ISAF Sailing World Championships – Six Olympic berths for Canada

At the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Perth, fantastic sailing conditions were delivered for what was to be the Canadians' final day. Action kicked off with the medal race in the Star class with the Canadian team of Richard Clarke and Tyler Bjorn holding down the final spot for medal race contention. The medal races took place very close to the shore which made for great racing entertainment.

The Canadians had a good start and rounded the first mark in fifth place.

Unfortunately they received a penalty flag from the jury boat for kinetics. It is unclear what kind of kinetics but Richard assumes it could be for rocking the boat.

They were hit with a one-turn penalty and by the time they completed their turn, they were in 10th and about 150 metres behind the 9th place boat.

Sailing tremendously well, they made it back to eighth, leaving them in 10th in the overall standings.

National Team coach Steve Mitchell reflects on the Star's performance in Perth. 'We are happy with getting qualification out of the way as early as we could here, its one more step on the way to the podium in Weymouth, and was always our main goal here in Perth. It wasn't our plan to be that close though!

We have high standards as a team, and need to push our program towards Weymouth with a schedule of specific training over the winter and spring to get ourselves in a position of fighting it out with the top teams where we should be, and where we have been at times during 2011.

Our program has always been about the long game, with one specific goal at the end, so we will review all of our performances here and make a plan moving forward, there will be no resting on our laurels! Now the hard work really starts.'

"We are happy with getting qualification out of the way as early as we could here, its one more step on the way to the podium in Weymouth, and was always our main goal here in Perth. It wasn't our plan to be that close though! We have high standards as a team, and need to push our program towards Weymouth with a schedule of specific training over the winter and spring to get ourselves in a position of fighting it out with the top teams where we should be, and where we have been at times during 2011. Our program has always been about the long game, with one specific goal at the end, so we will review all of our performances here and make a plan moving forward, there will be no resting on our laurels! Now the hard work really starts."

Check out this CBC News clip: Bjorn Olympic Dream

For the RSX Men, today marked the last day of fleet racing. Zac Plavsic had a remote chance of making it into the top 10 (sitting in 14th overall) for the medal race and to clinch a spot for the London Games. The wind was 18-22 knots today which suited Zac just fine. Zac put up solid performances placing 9th and 6th on the day. Zac did move up to 12th overall, but will have to wait for the Worlds in Cadiz to qualify himself for the Olympics. Zac's position, 10th country, has easily qualified Canada for a spot in the Men's RSX in London. 12th place was Zac's personal best at a World Championships.

The only Canadian 470 womens' team of Dana Archibald and Karen Dexter also demonstrated their fortitude today with their best race of the series in the last race with a 35th to finish 42nd overall.

In summary of this event, Canada qualified for Olympic berths in 6 of the 10 Olympic classes, missing out in 470 Men and Women, 49er and Women's Match Racing. One team was individually selected for the Games – Star. Two Olympic trials, the Laser and Radial, have been narrowed down mathematically. That story will conclude in one month at Miami OCR. For all the other hopefuls, 2012 Worlds is the next big show. Congrats to Team Canada!

Full results can be found at www.perth2011.com

Follow Canadian Sailing Team success on FACEBOOK.

The Canadian Laser trials are now narrowed down to two competitors, Chris Dold, placing 21st overall and Dave Wright, 24th overall. In a seesaw battle Chris looked to be on the verge of putting it away at several times before David rebounded, and then visa versa. This battle carried on through the final day and the sum of it is that Chris holds a narrow 3 point lead heading into the final trials event in Miami. We look forward to watching this story play out in January.

High Performance Director, Ken Dool is optimistic and says, "Zac Plavsic demonstrated today what many of us have been waiting to see. He put together a performance at the level of his capabilities on the biggest stage, and for that I am both proud and feel very positively about his future performance". Dool goes on to say, "Zac showed us all that he can deliver on game day". David Hayes also made big improvements having his best ever World Championship result with a 31st overall.

The Canadians had a good start and rounded the first mark in 5th. Unfortunately they received a penalty flag from the jury boat for kinetics. It is unclear what kind of kinetics but Richard assumes it could be for rocking the boat. They were charged with a one-turn penalty and by the time they completed their turn, they were in 10th and about 150 metres behind the 9th place boat. Sailing tremendously well, they made it back to 8th, leaving them in 10th in the overall standings. National Team coach Steve Mitchell reflects on the Star's performance in Perth.