ABU DHABI // A conservative strategy paid off for Mat Belcher and Will Ryan as the Australian duo retained their men’s 470 Class title on the final day of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final yesterday.
The pair led from the opening day of action at the Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club and they maintained that advantage throughout to finish ahead of Spanish rivals Jordi Xammar and Joan Herp.
“As the defending champions we tried to be as conservative as we could,” Belcher said.
“The conditions were tough, so we just minimised our mistakes and tried to be in good racing shape on all days.
“We knew everyone was in top form and highly motivated so we are happy to get the win.”
The Abu Dhabi event is the final of the six ISAF World Cup series and Belcher said it was an event he had supported since its inception in 2008/2009.
“We really love the concept and we think it’s the future of sailing. For us to come here and compete after the world championships only two weeks ago was a tough decision,” he said.
“We wanted to come here and support this event as Abu Dhabi has ... been great competition, among the best in the world.”
Belcher and Ryan plan to take a break before preparing for next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Also Rio-bound are British sailors Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark who did their preparations no harm by winning the women’s 470 Class.
They finished third in yesterday’s final round which was enough to leave them six points ahead of the Austrian pair and defending champions Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar.
“It feels amazing to win,” Mills said.
“It has been really tricky all week with the offshore morning breeze, which made the racing super close.
“There was a bit of pressure in the medal race and it was open for a number of people to win, so it was great to go out and execute under pressure. It was a valuable experience.”
In the remaining title races, Austrians Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch emerged winners of the 49ers from Stefano Cherin and Andrea Tesei.
Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic of Croatia took the men’s Finn Class from Turkey’s Alican Kaynar and Spain’s Pablo Guitian Sarria.
Tom Burton of Australia retained the men’s Laser Class, while Josefin Olsson of Sweden edged out Marit Bouwmeester to claim the gold medal in the women’s Laser Radials.
Spaniard Ivan Pastor Lafuente took the men’s RS: X gold, while Britain’s Bryony Shaw successfully defended her women’s RS: X crown from Italian Flavia Tartaglini.
Oliver Bridge retained his kiteboarding title, edging out Spain’s Florian Trittel and Alejandro Climent Hernandez.
apassela@thenational.ae
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