5:31 PM Wed 6 Jan 2010 GMT
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'Matthew Belcher / Malcolm Page (49er)
2009 Sail Melbourne regatta
ISAF Sailing World Cup
? Sport the library/Jeff Cro - 2009 World Sailing Cup - Sail Melbourne Day 1'
Jeff Crow/ Sport the Library ©
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The Australian 470 Class continues to flourish on the crest of the wave created in Beijing last year where Olympic Gold was won by both Elise Rechichi & Tessa Parkinson in the 470 Women's Class and Nathan Wilmot & Malcolm Page in the 470 Men's Class.
Their coach, Victor Kovalenko aka 'the medal maker' has coached six different teams to win Olympic Medals, five of them Gold! Victor has put enormous energy into building the 470 class, attracting new talent with his passion and enthusiasm.
The 470 is the Olympic equipment for both the men's and women's 2-person dinghy event in the London 2012 Olympic Games and has been in the Olympic program since 1976.
The venue for the 2010 Australian 470 Championship is Sorrento Sailing Club in Victoria where 17 teams will compete for the title including international teams from Singapore, Hong Kong and Italy.
Olympic Gold Medallist, Malcolm Page and his skipper, the former ISAF World Ranked Number 1, Mathew Belcher will be defending their Australian Championship title this week from the likes of fellow Australian Sailing Team members, Samuel Kivell & William Ryan to name but a few of the many strong competitors at this event.
The Australian representative in the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, Lauren Thredgold has moved up to the 470 Class from the 420 Youth Class, the pathway set by ISAF. Along with her new crew, Bethany Fawcett, Lauren will be competing for the women's title against the defending Champions, Stacey Omay and Chelsea Hall from Western Australia.
Interestingly there are four teams of brothers competing here with the Crawford, Conway, Morrison and Taylor brothers.
It looks set to be a warm week with temperatures reaching well into the 30's.
Follow the results at:
www.sscbc.com.au
by Laura Baldwin
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Manly, QLD
