Mornington, Australia
Overall the British team at the 2004 Worlds had a pretty successful time. Of the fourteen boats, seven got prizes at the final party making the team nearly as successful as the Australians.� The Aussies finishing 1,2,3 in the open fleet, and 1,7,9 in the girls This was partly a quirk of the system, but with Lucy and Nicky (2nd), Charlotte and Harriette (4th), and Ally and Bethan (8th) in their fleet, Callum and Stu 6th in the Open Gold and Ben and Tom 4th in the Open silver it seems quite fair. The pleasant surprise was that Hannah and Peggy and Dan and Ben both won the under 17 trophies, confirming that Team GBR 420 is in good shape for the future.
The club at Mornington is a lovely place.� It is set on a small headland overlooking an almost tideless stretch of water. Racing was immediately off the club making it possible to track the racing without going afloat. The club compound had been cleared making space for around 150 boats and all the supporting gear. Within walking distance was the town with its 1950s style high street full of smart shops and varied restaurants. The shopping mall was a blott on the landscape but hidden from view. The Hotel was a 15 minute walk away and really nice. It was like an estate of small houses. Each room opening into the landscaped street. Breakfast was in the old house where there was also space for briefings.
The containers had arrived on time. There was no hassle from the customs officers on opening and no damage to the boats at all. What a relief.
Initially the weather was hot 30oC by the water, nearer 40 in town. Measurement for the Aus nationals was hot and sweaty. Jet lag didn�t help. The first 2 days racing were slow and difficult with wind coming and going off the land. None of the GBR team looked comfortable. There were several black and yellow flags. Only Callum and Stu and Charlotte and Harriette made to the gold fleet. They were rewarded with some even slower races, which in the heat were very difficult and not completed. From outside the team didn�t look in very good shape, but I think that this was just a sharp reminder of the effects of changing time and climate.
The weather cooled off for the next measurement to a pleasant upper 20s. Practice before the real event was in 12-15 knots and was perfect, except that there was an indication as to how much the course would be affected by the struggle between the gradient and sea breezes.
Once racing got under way properly the team showed they could concentrate. Results didn�t necessarily come from those expected, but showed the overall strength of the class.
Apart from the first day when the wind was a good southerly from the start, there were always big shifts to contend with. Port Philip is a bay about 60 KM in diameter. Mornington is about 30 Km from the sea coast. The gradient wind was often from the North, and the sea breeze from the south. From about midday to 5pm the wind flicked backwards and forwards, usually, but not on Tuesday ending up in the south without dropping below 8knots. . The poor race officer had to reset his course for every race. The sailors found that they often weren�t quite sailing the type of course intended. The bay was also quite shallow (10m) so the waves kicked up very quickly but were often not in line with the wind.
As a short intermission there were two days in the middle of the week when the wind blew 40 knots from the west. Quite steady but not helpful.
Consistency turned out to be the key. Getting to the first mark without a tactical disaster was essential. Then often the leaders included some unusual boats and the fast people picked them off to finish with very low scores. In the open fleet the top Australians and the Americans are good 470 sailors. They really showed how it should be done. Elise and Tessa (the Aus winners) and Lucy and Nicky both managed to maintain their concentration to the end of the week despite disqualifications in the middle of the week.
In the open fleet Nathan and Joe started brilliantly, and scared the Australians by winning the qualifying series. Callum and Stu put a couple of bad races to the back of their minds and finished very strongly to get their excellent position.
Container packing was a little easier than on the way out, because every one had a picture of what was needed. Most was done in good time to dress for the prize giving party. Final packing was completed on Monday morning, just in time for the first batch of flights back to the cold.
Ally�s notes
The prize giving was quite long and �unstructured�, but the Brits showed the rest of the world how you�re supposed to cheer!� You could see who was really British (as there were many un-Brits in British shirts, as everyone wanted, I mean everyone wants to be British don�t they?!) every time a prize was announced by who was standing on their chairs! Our lovely �karate� dance got a fair few laughs, as it did in the dinghy park, but then we�re all proud to be British, aren�t we?! Everyone had a good evening, even those who got �taken home early� seemed to enjoy it, in the end!�