420
Worlds At Sail Melbourne - Wilmot And Page Victorious
At 420 World Championship
Nathan
Wilmot and Malcolm Page (AUS) today clearly won
the 420 World Championship 2004 hosted by Mornington
Yacht Club as part of the Sail Melbourne Regatta.
Their
win was not unexpected; the Sydney pair are ranked
No. 1 in the World in the 470 class and will arrive
in Sandringham tonight to prepare for the final
Australian team selection series to represent
at the Olympic Games in Athens, the Sail Melbourne
Olympic & Invited Classes Regatta that starts
tomorrow from Sandringham Yacht Club on Port Phillip
Bay.
Although
Page had his first foray into 420 sailing at the
Sail Melbourne 420 National Championships last
week, in which the pair finished third, Wilmot
is experienced in the class, having made the leap
from it to the 470 to contest the Olympics some
years back.
A
former World 420 champion, Mathew Belcher (AUS),
with girlfriend Rike Ziegelmayer as crew, finished
second on 39 points – 22 points behind Wilmot/Page.
Belcher,
who comes from Queensland, had earlier with his
brother Dan, seriously contemplated an Olympic
campaign in the 470 class, and will most likely
try again after the Athens Olympic Games are over.
Dan last year stepped down to complete a law degree.
He will team up tomorrow with sometime crew, Nick
Behrens, to take on the others in the 470 class
at the Olympic & Invited Classes Regatta.
Nathan
Outteridge and Ayden Menzies, both from Lake Macquarie
on the NSW north coast, are the current 420 Youth
World champions and won the last race of this
Championship to finish third overall, just three
points behind Belcher/Ziegelmayer.
Last
week, Outteridge, with Iain Jensen as crew, won
both the Youth and Australian 420 Championship,
beating both Wilmot and Belcher, so was a little
disappointed with third place today.
‘We
aimed at top three, but I really hoped to win,
as we’ve beaten the other two before. We
had a bit of bad luck at this regatta, picking
some windshifts wrong, some of the light days
were really difficult, it was so fluky, then we
were also leading one race which was abandoned.
We
knew the American’s (Michael Anderson-mit
and Graham Biehl) would be quicker on the lighter
days, but we managed to overcome them. Actually,
all those that beat us were the ones we thought
could do it, so we got that right, at least,’
the 17 year-old said.
Outteridge
leaves Mornington tonight to contest the Australian
Youth Championship, which is also a selection
event for the next Youth Worlds, with Iain Jensen
as crew, at McCrae Yacht Club.
Ayden
Menzies, who at 18, will be too old to sail at
the next Youth Worlds, will come to Sandringham
Yacht Club tonight, ready to crew on a 470 with
South Australian Dylan Clarke, who just finished
8th at the Fireball Worlds in Adelaide.
They
will tomorrow contest the Olympic & Invited
Classes Regatta, one of many Sail Melbourne events
on Port Phillip Bay this month, and the only Australian
ISAF Grade 1 event.
Today’s
420 races were sailed in shifting 13-16 knot winds.
All
Information and results from the 420 World Championship
will be on the official site at:
www.sailmelbourne.com.au
Di
Pearson
