Mat & Nick Return From China & World Championship

www.boatingoz.com.au

The facilities at Rizhao, for the World Championships held in China, impressed them but they were disappointed in their result of 14th.

Hey Everyone,

The conclusion of the 2006 World Championships marks the end of our 2006 season. We are happy to report that this year has seen many great results for us; along with disappointments but we would like to thank you all for your encouragement when we needed it and your wishes along the way.

With the World championships this year being held in Rizhao, China 150km south of Qingdao; the Olympic venue for 2008; it was definitely a different regatta than what we are normally used to: A massive Yacht club that can store 250 motor boats and launch fifty 470s at a time if needed; let alone a five star hotel 100 metres from our boats, it was definitely something we could get used to. The regatta was run from the 7th - 9th September, with the qualifying series and the final series from 10th-13th and the medal race on the 13th Sept for the top ten ranked boats.

As the lead up time from the Test event held in Qindgao to the worlds was only a few days; we were confident that the experience we learnt from the test event would help us for our worlds preparations. We managed to finish in 14th position a few places back from our previous worlds result of 4th. We were a little disappointed with our result as we had many opportunities to gain a top 10 finish but could not seize these moments. But valuable lessons were learnt for our 2007 season. With a bronze medal at the ISAF grade one event Holland Regatta and gold at Kiel Week we had already confirmed our position in the 2007 Australian Sailing Team.

So we can now enjoy a few weeks of rest before starting our 2007 preparations with a team camp at Hamilton Island from 28-31 October.

Thank you again for your support and we hope you enjoy our monthly reports.

Mathew & Nick