RS Aero world titles organisers gained greater confidence in their choice to pick Port Stephens as the 2019 venue following the successful running of the national championship last week which had competitors declaring it was the “best venue”.
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About 20 competitors, most from Victoria and NSW, turned out for the 2018 RS Aero Australian Championship which was staged out of Port Stephens Sailing and Aquatic Club in Soldiers Point between December 6 and 9.
“Port Stephens Sailing and Aquatic Club put in a huge effort to make it happen and now we have a template for the RS Aero World Championship 2019 I’m confident we will turn on a quality event, especially with many competitors at this event adding their name to the organising committee,” organiser and competitor Simon Reffold from Sydney said.
“Port Stephens is just brilliant – the sailing is exceptional on a massive open waterway and every single person I spoke to agreed this is the best venue.’”
The RS Aero is a new class of lightweight, single-handed dinghy.
The dinghy’s hull weighs less than an Optimist at just 30kg and has three rig options that suit three different weight categories: 35-65kg (Aero 5), 55-85kg (Aero 7) and 75kg plus (Aero 9).
The RS Aero is fast growing in popularity not only around Australia, but the world.
Port Stephens was selected to host the national and world titles due to its experience in hosting large scale regattas such as Sail Port Stephens and other titles, plus its protected waterways.
Many of the national championship competitors were keen to sample the waters before the strong European and USA fleets arrive for the world championship between December 17 and 22, 2019.
Across the four days, three national champions were found in the 5m, 7m, and 9m classes.
Behind the seasoned Chris Brain in the 5m category was Victoria Land from Mount Martha Yacht Club south of Melbourne.
Buoyed by her result and first competitive experience in the growing dinghy class, Land is now on her way to the 2019 worlds in Port Stephens with confidence, even considering engaging a sailing coach.
“I’m going to sort out a training program for the worlds,” Land said. “The first few days were quite windy – I’d never sailed in more than 15 knots of wind so I jumped in the deep end.”
Winner of the Aero 7m division, Rhett Gowans, also from Victoria, beat his training partner Michael O’Brien by three points over 10 races.
“We had really amazing conditions, 15-20 knots each day,” Gowans said. “Now I want to do well at the worlds. Australia is quite new at the Aero class having adopted the boats only two years ago whereas in Europe the class is five-years-old. We expect the northern hemisphere Aero sailors to be strong in 2019.”
Reffold won the 9m division.
“At the beginning of the series the fleet was spread out and by the final day it had compressed,” he said. “A lot of people who hadn’t raced the Aero before gained a lot of racing experience.”
Race officer Denis Thompson said the 20 competitors enjoyed four days of quality on-water management, ideal conditions and plenty of social time, which is considered equally important to results within the Aero community.