Australian 29er Nationals (and the open event too)
A report I wrote on the Aussie Championships, a bit late, fairly
dry and boring… oh well.
–
A high-quality fleet from around Australian and across the World
came together at Wangi, Lake Macquarie for the 6th 29er Australian
Championships.
Conditions for the week of racing ranged from light easterlies to
howling Southerly winds. With such a variety of conditions, and
such close competition, the series points were tight right to the
finish.
Finnish 29er Women’s World Champion Silja Lehtinen teamed up with
Australian Scott Babbage to take out the regatta. Great starts put
the team ahead of the competition, but good speed and smart tactics
brought the locals through.
Beau Outteridge & ISAF World Youth Champion Nathan Outteridge
sailed smart to be first Australians in 2nd place overall. Despite
an OCS and several inconsistent results, the Outteridge’s were
always close to the front on the overall pointscore.
Another young local team and SIRS winners Jamie Woods & Iain
Jensen were fast through the heavier conditions. However when the
pressure was on in the light airs of the final day, Woods &
Jensen fell out of contention to place 3rd overall.
Current Australian Champion and Australia’s best placed
representative at the 2004 World Championships, Dave O’Connor
brought World Champion crew Alain Sign from the UK in an effort to
take back-to-back championships. With blazing fast speed at times,
the new combination lacked the consistency to win the series when
points were tallied.
Two US boats made the trip over to take advantage of the strong
fleet, both finishing inside the top 10. The next World
Championships are scheduled for San Francisco in July and O’Connor
& Babbage will team up again, along with several of the other
top Australians and several former 29er Champions in an effort to
bring the World Championship trophy back.
