#PERTH2011 – Ireland's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are at the top of the 49er high performance dinghy fleet in Perth today having finished second, fourth and 11th in the first three races of their World Championshipsto be fifth overall. It is a solid start for the Belfast duo who hope to qualify for the Olympic regatta this week. 14 nations will qualify in the 49er fleet for the Olympics in London.
Denmark's Jonas Warrer and Soeren Hansen (DEN) and Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) are the joint overall leaders after the opening day of 49er racing on Monday.
Warrer and Hansen comfortably finished first in race one on Monday for the Yellow fleet by 85 seconds from Denmark's Peter Andersen and Nicolai Thorsell, who placed second.
John Pink and Rick Peacock (GBR) dominated in race two but only managed to finish six seconds ahead of Emil Toft Nielsen and Simon Toft Nielsen (DEN).
Tobias Schadewaldt and Hannes Baumann (GER) took out the third race, only just beating New Zealand's Burling and Tuke, while Pink and Peacock (GBR) finished a disappointing 16th after their win in the previous race.
"The first two races were really good until the boat capsized. That delayed us," Peacock said. "It took us a while to get the boat back up. After that mishap, we bounced back. Overall, I'm impressed with how we raced."
In the Blue fleet, David Evans and Edward Powys (GBR) lead for most of race one, finishing first by 13 seconds ahead of McGovern and Seaton (IRL).
Stephane Christidis and Emmanuel Dyen (FRA) won race 2, while Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel (GER) were second.
World number one duo Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) finally showed some of their best to win the last Blue fleet race of the day. Noe Delpech and Julien Dortoli (FRA) were second. The Australians are tenth overall.
The 49ers are scheduled to continue racing on Tuesday at 1200 Perth time on the Owen course.
Elsewhere, In the men's Laser class James Espey, also from Belfast lough, is lying 56th in the 147 strong fleet having scored an 18th and 22nd in the two races of the day. The first 35 nations will qualify for the Olympics at this event.
The three-time Laser champion and 2010 ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year, Tom Slingsby (AUS), swamped the field in the opening race of the day but made an uncharacteristic error in the second to finish sixth with the mistake costing him top spot on the leaderboard.
Slingsby has seven points after the first day of Laser racing, one behind Blue fleet's Jesper Stalheim (SWE).
"I guess it was my fault, I should have looked where the top mark was," Slingsby said. "I tacked off the line, went for a few minutes, then tacked back and was over-laid by a long way, hundreds of metres. I rounded in the high teens or low twenties and was able to pull to six.
"All in all I didn't have a drop today and that was the goal, I'm in the hunt."
Slingsby was 35 seconds clear of Kacper Zieminski (POL) in race one with Sweden's Rasmus Myrgren a further 30 seconds back. Australia's Ashley Brunning finished the day with two fourths to put him equal third overall.
Poland's Karol Porozynsky scored a fifth and a second to lead the Red fleet with seven points from Germany's Simon Grodeluschen on eight points with a seventh and a win.
The Yellow and Blue fleets raced in 13-16 knot winds while the Red fleet had consecutive races in the late afternoon with 17-22 knot winds under a leaden sky and frequent lightning flashes.
Laser racing is scheduled to continue on the Parmelia course from 1200 local on Tuesday.
Racing continues until Sunday 18 December 2011.
