ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne- Excellent racing in Paralympic boats

by Richard Gladwell on 2 Dec 2013
The Paralympic Classes competing at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne, enjoyed the best racing conditions of any of the classes, on the opening day of the regatta.

Two races were sailed on the Stadium Course, off the Sandringham Yacht Club, Melbourne, venue for the regatta.

In the 2.4mtr class, New Zealand’s Paul Francis won both races, and leads the seven competitor fleet.

'It was really close racing,' Francis said on the dock. 'We had the breeze going back and forward and up and down.'

'The 2.4mtr is great when you have close racing – and not a long way to go from the finish line to home,' he quipped referring to the proximity of the race course to the marina at Sandringham.

'We had a northerly breeze for the two races, with the southerly change just coming in on the last gate to the finish, of the second race, so we just reached in for the last few metres.'

'We could see the southerly coming in the clouds,' Francis explained.

'I had an average day,' explained Matt Bugg (AUS), nicknamed 'The Bugman', who lies in second overall in the singlehanded keelboat. 'I got beaten by a Kiwi which never feels good'.

'The conditions were good until the last race when we had a 180 degree turn. It was nice, the breeze was coming and going, but there were nice warm winds.

There’s a point tie at the top of the leaderboard in the two person SKUD 18, with the Singaporean crew of Jovin Tan and Desiree Lim locked up with Duncan McGregor and Leisl Tesch (AUS) on 3pts. The Australian crew drops to second on tie-breaker.

'In the first race it was very gusty', Duncan McGregor explained . 'The second race was a little bit quieter'.

McGregor and Tesch won the first race sailed. 'In the first race we went into the wall, and got a good lift. We stuffed up in the second race with a course error, so we finished second.'

Australian crews make up the remaining three places in the five crew event.