The Southerly prevailed again on St Margarets Bay in Nova Scotia for the penultimate day of the 2022 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships, helping Australian skiff teams climb back up a few places in the overall standings.

The best placed Australian team is the silver medallists form Rio, Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin who sit in sixth and are in line for the Nacra 17 double points medal race for the top ten crews. It is always both exciting and terrifying as the double points can deliver ultimate joy, and excruciating pain.

Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin CREDIT Beau Outteridge

Waterhouse and Darmanin will have one more fleet race tomorrow, and then the medal race thereafter. The cousins from Sydney very typically retain their humour, which also somewhat disguises their incredible determination. “We will go out and do the best we can in the fleet race”, said Darmanin.

“In the medal race, our aim is to have a good start, and then win the race, putting as many points as possible between us and the other crews. It does not look like we can make the podium, but we are going for a top five placing overall.”

Nacra 17 coach, Darren Bundock, summed up the day. “We had two beautiful races in a nice seabreeze of 12-13 knots, however it was a bit of a one-way track. Whoever could get out on a port start did well, as the right-hand side was favoured with extra speed.”

“Jason and Lisa did well all day, but struggled a little bit with bad starts, especially so in the third race where they were forced out to the wrong side, and this made it hard to come back.”

“Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown had an excellent last race and mixed it up with all the teams up front. They can be very pleased despite the disappointment of the capsize.”

It is hard to determine whether Tess Lloyd is better known for her incredible drive, or that enormous smile that she carries. “I always have a fire in my belly to improve as a sailor, and a person. This amazing journey is a roller coaster, but I think it’s important to always appreciate how lucky we are to be doing what we do.”

The Tokyo Olympian has a new crew to work with, in Dervla Duggan, who is at her very first 49erFX World Championship. They are in their first year of the shortened quadrennial ahead of Paris, and Lloyd said of the new pairing, “Derv brings such a great, happy and determined attitude to the boat. We are at the beginning of an exciting partnership, so we have a steep learning curve. We will have some ups and downs, but it’s all a part of it to make it to the top.”

Derval Duggan commented about the process, “Being in Nova Scotia and sailing against the best sailors in the world is an absolutely amazing experience. Although it’s been extremely challenging, with such a high calibre fleet, I’ve taken away so many learnings and new objectives to work on once we are back in Australia.”

“Everyone says it’s pretty cool to sail against the best sailors in the world who’ve achieved their Olympic ambitions. However, I’m lucky enough to say I sail with one. Tess and I began sailing together 8 months ago and it’s been amazing, I’m excited for what’s to come.”

Tess Lloyd and Dervla Duggan CREDIT Sailing Energy

High Performance Director, Iain Brambell OLY, commented once back ashore, “After a delayed start it was great to see Tom Burton and Simon Hoffman battling it out at the front end of the fleet. Their competitive acumen was truly an impressive sight, and a great show of the Australian Sailing Team’s Winning Spirit.”

“The Nacras had a mix bag of wind and current, making for very difficult conditions. Rising to the challenge in the final race of the day saw a huge effort from Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown, who held down fourth place for much of the race, but regretfully had a heartbreaking capsize in the final 150 metres, which resulted in a hard-fought 8th in the end.”

Racing concludes on Monday September 5, 2022- Canada time.

Visit the event website for full results.

Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) and Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) at the 2022 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships: 

49er – Gold Fleet
18th - Tom Burton and Simon Hoffman (ASS) – (DNF), 20, 5, 9, 7, 12, 17, 4, 20, 19, 24, 13, 6, 6 (162 points)
23rd - Jack Ferguson and Max Paul (ASS) – 18, 1, 18, 12, (29), 7, 1, 21, 24, 21, 15, 9, 24, 17 (188 points)

49er – Silver Fleet
29rth- Tom Needham and Joel Turner (ASS) – 12, 14, 6, 24, 20, (29), 11, 4, 8, 5, 10, 17, 15, 14 (160 points)
35th- Jim Colley and Shaun Connor (ASS) – 22, 25, 8, 32, 15, 6, 19, 5,2, 7, (UFD), 6, 24, 11 (182 points)
54th - Ryan Littlechild and Jack Hildebrand (ASF) – (DNF), 26, 28, 27, 3, 11, 24, 14, 27, 26, 25, 31, 30, 33 (305 points)

49erFX – 36 entries
18th - Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot (ASS) – 21, 10, 10, 11, 6, 25, (31), 17, 21, 28, 10, 29, 12, 6, 23 (229 points)
25th - Olivia Price and Evie Haseldine (ASS) – 23, 7, (29), 25, 19, 20, 19, 26, 28, 12, 28, 25, 27, 24, 22 (305 points)
27th - Tess Lloyd and Dervla Duggan (ASS) – 28, (29), 15, 19, 21, 18, 29, 22, 26, 24, 25, 15, 26, 27, 26 (321 points)

Nacra 17 – 34 entries
6th - Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AST) – 9, 5, 5, 3, 14, 5, 5, (21), 5, 6, 3, 14, 7, 10, 17 (108 points)
19th- Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown (ASF) – 21, 21, 17, 15, 21, 22, 6, 15, 22, 17, 18, 22, 19, (24), 8 (244 points)
21st - Jake Liddell and Lucy Copeland (ASS) – 6, 14, 10, 22, 10, 14, 27, (31), 23, 23, 21, 25, 21, 13, 24 (253 points)

By John Curnow