts
5th: Jack Ferguson* and Max Paul 6, 4, 6, 5 – 21pts
6th: Tom Burton and Simon Hoffman* 2, 7, 5, 8 – 22pts
8th: James Grogan and Lachlan Grogan* DNF, 5, DNF, 7 – 34pts

49erFX (2 boats)
1st: Tess Lloyd and Jaime Ryan 1, 1, 1, 1 – 4pts

Finn (11 boats)
1st: Jake Lilley 1, 1, 1 – 3pts

Laser Radial (35 boats)
1st: Matt Wearn 1, 1, 2 – 4pts
2nd: Finn Alexander 2, 2, 1 – 5pts
5th: Zoe Thomson 3, 13, 5 – 21pts
6th: Mara Stransky 5, 7, 13 – 25pts

Nacra 17 (3 boats)
1st: Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin 1, 1, 1 - 3pts 
2nd Jake Liddell* and Lucy Copeland 2, 2, 2 – 6pts

* = State Sailing Pathway Program athletes

Photos: Beau Outteridge

Follow the Australian Sailing Team
Instagram: @aussailingteam
Facebook: @aussailingteam
Twitter: @aussailingteam
YouTube: AusSailingTeam