Australians win M30 Worlds
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| 'Optimumm wins M30 Worlds' Andrew Palfrey |
Sydney's Guy Stenning and his team, consisting of Darren Jones (Mainsheet), Steve Maconaghy (Tactician), Tristram Eldershaw (Pitman), Curtis Florence (Bow), Steve Quigly (trim and strategy) and Tim Davis (trimmer), sailing aboard Optimum, won the event by four points from Jim Richardson's talented team aboard Barking Mad.
Optimum went into the last day with a nine point advantage over Barking Mad, with Farr40 legend Vincenzo Onarato in third place overall. Optimum's advantage was due to some very steady and fast sailing over the previous three days of moderate to (very) fresh conditions.
For the three races on the last day, the race committee opted to race in the waters of Narraganset Bay, citing concerns over a left-over sea state from yesterday's 30 knot winds. The racing too place in winds from the west quarter at 7-14 knots. Barking Mad, being a local boat exploited this oppurtunity to impressively claim three wins today, which saw them win the final four heats of the regatta. Optimum had a ten point day over the three races, which was enough to secure a very solid victory. It was a hard earnt win, with the difference in wind direction between max right and max left being eighty degrees over the course of the racing.
Asked of his expectations for the event, Stenning commented 'We came here to win, no doubt about it. Our team has put a heap of work in since the last worlds, where we placed fourth. We are a very close team and we are absolutely over the moon at the moment. This is huge!'
Tactician Stephen McCongahy told Sail-World a few minutes ago. 'We sailed conservatively today, We had really good starts and we did what we had to do. A few more grey hairs, but a great day and a great regatta. '
by Bunny Wayt
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