Shine on you (crazy) diamonds?

Back at Hayling Island after a long gap, Australian women Lyndall Patterson and Vanessa Dudley are still in the hunt.

It is 33 years since Australians Lyndal Patterson and Vanessa Dudley raced at Hayling Island when the IYRU Women’s World Championships were the pinnacle event in women’s racing, 15 years before women’s classes were introduced to the Seoul Olympics.
Now the determined duo are back on the same waters and showing many of the 350 competitors aged between 35 and 83 from 30 different countries the value of their accumulated experience, skills and determination.

Lyndal Patterson, a Brisbane anaesthetist and mother of two grown-up daughters, opened her Masters Worlds account on Monday in her first year as a Grand Master by depositing a pair of first places in the Radial class.

In 1977 she won the Women’s Worlds title here and then defended it in Holland the following year when Sydney’s Dudley, who celebrated her 52nd birthday yesterday, finished runner up.
So Patterson went afloat this morning as clear leader in the Grand Master fleet with a clear lead over 29 men and one fellow Aussie woman.

Dudley, previously editor of Australian Sailing magazine, and an accomplished big boat helm with 15 Sydney Hobarts under her belt, was lying seventh this morning in the Masters after opening with a 12th and a fifth and is looking to improve on her tenth last year in Canada.

Patterson was pleased but a little surprised at the impression she made on the fleet on her first day in the Grand Masters worlds fleet:

“I was very fortunate to have two wins. That was very unexpected. Unfortunately for Peter Whipp who was leading the first race he capsized not far from the finish and I passed him, and that gave me the win in the first race.  And in the second race I did lead around each mark but I did manage to stay upright which I was pleased about.”
 

Moving up to the next age-group, she admits is a bitter sweet experience: 
“ For sure one of the things I miss is the camaraderie of the friends I’ve made in the Masters over the last ten years. But that will be just a matter of meeting a new group of people.”
 
This is her ninth masters, not won any masters titles overall, but she was second overall in Turkey in 2004.

“That was best overall in Masters and as female I’ve won probably three quarters of those events.”

When she came to Hayling in 1977 she had already been in the Laser for three years and carried on in the class for about ten more years before moving to the Tasar and an Etchells.

“There is a bit more beach, I remember more rocks and it feels a bit more wavy now. On Monday it was a little rougher than I remember. But memory does fade after 33 years!”

“ I mainly do club sailing. We have just come out of winter so I have not done as much sailing as I would like to have done going into a championship. But we have a good fleet in Brisbane of Standard rigs, Radials and 4.7’s which we sail together. So we would generally have 35-40 boats racing. I do Saturday afternoons. I work full time as an anaesthetist at the Royal Brisbane Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane and do some on call at weekends. Generally I sail Saturday afternoons. Unfortunately I don’t do any real training. I think I have a reasonable amount of fitness and have done some bike riding recently months in the last 18 months, but it’s social riding 40 kms to and from a coffee shop. I definitely feel better for it.”

Generally her male counterparts are very respectful of her skills, but give her no quarter:
“ The reaction is generally very positive, I think in general everyone is just pleased for anyone who just does the best they can on the day. Sometimes it can be a bit of a disadvantage having a diamond on your sail as a female, sometimes it is a disadvantage because males do seem to like to be ahead of a diamond. So if there is big group and a diamond then if there is a choice, then they will make a special effort to be ahead of that one. So the only way to get around that is to be ahead of them. Sometimes, not always, they will tack on top of you, but not always. Though maybe more towards the end of the week. Generally they are very fair, but it is a little disadvantage having that diamond on the sail because it is easy for them to see where you are.”

“ I got back in for fun in 1999 and have loved it, enjoying the travel to different parts of the world. Bitez, Turkey was the regatta I have enjoyed the most, by a long way. It was a small village, so it was a completely different culture, and a very friendly regatta. It was small enough with only 150 people, here there are 350 people. The positives are definitely the travel, the camaraderie and the friendships that you make, seeing friends once a year in different parts of the world.”

Her compatriot Vanessa Dudley started out internationally in 1976 in Switzerland:
“ I did a European in 1976 in Switzerland and that was my first year in Lasers. I sailed then for four or five Women’s Worlds which was before there was any Women’s Olympic classes or anything like that.”

On her friend and rival who she is tipping to win her fleet, she says:
“ I beat her in Australia and she would beat me overseas. She is a very canny sailor, Lyndal. She is a smart cookie. She has maybe not done as much this year as usual but we told her she would kick these Grand Masters a++es, and she denied it. She is a powerful, strong sailor who never gives up.”

“ I sailed Lasers back then and stopped probably in 1983 and then hadn’t sailed them since until the Masters Worlds were in Terrigal three years ago. So Terrigal was my first Masters worlds, then I did Canada last year and here I am. It was terrible getting back into the boat, they are as slippery downwind but I have worked hard. I had a capsize downwind on the first day. I am a big capsizer, but that’s it for the week.”

Dudley has worked hard at her programme to consistently improve her performance:
“ I have done as much as I can, most weekends and when I can a third evening. I have had a really good guy to train with Richard Bott who won the Apprentice Radial Worlds last year in Canada, but he is not here this year, and with Lew Verdon who is a Great Grand Master. I have done what I can to be fit, with a fitness programme from Andrew Verdon who consults for the Australian Sailing Team.”

And this time she is bidding for a top five place:
“ I ended up tenth overall, second woman last year. In Terrigal I was 15th and third woman so I am hoping the progression continues and I can crack the top five, and first woman. You have to have a goal, don’t you!”
 

16/9/2010 14:29