NSWIS sailors continue Paralympic dominance in Rio

NSWIS sailors Jon Harris (pictured), Liesl Tesch and Dan Fitzgibbon have all continued their brilliant form on day three of the Paralympic sailing regatta at the Marina da Gloria.

Sailing in the three-person kneelboat (Sonar) class, with teammates Russell Boaden and Colin Harrison, Harris and crew maintained their spot at the top of the regatta standings with a seventh and two second placings from their three races.

In the first race of the day, the fourth of the week for the three-person kneelboat, the Australians started behind the eight ball and never sat better than seventh. Fortunately for the event leading the Australians their nearest rivals, Canada and Greece, could not do enough to overtake them.

In their second and third races, Harris, Boaden and Harrison were runners-up to Great Britain who made it a clean sweep of the day’s three rounds.

Despite the triple-treat, the Brits, who had a horror first two days on the water still only sit in fifth, their dominance and Australia’s consistency meaning Harris, Boaden and Harrison have stretched their lead in the overall standings.

After dropping their worst result of the week, the seventh placing today, the Australians have 12 points to their name, six clear of the USA and 9 ahead of New Zealand with the competition just past the halfway mark.

In the two-person kneelboat (SKUD18), Tesch and Fitzgibbon have comfortably maintained their lead and continue to look like they will successfully defend the Paralympic title they won at the London Games in 2012.

The dynamic duo led from start to finish to claim their first race of the day by 57 seconds over Poland, before ending up behind only Great Britain in the second race of the day.

Then in race six, the third and last for the day the NSWIS pair totally outclassed the field, beating their nearest competitor, the USA, by almost two minutes.

Despite the apparent ease of their dominance, Fitzgibbon told the Australian Paralympic Committee it was a tough day at the office.

“An incredibly hard day, three races, a really large breeze – really a lot of wind – a lot of waves. It was really difficult today,” Fitzgibbon said.

“It’s a test of endurance – in sailing we get everything, that’s why we love it.”

“It’s all about experience. We’ve done it before, learnt a lot from being in conditions like that before. We’ve got to keep going at it.”

With crews able to drop their worst result of the six races so far, Fitzgibbon and Tesch have an almost perfect 6 points – four wins and a second (even after dropping a second placing), to sit well clear of Great Britain on 14 points and Canada on 16.

The sailing continues for the next three days.