Thrill seekers
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke win another 49er World Championship, the sixth for the Kiwi duo.
17 February 2020
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Three medal races on Corio Bay in cool SW 10-14 knots building to 18 knots by the afternoon capped off the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 2020 World Championship.
49er pair Peter Burling and Blair Tuke went into the final double points gold medal race with an 18-point advantage, but still posted a fourth to wrap things up cleanly.
Second by 20 points was the Spanish pair of Diego Botin and Iago Lopez Marra and third by a margin of two points were the Germans, Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel.
“We put together a couple of good ones this morning so we could be a bit more relaxed in that last one,” Burling said. “Being an Olympic year it’s a good one to win.”
Tuke had this to say: “We’ve really stepped up in some areas this week. We’ll enjoy this win as they don’t come that often.”
In thrilling medal race the Spanish 49erFX team of Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barcelo and the British Nacra 17 team of John Gimson and Anna Burnet owned the 49erFX and Nacra 17 top spots respectively.
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Echegoyen with Barcelo (ESP) and Dobson with Tidey (GBR) locked horns throughout the medal race. Each team was well clear of any competition and only had to beat the other to secure the gold medal.
“We are so so happy,” Echegoyen said on-water once the world championship result was clear. “You know this kind of course is shifting all the time, you have to think about what is the best plan. We tried just to be close to her (GBR); you have to be calm and keep going. If you do a split, you can lose control.”
Nacra 17 pair John Gimson and Anna Burnet (GBR) rebounded from their tiller extension breakage in the final of two morning races to put themselves into the gold medal position. The Brits led from the first work, taking advantage of the two Australian teams playing a cat and mouse overall game for country selection further back.
Gimson acknowledged back on the Royal Geelong Yacht Club hardstand, “We knew with the Australians trials still on, it definitely helped us. Our strategy was to get a clean start and stay on the lifted tack. Neither of us can believe it; after the week we’ve had we are unbelievably happy.”
“We just kept fighting this week,” Burnet added. “We knew from the forecast it was going to be building, it ended up being a bit breezier than we thought. It’s been amazing having Iain Percy here mentoring and helping. We’ve been away since November 1, we’ll now head back home to get boats ready for Europe, then it’s all on for Tokyo.”
With country selection to be announced, there was everything at stake for Australia’s two top 10 Nacra 17 teams, Nathan and Haylee Outteridge and Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin, who were first and second respectively in overall standings prior to the gold medal race. The Outteridges scooped the silver medal and Waterhouse/Darmanin the bronze, and though the order seems correct on paper, it was not the result the brother and sister due were after.
“We are happy to have a win today, and also go home with a medal,” Darmanin said.
“We have really developed as a team in this quadrennial, and I am proud of how we are sailing. In a medal race like today, where there are so many things to think about and crews attacking you from everywhere, that is when the team comes together and really shines.”
Australian selectors are expected to make an announcement on their Nacra team as early as next week, with Rio 2016 silver medallists Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin widely tipped for the pick.
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