PERTH 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships

Kiel Week for Olympic classes (the sixth leg of the 2009-10 ISAF Sailing World Cup in Kiel, Germany) is on again and the competition atmosphere is great to be around. The fleets are strong in numbers even if there are a few from the top 10 missing in many fleets.

It is the biggest festival of its kind in sailing that we experience with stalls lining the streets and food smells wafting onto the water. The public wander through the boat rigging areas all day and into the evening making it a busy place.

The weather was normal for Kiel on the first day with a maximum temperature of 13 degrees Celsius and gusty westerly winds with rainy showers all day.  It was a tough day for the young Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) sailors in the RS:X and 49er classes, with Steven Thomas and his crew Nick Brownie having some swims, which happened mostly when they were in top 10 positions. This made it tough for them to make the Gold fleet qualification.

Patrick Vos on the RS:X is still new to the class in comparison, so the strong winds are a struggle.  With it being so cold, it was also tough and his hands were not working too well halfway through the second race which made it hard to finish in time.

The Aussies in the Laser (Tom Slingsby) and 470 (Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page) had great days and once again sealed their membership in the ‘3 bullets’ club – 3 wins on any day is always pretty special!  The racing areas are great when the wind is strong, with good waves, good speed and fun conditions.  

Day 2 had lighter winds and most courses struggled to get racing in.  For the WAIS sailors it was a better day for two reasons - they got racing in and they had good results. The 49er boys sailed well and finished 2nd but with only one race, they could not move up enough to get into the Gold fleet. On the RS:X course, Australian Sailing Team sailor Jessica Crisp finished 2nd just ahead of her training partner Jannicke Stalstrom from Norway.  Patrick finished 5th in the Youth category.

The third day of Kiel brought light winds and some sunshine which was good, although racing was delayed.

A few of the Emerging Nations Programme athletes are also racing in Kiel and several are keen to show off their strong wind techniques from Perth, but have not really had a chance to date, in the light winds.   Anna Aile, of Latvia and Rohini Rau, of India, are competing in the Laser Radials, and Petr Kucera, of the Czech Republic, and Joshua Choo, of Singapore, are here in the RS:X class.  It is fantastic to see them all on the circuit and developing their racing skills and experience on the world stage.

On the fourth day, there was again no racing in most classes except for the 49er Gold fleet and the Women’s Match Racing who managed to get their races in on the courses close to the harbour. 
 Further, I am pleased to say that there is so much talk about Perth, the Perth International Regatta and the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships.  Everyone is asking about coach boats, transport and accommodation so we will need to be ready for an influx of international sailors in November this year! 

Until next time – great sailing!

Belinda

- By Belinda Stowell, ENP Head Coach and WAIS Head Sailing Coach