Waves, mishap and injury cruel hopes of Australia’s Rio Olympic sailors at world titles in US

AUSTRALIA’S top medal contenders for Olympic sailing glory could go into the 2016 Games without a major medal after a day of injury. big wave mayhem and mishap for two top crews.

Jason Waterhouse & Lisa Darmanian at the NACRA World Sailing Championships. 12 February 2016 . Picture: Laurens Morel

AUSTRALIA’S top medal contenders for Olympic sailing glory could go into the 2016 Games without a major medal after a day of injury. big wave mayhem and mishap for two top crews.

The saviour of the Australian team at the London Olympics with three gold and a silver, the sport of sailing may struggle for a repeat performance in Rio.

Australia had high hopes of potentially picking up its first Olympic class world title in Clearwater, Florida, this week with the crews of Olympic 49er skiff champions Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen contesting their worlds and Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin racing in the Nacra 17 world championships regatta.

But rough conditions made the going tough for both crews with Outteridge also injured and Waterhouse and Darmanin capsizing and hooking weed on Sunday on a day they would rather forget.

With just one race to sail, Outteridge and Jensen slipped from first to sixth overall on Sunday and may not be able to even contest the final day due to the skippers injury.

Some unexpected results at the world 49er skiff and Nacra 17 world titles in Florida.

In a major shock Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin fell from second to fifth overall in the Nacra 17 world championship when they notched a 34th and two 17ths.

Both teams are mathematically capable of moving back up into a medal position with a day of racing remaining but victory is out of their reach in both classes.

Nathan Outteridge is sailing with a pectoral muscle injury which will require further assessment and may still require him to withdraw.

If he and Jensen do race they have a chance of securing a silver medal with a strong performance in the double-points medal race.

A quick time out at the world Nacra and 49er skiff championships.

“Ice tonight and a few more hours with the physio tonight and tomorrow morning and they will strap me up, send me out there and we’ll see how I go,’’ Outteridge said.

“At the end of the day the Worlds are important but the Olympics is the goal and we don’t want to set ourselves back and we have to be smart about this.”

The best possible result for cousins Waterhouse and Darmanin, who lost ground when they capsized, is a third place at a regatta they had set their sights on winning.

“It was one of those days, one of the worst days in sailing of this year,’’ Waterhouse said.

Sailors celebrate after their record haul at the London Olympics.