Shifting winds caused delays on Day Two of the 49er and Nacra 17 World Championships at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club, with the morning shift becoming the afternoon, and then the afternoon becoming the evening. Further headaches were caused with yesterday’s strong Easterlies dumping large amounts of weed across the racecourse on Corio Bay.

Early on we had Westerlies of 265 to 290 degrees, and 8 to 12 knots, but mainly in the 10 to 12 knot bracket, and this was good racing, but it was glassy and glary, and that meant it would flick around. We saw 290 round to 130, 12 down to 3 knots, then in the middle of the afternoon 165 and 12-15 seemed to be the magic set of numbers.

Due to the loss of yesterday’s racing, we now have a shortened series of six races for the 49er FX and Nacra 17, with seven the target for the 49er. Today’s roster was for three in the first session for the former, and four in the later session for the latter. All in all, and as a direct result, you’d have to think that the mental side of the game is even more crucial, as literally every manoeuvre becomes important.

Setting a blistering pace were brother and sister crew, Nathan and Haylee Outteridge on their Nacra 17. Haylee commented once back ashore, “We had a good first day after waiting around on shore all day yesterday, and eventually it did not happen.”

“We managed to win the first one, which is always good, but it was a bit stressful, as the wind was swinging around a lot. Then we waited a long while for the breeze to fill in from a new direction, and finally got two more races in as the wind built up again. So a second place is great, and then even in the third race we think our 10^th place is also a keeper.”

“It was really tricky, as we had so much weed on the course, and I think this was the biggest factor for the boats that did well. The commitment to removing it, and then the timing of when you chose to do that were the biggest elements. We looked at in terms of what percentage we thought our foils were covered, as the weed tends to really wrap around the rudders especially. It is inevitable, and really hard to avoid. Making the effort to remove it regularly cost us a lot of places, but you had to know that were gains to be made in the bigger picture.

Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin are in sixth place overall in the Nacra 17, and Waterhouse said, “Certainly a bit of a nightmare for foiling boats out there. The amount of weed on the track and also the pressure of the breeze in the first race were very challenging. We were also sailing upwind and tacking to the finish, which should of course been a downhill leg. Not exactly Aussie Summer weather, but happy to come away with two nice results and one that is not so glamorous, which is pretty good on the fleet overall.”

The day also belonged to Tess Lloyd and Jaime Ryan, whose sixth, third and first places from their three races in the 49er FX has them sitting in second place overall. This super-energetic crew may not have been racing together all that long, but they have gelled brilliantly, and applied themselves and their learnings with great aplomb.

Ryan said, “For a first day out we were pretty happy. We had one quite light race in the morning and then waited for a couple of hours before the breeze came in from the opposite direction to give us two more results to keep.”

“I think keeping nice and calm was a big part of our results. We have been doing some great training, including some nice breakthroughs here in the last few weeks, as well. Today we got to put it all into practice.”

Tess Lloyd commented, “We stayed away from congestion both on the start line and on the course too. We know we’re quite fast at the moment, so just looked to have our own lane on the beats and do our own thing, also keeping an eye on everyone, and it really worked to our advantage today.”

“The weed definitely played a big part in today’s races. Having the right timing and technique to get it off was crucial to success.”

As a result of the racing going late into the evening, the Men’s 49ers were still packing up as this was produced. One of Australia’s greats, Chris Nicholson, is on hand to assist the 49er and 49er FX squads, and their coaches, Euan McNicol, and Emmet Lazich, respectively.

Nicholson has been mentoring the Australian 49er and 49erFX sailors for both the Oceania and World titles here at Geelong. “It is interesting to see just how high a level the fleet is at, and also the depth within it. It is pleasing to see them all up close, and they are great young sailors. Euan (McNicol) and Emmet (Lazich) have done a brilliant job developing their skill base, because it all takes a lot of time. So much of the work has been done.”

“The future looks good for Australia, and the immediate thing for me is that when it is important to offer a different perspective on the racing and the rig set up so that they get a better feel for what is happening on the boat. So I watch the timing, as I do not want to disrupt the process.”

“So I am here for when they want to come to me to pose questions, and to analyse things”, Nicholson finished with.

The Australian sailors are all set to continue their journeys in their pursuit of Olympic glory in these exciting classes. Abating weather for the week will mean racing should become easier to conduct until the medal races on February 15.

Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) and other Australian entries (AUS) at the 2020 49er and Nacra 17 World Championships at Geelong:

Nacra 17 (34 entries)

Nathan and Haylee Outteridge (AST) 2^nd: 1, 2, 10 – 13 points

Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AST) 6th: 17, 3, 3 – 23 points

Paul Darmanin and Lucy Copeland (ASS) 21^st:  29. 13. 18 – 60 points

Steven Brewin and Karma Randall (AUS) 29^th: 21, 25, 30 – 76 points

Emma Jones and Hugo Hamilton (AUS) 30^th: 26. 29. 27 – 82 points

Jake Liddell and Bec Hancock (AUS) 34^th: DNF, DNF, DNC – 105 points

Miles Davey and Dervla Duggan (AUS)

49er (80 entries – three fleets of 25+, three days qualifying nine races, then finals and medal race)

James Grogan and Simon Hoffman (ASS) 11^th: 6, 11, 3 – 20 points

Will and Sam Phillips (AST) 18^th: 13, 3, 11 – 27 points

David O'Connor and Fang Warren (AUS) 21^st: 3, 14, 11 – 28 points

Tom Needham and Joel Turner (ASS) 35^th: 7, 20, 7 – 34 points

David Gilmour and Lachy Gilmour (ASS) 38^th: 19, 6, 11 – 36 points

Oliver Manton and Jack Lloyd (AUS) 48^th: 17, 17, 14 – 48 points

John Cooley and Thomas Cunich (AUS) 53^rd: 20, 19, 13 – 52 points

Matt Jerwood and Max Paul (AUS) 59^th: 25, 18, 12 – 55 points

Jim Colley and Shaun Connor (AUS) 61^st: 11, 19, UFD – 57 points

Harrison Sly and Thomas Dwyer (AUS) 68^th: 25, 17, 23 – 65 points

William Bridge and Joshua Sloman (AUS) 72^nd: 25, 21, 21 – 67 points

Beau Junk and Alexander Marinelli (AUS) 74^th: 18, 26, 25 – 69 points

Hayden Harding and Casey Bates (AUS) 75th: 24, 24, 21 – 69 points

Hayden Brown and Mackenzie Bird (AUS) 76^th: 23, 26, 21 – 71 points

Dylan Janus and Conor Hay (AUS) 78^th: 22, DNF, DNC – 76 points

49erFX (45 entries)

Tess Lloyd and Jaime Ryan (ASS) 2^nd: 6, 3, 1 – 10 points

Tessa Parkinson and Ella Clark (AUS) 10^th: 6, 13, 5 – 24 points

Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot (ASS) 11^th: 11, 11, 4 – 25 points

Amelia Stabback and Caitlin Elks (ASS) 20^th: 14, 16, 3 – 33 points

Chloe Fisher and Ella Grimshaw (AUS) 40^th: 20, 21, 13 – 54 points

Laura Harding and Laura Thomson (AUS) 43^rd: 17, 22, 21 – 60 points