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Finn Alexander and Aussie Sailors excel in Mistral wind

Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) and Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) athletes again took advantage of a Mistral wind on Day 2 of the 2023 Hyeres Regatta in France, with wins and top three places aplenty in the ILCA 7 and 49erFX classes.

The three ILCA 7 groups sailed their two scheduled races and in the words of New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete, Finn Alexander: “The Aussies had a solid one.”

Alexander moved up to second place overall, courtesy of a second and a bullet, while Ethan McAullay maintained fifth place overall after being Black Flagged in the first race of the day, only to bounce back and win the second race.

Meanwhile, NSWIS scholarship athlete and Rio gold medallist in the ILCA 7, Tom Burton, is settling nicely into the 49er. He and Max Paul are close behind their compatriots in 17^thplace, scoring 6-(12)-6.

“It was windy again,” said Alexander after a day of racing in 23-25 knot winds with gusts up to 28 knots. “I had a good idea of what the priorities were for the day; start well and go the right way from there.

“It’s great to put good scores on the board – to be in the game and in the hunt. All I was trying to do was be clean at the start and get away quickly. Today, when I got into the rhythm, I could use my endurance when others were getting tired.

“We’ve got some big boys in the squad and I am not so big, so I keep grinding away,

“Tomorrow’s plan is to rest tonight. I have nothing major to change in my game plan, so it will be start well and go the right way. Keep it simple.”

McAullay, from Western Australia, bounced back from a Black Flag in Race 3 to win Race 4 in his group.

“There was a bias at the pin end in the first race,” he said. “We had a couple of General Recalls and I made a mistake with my transits and was Black Flagged. I came back with a win. That was cool.

“Three of us with wins. We could put our results down to Aussie type conditions to a degree, but we are all pushing hard. It’s all about starting well and seeing who is doing well around you and gauging your race from them.”

Reigning Olympic gold medallist, Matt Wearn, was not to be left out, winning Race 3 in his group and placing second in Race 4. He is sixth overall on countback to McAullay.

The ILCA 6 groups were on the course when the ILCA 7s returned to shore and winds had increased. Michael Blackburn, the Australian Sailing Technical Director, saw 25 to 30 knot winds during the ILCA 6 races.

Casey Imeneo handled the conditions best of the Australians, finishing seventh in Race 3, before racing was cancelled for the rest of the day. The Victorian athlete is one place ahead of Tokyo Olympian, Mara Stransky, who placed 11^th in the race.

Forced to cancel racing for the 49er and 49erFX yesterday because of the conditions, officials sent the two classes on the water early today. The plan was to hold four races in each class to somewhat make up for the lost day.

The 49erFX athletes were split into two groups and put two races away before the AP flag went up. Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot shook off any nerves they may have felt after waiting to race yesterday and reeled off a bullet and a fourth place for third place overall.

London Games match racing silver medallist, Olivia Price and her teammate, Evie Haseldine, are close behind in fourth place overall after securing 3-4 results.

“The first race was held in raceable conditions,” Harding said. “We managed to get off the start line well and sail up the first upwind to lead around the first mark. We held on from there for a comfortable win. In the second race, the wind shifted left and increased in strength and kept getting stronger after we finished the second race.”

“We had a fair amount of training in windy conditions back in Australia, so it’s super nice to stretch the legs here and put our training to work. We didn’t have a great regatta in Palma, but we isolated the problems, so we’re pretty happy with how we’re travelling.

“We have to keep chipping away. It’s nice to put things in place and have them pan out, to sail well against the international competition.”

With 67 entries, the 49ers were split into three groups and sailed three races which means a drop came into play. Jim Colley and came ashore the best placed of the four Australian teams. The two finished the day in 16^th overall with 5-(7)-6 results.

All racing for the Nacra 17, 470, Formula Kite and iQFOiL was cancelled for the day because of increasing winds.

The Hyeres Regatta continues tomorrow local time. The Medal stage closes the event on Saturday, 29 April.

ILCA 7 – 155 entries – 4 races (one drop)

2^nd Finn Alexander (ASS) (7), 2, 2, 1 = 5 points

5^th Ethan McAullay (ASS) 1, 5 (BFD), 1 = 7

6^th Matt Wearn (AST) (4), 4, 1, 2 = 7

14^th Luke Elliott (ASS) 5, 6 (BFD), 3 = 14

30^th Zac Littlewood (ASS) 6, (15), 10, 12 = 28

57^th Stefan Elliott Shircore (ASF) 21, 10 , 17 (33) = 48

61^st Lawson McAullay (ASF) 20, 17, (22), 14 = 51

108^th Michael Compton (ASF) 44, (BFD), 27, 27 = 98

111^th Jack Eickmeyer 32, 36, 33, (48) = 101

113^th Will Sargent (ASF) 40, 36 (BFD), 26 = 102

ILCA 6 – 94 entries – 3 races (one drop)

16^th Casey Imeneo (ASS) (8), 5, 6 = 11 points

17^th Mara Stranksy (ASS) (11), 2, 10 = 12

33^rd Elyse Ainsworth (ASS) 14, (20), 16 = 30

43^rd Paige Caldecoat (ASF) 20, 17, (UFD) = 37

45^th Sylvie Stannage (ASF) (24), 24, 15 = 39

93^rd Zoe Thomson (AST) (DNC), DNC, DNC = 96

49erFX – 50 entries – 2 races

3^rd Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot (ASS) 1, 4 = 5 points

4^th Olivia Price and Evie Haseldine (ASS) 3, 4 = 7
28^th Tess Lloyd and Dervla Duggan (ASS) 16, 15 = 31

49er – 67 entries – 3 races (one drop)

16^th Jim Colley and Shaun Connor (AST) 5, (7), 6 = 11 points
17^th Tom Burton and Max Paul (ASS) 6, (12), 6 = 12
26^th Thomas Needham and Joel Turner (ASS) 6, (12), 8 = 14
44^th Tom Cunich and Miles Davey (ASF) (RDG), RDG, 14 = 28

Nacra 17 – 46 entries – 1 race

1^st Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AST) 1 = 1 point

21^st Ruben and Rita Booth 11 = 11

25^th Archie Gargett and Sarah Hoffman (ASF) 13 = 13

34^th Jake Liddell and Lucy Copeland (ASS) UFD = 24

34^th Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown (ASF) DSQ = 24

470 – 63 entries – 2 races

17^th Conor Nicholas and Nia Jerwood (ASS) 9, RDG = 18 points

21^st Angus Higgins and Sophie Jackson (ASF) 19, 5 = 24

59^th James Jackson and Lily Richardson 28, 26 = 54

iQFOiL Women – 22 entries – 5 races (one drop)

6^th Samantha Costin (ASS) – 2, 4, 4, (20), 13 = 23 points