A Mistral wind coupled with a messy sea state on Day 1 at the Hyeres Regatta in France had organisers scrambling, cancelling 49erFX and 49er racing, reducing the Nacra 17 from three to one race, while all other fleets sailed the planned races and Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) and Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) sailors fired up.  

Rio Olympic silver medallists Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin opened their account in the Nacra 17 with a clear win in the Yellow fleet.

“Very Australian conditions,” Waterhouse commented. “We knew it would be a battle of attrition. Lisa and I said, ‘Let’s try and keep things simple and trust our training and boat handling’.” 

Nacra 17 coach, Darren Bundock said, “Jason and Lisa had a comfortable win. They were a long way in front. That’s quite a pleasing start. It’s a shame there weren’t more races, but tomorrow’s conditions are looking similar.” 

The two groups (Yellow and Blue) sailed in 23-25 knots on two courses areas. Not so bad, but the sea state was the issue, with the sea and wind running in opposing directions. Some of the Australians were on the outer D course, which had the worst sea state, while the breeze was shiftier on the other course. 

Two races were put to bed In the ILCA 7. The large fleet of 155 is split into three groups. Four Australians are in the top 11 – a good start to the week. Ethan McAullay is best placed after winning the opening race in the Red fleet and placing fifth in Race 2 for fifth overall. 

Reigning Olympic champion, Matt Wearn and Finn Alexander, also sailing in the Red group are eighth and ninth respectively. Luke Elliott sailed in the Yellow group and is 11th overall.   

“It was quite a shifty and windy offshore breeze. I prefer it windy and I sailed the shifts well,” the West Australian said. 

Although he had an average start in Race 1 and a decent start in Race 2, McAullay explained, “In the big offshore breeze the fleet spreads out pretty quickly, so the starts aren’t everything, as long as you keep yourself in the game.

“I’m feeling positive going into Tuesday, we’re expecting the same Mistral conditions again and on Wednesday. I have to take advantage of that, as it looks like lightening off during the week. My goal for the week is to finish without a big score on the board,” he ended. 

Both planned races in the Yellow and Blue groups on the ILCA 6 courses were completed. Tokyo Olympian, Mara Stransky, was the best placed, 11th and second places giving her 10th overall. Casey Imeneo is right behind in 11th on countback to Stransky.    

Luke Elliott CREDIT Sailing Energy

In the in the iQFOiL Women, Samantha Costin is sixth overall. She revelled in the high winds and scored 2-4-4 results, before crashes in the final two cost her places.  

“I knew it would be a day of attrition,” Costin said. “It was a huge day on the water, everyone’s pretty tired. 

“I tried to keep my cool in the first race, tried to keep out of my mind that I was leading. I ended up finishing it second!  I was super stoked with my decision making all day. Even the last two races when I crashed. It’s good practice for the Europeans in May and to get my confidence up,” the upbeat Queenslander said. 

“These are my best international results. I’m fairly new to competing internationally, this is only my second season.”   

Breiana  Whitehead started her campaign in the Formula Kite Women well, she is eighth overall after four races, inclusive of one drop. The Queenslander’s best results of the day was a  third in Race 2 and a second in Race 3.

“I’m pretty happy with how it went. There were a few mistakes, but I was happy to get to the front of the fleet a few times,” Whitehead said.

“The conditions weren’t easy – it’s been a while since we’ve raced in that wind strength. The pressure was really up and down, so I chose a 9m, my smallest kite. That was great while the wind was up, but I struggled when the wind dropped down for short periods of time. The water was flat though, so it was pretty fast and fun,” the Queenslander ended.

The Hyeres Regatta continues tomorrow local time. The Medal stage closes the event on Saturday, 29 April.

Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS), Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) and Australian sailors results in Hyeres:  

Nacra 17 – 46 entries – 1 race
1st Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AST) 1 = 1 point
21st Ruben and Rita Booth 11 = 11
25th Archie Gargett and Sarah Hoffman (ASF) 13 = 13
34th Jake Liddell and Lucy Copeland (ASS) UFD  = 24
34th Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown (ASF) DSQ = 24

ILCA 7 -  155 entries – 2 races
5th Ethan McAullay (ASS) 1, 5 = 6 points
8th Matt Wearn (AST) 4, 4 = 8
9th Finn Alexander (ASS) 7, 2 = 9
11th Luke Elliott (ASS) 5, 6 = 11
24th Zac Littlewood  (ASS) 6, 15 = 21
46th Stefan Elliott Shircore (ASF) 21, 10 = 31 
57th Lawson McAullay (ASF) 20, 17 = 37
104 Jack Eickmeyer 33, 36 = 69
114th Will Sargeant (ASF) 40, 36 = 76
146th Michael Compton (ASF) 44, BFD = 97

iQFOiL Women – 22 entries – 5 races (one drop)
6th Samantha Costin (ASS) – 2, 4, 4, (20), 13 = 23 points

Formula Kite Women – 50 entries – 4 races (one drop)
8th Breiana Whitehead (AST) 7, 3, 2 (14) = 12 points

ILCA 6 – 94 entries – 2 races                  
10th Mara Stranksy (ASS) 11, 2 = 13 points 
11th Casey Imeneo (ASS) 8, 5 = 13
31st Elyse Ainsworth (ASS) 14, 20 = 34 
35th Paige Caldecoat (ASF) 20, 17 = 37
49th Sylvie Stannage (ASF) 24, 24 = 48
Zoe Thomson (AST) DNC, DNC  = 96

470 – 63 entries – 2 races
17th Conor Nicholas and Nia Jerwood  (ASS) 9, RDG = 18 points 
21st Angus Higgins and Sophie Jackson (ASF) 19, 5 = 24
59th James Jackson and Lily Richardson 28, 26 = 54

iQFOiL Men – 21 entries – 5 races (one drop)
21st Jake Lilley (ASF) (DNC) , DNC, 19, 18, 19 = 59 points

Formula Kite Men – 92 entries – 4 races (one drop)
31st Hector Paturau (ASS) 9, 12, 8, (13) = 29 points
48th Oscar Timm (ASF) 15, 17, 12, (21) = 44

49er – No racing
Jim Colley and Shaun Connor (AST)
Tom Burton and Max Paul (ASS)
Thomas Needham and Joel Turner (ASS)
Tom Cunich and Miles Davey (ASF)

49erFX – No racing 
Tess Lloyd and Dervla Duggan (ASS)
Olivia Price and Evie Haseldine (ASS)
Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot (ASS)
For full results, please go to: https://sof.ffvoile.fr/official-notice-board/   
 
By Di Pearson/AST media