3:55 AM Sun 31 Jan 2010 GMT
The Australian Sailing Team's 470 men's crew of Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page has won the silver medal at round two of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, the Rolex Miami OCR.
The Australian pair headed into the medal race in second position, just one point off the lead and tied on points with third. With just the top ten crews taking part and the double-points racing having to be counted in the final scores the 470 men's title was always going to go right down to the wire.
'The conditions today where the lightest we've had for the entire regatta,' said Page. 'We were all just on the trapeze on the first lap and then completely off the trapeze in the second.'
'That combined with the way the points were meant that it was a very tricky race,' he said.
Belcher and Page finished the medal race in third position, keeping their competition in check throughout the entire race.
'No-one in the top four was doing anything crazy, there were plenty of lead changes, both on the course and on the overall leader board, which made it quite stressful but it made it a really good race,' said Page.
'A few days ago we would have been happy to finish the regatta in the top five but to come away with second was a great result.'
After two rounds of the 2009/2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup the Australian pair have the overall lead, following their first position at Sail Melbourne in December and second in Miami with the series now heading to Spain for round three.
'There was a lot happening on the course between the top four, the other two crews who numerically could have jumped us and then keeping an eye on the American crew of Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl who sit second in the World Cup standings,' said helmsman Belcher.
'We had our backs against the wall a few times in this regatta but we're really happy with where we ended up and are looking forward to the next round in Spain at the end of March,' he said.
The final day of racing saw current Women's Match Racing World Champion, Australian Nicky Souter, take on former World Champion, Claire Leroy of France, in the petit-final.
In the petit-final the first crew to two wins would finish the regatta third overall and Souter and crew got off to a great start, leading off the line and holding a small lead for victory in the opening race.
'In race two the situation switched with the French team leading to the first mark,' said Australian coach Dayne Sharp. 'Nicky sailed aggressively downwind and round the bottom mark right on the stern of the French.'
'A small wind shift gave the French a small lead which they held right through to the finish,' he said. 'In the deciding third race Leroy had the early advantage off the start line and took a three boat lead around the course to finish third overall.'
After six days of intense match racing Nicky Souter, Stacey Jackson and Rayshele Martin finished the regatta in fourth position, one ahead of fellow Australians Lucinda Whitty, Jessica Eastwell and Amanda Scrivenor.
In the 49er medal race Australian crew Will and Sam Phillips finished the race in tenth position, but were able to hold on to their sixth overall, finishing nine points ahead of seventh position. The medal race appearance capped off a strong week for the Australian Sailing Development Squad crew which included them leading the regatta after the first two days and recording five race wins along the way.
Australian Brendan Casey finished 13th in the Finn fleet, while Megan de Lange was 34th in the Laser Radial class. Australian crew Paul McKenzie and Philip Toth finished the week 14th in a competitive Star fleet.
For more information visit
www.australiansailingteam.com.au
by Craig Heydon
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City Beach, WA
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