Sailors reign supreme

NSWIS sailors Liesl Tesch and Daniel Fitzgibbon are the toast of Australian sailing after claiming victory in the SKUD18 at the 2015 Para World Sailing Championships last week.

The duo successfully defended their title from 2014 after winning eight of 10 races and finishing no worse than third throughout the week, extending an unbeaten run that dates back to their gold medal winning performance at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

“This is exactly what we wanted to do. We wanted to practice to sail our best race. You never know when you need to sail the best race so we have to practice racing our best, every single time and stay focused right to the end,” Tesch said to Yachting Australia after the win.

Tesch and Fitzgibbon have also won a number of other prestigious sailing titles including the ISAF Sailing World Cup and Delta Lloyd Regatta to place themselves as early favourites heading into the 2016 Paralympic Games.

There was added success for fellow NSWIS athlete Jonathan Harris, who won silver in the Sonar class alongside Colin Harrison and Russell Boaden.

The trio was leading the competition for much of the regatta before falling behind on the penultimate day and eventually finishing second by just one point.