Day three of Sail Sydney was all about maintaining momentum and keeping wits with increased traffic and obstacles as expected for a summer Saturday on Sydney Harbour.

The Australian Sailing Team were keen to get back out on the water after yesterdays racing.  Rio Olympic silver medalist Jason Waterhouse said “With a bigger breeze and swell we are pretty excited about day three, it should be a lot of fun”.

Jake Lilley (pictured above) was happy to be back out racing again. “There is a cracking easterly breeze and big swell coming through the heads so we look forward to getting a few more races in. In the Finn we have some good tussles with our coach Rafael Trujillo competing” said Jake.  After his day three of racing Finn coach Rafael said “Jake is winning all the races but my objective is to challenge him, I have basically come out of retirement to compete with him”.

The Laser Radial class is an interesting one to watch with the Australian Sailing Team’s Matt Wearn and Finn Alexander sitting in first and second place, (both moved from a Laser Standard for this regatta for large fleet racing) followed closely by Emma Plasschaert of Belgium (who happens to be Matt’s partner).  Emma has spent majority of 2020 back in Europe made her way back to Australia in late October to reunite with Matt after 8 months away, undertaking the mandatory hotel quarantine. ‘Doesn't get much better’ Emma posted to her Instagram feed on Day 1 of Sail Sydney. Emma has settled seamlessly into the conditions putting in a very strong showing as the top finishing female and sitting third overall.  The Laser powerhouse couple of Matt and Emma will continue to battle it out, likely to share the podium tomorrow.

Tokyo-bound Laser Radial sailor Mara Stransky (pictured above) is currently sitting in fourth place. “Today was pretty windy, racing out between the heads. It is pretty cool for us to have Matt and Finn as well as Emma from Belgium racing with us. We got to spectate the boys racing whilst having our own little battles a bit further back” said Mara.

Australian Sailing Team National Lead Coach Michael Blackburn said “Today was windier than expected making it easier for Matt and Finn to maintain their lead”.

The final day of racing is scheduled to resume at eleven o’clock tomorrow, with East South East winds predicted.

Australian Sailing Team (AST) and Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) entries at Sail Sydney 2020

49er (10 boats)
1st: Will Phillips and Sam Phillips 1, 2, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1 – 10pts
2nd: Jim Colley and Shaun Connor 7, 1, 7, 4, 1, 3, 2 – 21pts

3rd: Tom Needham and Joel Turner 5, 3, 3, 3, 2, 4, 3  – 23pts
4th: Tom Burton and Simon Hoffman* 2, 7, 5, 8, 4, 2, 4 – 32pts
5th: Jack Ferguson* and Max Paul 6, 4, 6, 5, 7, 7, 5 – 40pts
8th: James Grogan and Lachlan Grogan* DNF, 5, DNF, 7, 6, 5, 11 OSC – 56pts

49erFX (2 boats)
1st: Tess Lloyd and Jaime Ryan 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 – 7pts

Finn (11 boats)
1st: Jake Lilley 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1– 6pts

Laser Radial (35 boats)
1st: Matt Wearn 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1 – 7pts
2nd: Finn Alexander 2, 2, 1, 3, 2, 2 – 12pts

4th: Mara Stransky 5, 7, 13, 5, 3, 3 – 36pts

5th: Zoe Thomson 3, 13, 5, 4, 8, 7 – 41pts

Nacra 17 (3 boats)
1st: Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 - 6pts
2nd Jake Liddell* and Lucy Copeland 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 – 12pts

* = State Sailing Pathway Program athletes

Photos: Beau Outteridge

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