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Australians lead Penghu regatta

Just outside Penghu's Guanyinting, boats line up near the startline at sunset yesterday for the day's last race in the Taiwan 49er Grand Prix 2002. PHOTO: DAVID FRAZIER, TAIPEI TIMES

Experienced Australian yachtsmen Chris Nickolson and Gary Boyd won six of eight races yesterday to take the points lead at the Taiwan 49er Grand Prix 2002, Taiwan's first ever Olympic class regatta, currently being held in Penghu.

The races include 17 teams from nine nations. The craft are 4.9m dinghies known as 49ers, which debuted as an Olympic event at the last games in Sydney and are considered to provide the best high performance racing among small craft boats.

The end of racing yesterday evening marked the second full day of the Penghu Grand Prix, a four day event. The finals will be held tomorrow.

Taiwan had two teams in the competition, one consisting of Taiwan nationals and one of two foreign residents, Australian Alex Mowday and Canadian Jeff Martin. Both were novices at the hard-to-handle 49ers and were disqualified after failing to make the two day cut.

Before taking to the water yesterday morning, Martin, whose craft capsized three times on the first day of racing, anticipated not making the finals, saying, "I think we'll be windsurfing on Sunday."

The other Taiwan team was led by one of Taiwan's most experienced sailors, Pan Wei-hua (潘偉華). Though his team had only two days to get used to the new-style, souped-up skiffs, he missed the cut by only one place and one point in the standings.

"I'm pretty satisfied, but we'll protest anyway," said Pan.

Of the 11 teams remaining, three of the top four are Australian, a reflection of their greater experience. Nickolson was twice named Australian yachtsman of the year, and Mark Turnbull, who heads the team currently in second, is an Olympic gold medalist.

The Penghu races are the eighth and final stop on this year's world 49er circuit, and points count toward teams' bids to qualify for the next Olympic games. Only one team from Australia will qualify.

"The Aussies have been doing better since the wind came up. You can see how they've stretched their lead in the points standings," said Louie Hubbard, an event organizer with Destination Marketing.

One team that fared poorly in the higher winds was the Japanese group headed by Kenji Nakamura. After a solid start on day one, Nakamura fell to third yesterday.

Winds were stronger, at around 15 to 16 knots (27.8kph to 29.6kph), yesterday morning, and settled down to around 12 knots after lunch. Local windsurfers, who come to Penghu for its big winds, are expecting stiffer breezes in the days to come.

"I've been looking at this high pressure center over China, and it's big, man it's big. That means big wind for us, but I don't know what these guys [in the 49ers] are going to do," said one local, who was expecting 30 knots by tomorrow based on his six years experience of sailing at the Penghu archipelago.

"According to the rules, if it's doing 25 knots, you're not supposed to go out," said Hubbard.

"But we're not close to that yet, and actually, some people are hoping for a little more wind," he said.
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