Opening Day in Perth Places Israel and New Zealand At The Front

Today's opening race of the 2010 Perth International saw world number one team Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) shared low point status for opening day of the Perth International Regatta with Gideon Kliger and Eran Sela (ISR). The Israeli team sit ahead of the Aussies on countback. As they fought for the victory in each race, the two teams pulled away from the rest of the 25-boat fleet. Great Britain’s Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell are 7 points off the leaders’ pace.

In the women's fleet, Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (NZL) had an opening day of two race wins, to place them very tidily ahead of Henriette Koch and Lene Sommer (DEN, with Lisa Erison and Astrid Gabrielson (SWE) third.

The Fremantle Doctor, a cooling southwesterly, wind topped out at 19 knots this afternoon. A small, but very competitive fleet of 470 Men’s sailors from around the world, squared off for the first two races of the test event for Perth 2011, the ISAF Olympic Classes Combined World Championships and the regatta that will determine the first 75% of the countries to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. 

Commented Mat Belcher, “This is the first regatta of the third year of the Olympic quadrennium and everyone is getting serious.  Most of the 20 top ranked ISAF teams have been practicing here for a while and are in good form.”

Belcher and Page have had a hectic month with the delivery, rigging and launching of their new boat, My Life followed by their travels to Athens for the ISAF Annual Conference and the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards ceremony and return to Perth.

“The weather conditions were perfect today. I was out on the wire throughout the afternoon, which was exhilarating, although I’m still a bit under the weather,” said Malcolm Page, who fell ill upon his return to Perth following his long stint in Athens. “We’re pleased with our new boat and happy to be sharing the lead, but a little disappointed because our 29-race undefeated streak in Australia was broken today.”  Belcher and Page won last season’s Sail Sydney, Sail Melbourne and 470 Nationals with an unprecedented winning streak.

More Information:
Event Website
470 Women Results
470 Men Results

Source: Lynn Fitzpatrick

Image: Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page © Sail Melbourne