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10:27 AM Fri 19 Dec 2008 GMT
Not even an individual recall for a false start, that banished them to dead last in the fleet, could prevent Australian 470 pair Malcolm Page and Mat Belcher from once again dominating proceedings on Day 4 of the inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup - Sail Melbourne today.
Despite only jumping in a boat together for the first time about eight weeks ago, Olympic Gold Medallist Page and his new skipper Belcher have not taken long to find their sea legs.
In 20-22 knot winds, the strongest of the regatta to date and waves in excess of 1.5 metres, Belcher/Page endured their first hit out in tough conditions with little or no problems - an ominous sign of things to come.
'We jumped the start in the second race so we went back and restarted . it took us a while but we still caught up and won by about a minute and half but it did get a bit scary out there,' Page said with a grin after race 8.
Belcher/Page have opened up a healthy eight point lead, ahead of their American Olympic counterparts Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl, ahead of Sandringham crew Sam Kivell and Max Taylor, a further five points in arrears.
'It was definitely the windiest we've sailed together and it was good to get into the first jibe . looking at each other thinking this is going to be interesting. We've got different techniques upwind and downwind so it's just a matter of getting used to each other,' Belcher added.
Kivell/Taylor enjoyed a much day on the water today compared to their disasterous day out yesterday.
Kivell/Taylor crossed the line in third and second place respectively, consolidating their third position overall.
'We had a lot of close calls out there today but unlike yesterday we scraped through pretty well,' Taylor said.
'We were winning the second race for most of it but we could see them (Belcher/Page) coming and there was nothing we could do about it.
'We dropped back into third place and then managed to pick up a spot again which was good,' he added.
Meanwhile the heavier conditions played havoc with organizers, forcing the abandonment of several classes and even US Laser Radial Olympic Gold Medallist Anna Tunnicliffe struggled but continues to maintain a 12 point lead over her nearest rival, young Australian Gabrielle King.
King seemed to enjoy the tougher conditions and posted a pair of fourth placings and is now five points clear of third placed Klade Hauschildt (AUS).
Other progress results:
After 8 races:
470 Class
Mat Belcher/Malcolm Page (AUS) 9
Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl (USA) 17
Sam Kivell/Max Taylor (AUS) 23
Finn Class
Warwick Hill (AUS) 9
James Paterson (AUS) 12
Chris Caldecoat (AUS) 22
Laser
Matias Del Solar (CHI) 23
Mike Bullot (NZL) 28
Milan Vujasinovic (CRO) 30
Laser Radial
Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) 16
Gabrielle King (AUS) 28
Klade Hauschildt (AUS) 33
RS:X Women and Youth
Leung Ho Tsung (HKG) 10
Alistair Masters (GBR) 7
Blanca Manchon (ESP) 7
RS:X Men
Nicolas Le Gal (FRA) 18
Antonio Cozzolino (NZL) 23
Benjamin Tillier (FRA) 24
After 2 races:
OK Dinghy
Mark Jackson (AUS) 3
Andre Blasse (AUS) 3
Robert Davis (AUS) 6
After 6 races:
29er Class
James Sly/Andrew Gillies (AUS) 5
Bec Tuma/Emma Louise Daly (AUS) 10
Jack Lloyd/James Lainson (AUS) 16
Laser 4.7 Class
Stephen Collings (AUS) 5
Alison Dale (AUS) 12
Zac Pullen (AUS) 13
2.4m Class
Michael Leydon (AUS) 6
Peter Russell (AUS) 9
Joshua McKenzie-Brown (NZL) 16
After 4 races:
Skud
Duncan McGregor/Andrew Cook (AUS) 6
Chris Riordan/Robert Schahinger (AUS) 7
David Staley/Bruce James (AUS) 11
After 9 races:
49er Class
Paul Campbell-James/Mark Asquith (GBR) 10
William Phillips/Samuel Phillips (AUS) 19
David McDiarmid/Andrew Archibald (NZL) 23
Full results: click here
by Jodi Kelly
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Hamilton Island, QLD
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