470 WOMEN
Going into the double-points medal race, Championship leaders Lara Vadlau/Jola Ogar (AUT) had to finish ahead of the 2012 Olympic gold medallists Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL) to secure the gold medal.With a text book perfect start, the Austrians claimed a clear lane, to put the lead in their hands and just over eighteen minutes later they crossed the finish line to become 2014 470 Women World Champions.
At the first upwind mark, it was Japan’s Ai Kondo Yoshida/Miho Yoshioka who were closest behind, rounding with just 4 seconds gap to the Austrians, but Vadlau/Ogar’s eyes were only on the Kiwis.
Downwind, the Austrians continued to extend their lead over the fleet, with only the British pair of Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark punching through the pack to move up to second place and put in a challenge. Despite pushing hard, there was no change in positions and the two teams crossed the finish line with just 5 seconds between them, and holding almost a minute margin over the next team, Slovenia’s Tina Mrak/Veronika Macarol.
So World Championship gold in the bag, to add to the 470 European title they won in July this year. Just two years ago at the 2012 Olympics, Vadlau finished in last place, with Aleh/Powrie winning Olympic gold and Mills/Clark sealing silver. Since, the Vadlau/Ogar partnership has delivered a meteoric climb upwards and today proved once again they have the courage, passion and a burning desire to be the best they can be.
“In the first upwind when we were close to the right layline and we saw this huge gust on the right side and I saw the Kiwis were left side and I said to Lara this is good because we have wind and they don’t,” said Ogar as she relived the race. “But we didn’t get too excited and only when we rounded the downwind mark did we realise we could have it. But we still stayed focused and remembered the times when we have been leading a race and then lost first place because we were too relaxed,”
“We never win medal races,” laughed Ogar. “Yes we won in Miami, but it was not such a strong fleet.”
“For this medal race I told Jola I will sail the wind and check the wind and you will keep your eyes on all the other boats,” said Vadlau. “Yes, this is always our plan,” added Ogar. “It works and if something is working, you shouldn’t change it!”
“It is amazing, we are World Champions,” grinned Vadlau. “You know I told Jola before the race that we must win it because I want to have a gold 470 on my mainsail,” she added referring to the right they have now earned themselves as World Champions.
"It is unbelievable. You know we had a training session together two years ago in Palma, and I knew from that moment on that Jola had to be in my boat," said Vadlau. Celebrations may be put on hold as they will be driving back to Austria early tomorrow morning.
"I want to rest when we get back," said Ogar as there has been so much pressure on us. "We will only have about a week at home, and then we go to Rio for all of October." The pair will then head to the ISAF Sailing World Cup Grand final in Abu Dhabi, before returning to Rio.
For Aleh/Powrie it was effectively game over for gold within the first six minutes of the race, as they rounded the first mark in 7th and knew there was no hope of catching the Austrians. The 2013 World Champions’ race was now all about ensuring they didn’t let any more boats get between them and the British, to ensure they could keep hold of silver.
“From there, winning was out of the question. We just had to make sure we were close enough to the prints to make sure they couldn’t get us,” commented Aleh. “We just had to keep our composure on the next beat and take a few boats which we did, so that was some consolation.”
“It was a pretty tough race and the Austrians just did it really well. Good on them as they sailed a really good Worlds.
“We are getting there, but there is a lot to work on. I guess that’s what good about these regattas, when it doesn’t all go well we find more things to fix for next time. The Austrians are getting better and we all need to keep going. There is a lot we can do better,” Aleh concluded. A couple of weeks break at home, and Team Jolly will then be back in Rio in December 2014 for training.
The 2012 Olympic Silver medallist Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark sailed a perfect race, but were always too far behind on points to have a real shout at silver or gold. For them, securing the bronze medal was a pleasant surprise, as the pair still don’t feel in prime performance mode, after both having injury set-backs earlier in the year.
“This is the ISAF Worlds, it is only once every 4 years, so it is a big deal and to come here and perform we are really happy,” said Mills. “We put up a good fight all the way to the end with the Austrians, to try and clinch silver, but we just couldn’t quite get passed them. But as it turned out, it didn’t make a difference, because the Kiwi girls had managed to pull up enough to hold onto their silver. It was an exciting race all the way to the end.”
470 Women - Top 10 Final Overall Results
1. Lara Vadlau/Jola Ogar (AUT 431) - 34 pts
2. Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL 75) - 45 pts
3. Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark (GBR 118) - 50 pts
4. Camille Lecointre/Hélène Defrance (FRA 9) - 64 pts
5. Tina Mrak/Veronika Macarol (SLO 64) - 71 pts
6. Michelle Broekhuizen/Marieke Jongens (NED 6) - 72 pts
7. Anne Haeger/Briana Provancha (USA 1712) - 75 pts
8. Ai Kondo Yoshida/Miho Yoshioka (JPN 1) - 88 pts
9. Christina Bassadone/Eilidh McIntyre (GBR 321) - 90 pts
10. Afrodite Kyranakou/Anneloes van Veen (NED 216) - 94 pts
