It was not for a lack of waiting or effort, but eventually the combination of no wind and loads of rain was just too much. Race Management was forced to abandon the day and look to the final day, tomorrow, to complete more racing ahead of the all-important Medal Races in the afternoon.

Geelong during the first of three downpours - © Sailing Energy

Iain Murray, Director of High Performance for the Australian Sailing Team, spoke about the team’s results overall to date. “Geelong has presented a very challenging race area for the classes. This has certainly impacted all the sailors, but consistency delivered by overcoming those adversities has been the key. Overall it has been a good week for the AST. We have had some good results and they are substantially better than they were in New Zealand, late last year.”

"I have always thought we would have a close battle in the Nacra 17 between Nathan and Haylee Outteridge, and Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin. That has certainly turned out to be the case with those teams sitting in first and third places overall, respectively. The Outteridges’ results, considering their downtime leading into this week, have been impressive."

“Tom and Joel (Needham and Turner in the 49er), Milly and Caitlin (Stabback and Elks in the 49erFX) have been emerging talents, which is especially noteworthy, as they are relatively recent pairings. We saw in New Zealand that they (Stabback and Elks) had what it takes in dominating the Silver Fleet. They did well in the breezier conditions, and are now translating that across to other scenarios. To see them win in 10 knots in good fashion at the end of yesterday was a real sign of maturing athletes.”

The Australian sailors are all set to continue their their pursuit of World Championship glory in these exciting classes. The all-important Gold Fleet racing for the top 25 crews in both 49ers continues tomorrow, with the medal races (top ten) for the skiffs and the Nacra 17 to finish the 2020 World Championships off in the afternoon.

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 – medal race Saturday)

Nathan and Haylee Outteridge (AST) 1^st: 1, 2, 10, (17), 2, 2, 9, 9, 2 – 37 points

Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AST) 3^rd: 17, 3, 3, 3, (15), 9, 2, 12, 9 – 56 points

Paul Darmanin and Lucy Copeland (ASS) 27^th: (29), 13, 18, 12, 24, 24, 24, 26, 29 – 170 points

Steven Brewin and Karma Randall (AUS) 29^th: 21, 25, 30, 23, 27, 24, (BFD), 30, 32 – 211 points

Emma Jones and Hugo Hamilton (AUS) 31^st: 26, 29, 27, (30), 28, 29, 29, (33), 19  – 217 points

Jake Liddell and Bec Hancock (AUS) 34^th: DNF, DNF, DNC, 33, 31, 31, BFD, 27, 33 – 259 points

49er (80 entries – qualifying now complete, then finals and medal race – correct at time of entry and pending any protests)

Will and Sam Phillips (AST) 5^th: (13), 3, 11, 2, 5, 1, 4, 13, 9, 5 – 53 points

Tom Needham and Joel Turner (ASS) 17^th: 7, (20), 7, 5, 12, 11, 8, 20, 11, 6 – 87 points

James Grogan and Simon Hoffman (ASS) 21^st: 6, 11, 3, 19, 11, 9, 23, 21, (25) – 124 points

David Gilmour and Lachy Gilmour (ASS) 32^nd: 19, 6, 11, (20), 3, 14, 6, 19, 6 – 84 points

Jim Colley and Shaun Connor (AUS) 42^nd: 11, 19, (UFD), 21, 16, 5, 1, 9, 13 – 95 points

Oliver Manton and Jack Lloyd (AUS) 48^th: 17, 17, 14, 12, 13, 11, 7, (24), 24 – 115 points

David O'Connor and Fang Warren (AUS) 52^nd: 3, 14, 11, 17, 20, 22, DNC, DNC, DNF – 143 points

Matt Jerwood and Max Paul (AUS) 55^th: (25), 18, 12, 24, 21, 13, 5, 1, 9 – 123 points

John Cooley and Thomas Cunich (AUS) 58^th: 20, 19, 13, (22), 13, 19, 6, 21, 12 – 84 points

Harrison Sly and Thomas Dwyer (AUS) 69^th: 25, 17, 23, 13, 25, (26), 18, 6, 15 – 142 points

Hayden Harding and Casey Bates (AUS) 72nd: (24), 24, 21, 24, 24, 19, 12, 24, 16 – 164 points

Beau Junk and Alexander Marinelli (AUS) 75^th: 18, (26), 25, 26, 23, 25, 17, 17, 18 – 117 points

William Bridge and Joshua Sloman (AUS) 76^th: 25, 21, 21, 25, 25, (26), 24, 17, 19 – 177 points

Hayden Brown and Mackenzie Bird (AUS) 77^th: 23, (26), 21, 26, 23, 24, 23, 23, 23 – 187 points

Dylan Janus and Conor Hay (AUS) 78^th: 22, (DNF), DNC, 26, 26, 24, 25, 22, 24 – 195 points

49erFX (45 entries – qualifying now complete, then finals and medal race)

Tess Lloyd and Jaime Ryan (ASS) 4^th: 6, 3, 1, (12), 8, 5, 11, 11, 8 – 53 points

Amelia Stabback and Caitlin Elks (ASS) 11^th: 14, (16), 3, 5, 7, 14, (18), 10, 1 – 70 points

Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot (ASS) 16^th: 11, 11, 4, 14, 15, 9, 4, 13, (21) – 81 points

Tessa Parkinson and Ella Clark (AUS) 23^rd: 6, 13, 5, 17, 6, 15, 21, (23), 19 – 101 points