Brisbane Wednesday Jan 6th 2010.
Matt Mulder found little favour in the shifting 10 knot easterly wind struggling at times to maintain a competitive speed but still managed to finish in the top four in a race that proved to be a tactical nightmare.
The subtle twist in wind direction which is so common when the strong southerlies lose their grunt and are replaced with a lazy easterly wind system always manages to add an element of luck to selecting the advantage line.
Similarly there was little chance to set up a passing lane on the downwind reaches which contributed to a relatively dull race four compared with spectacular high speed action and uncontrolled acrobatic stunts and wild wipe out capsizes that became the spectacular highlights in the previous three races.
However in spite of his tactical struggle in the lighter winds today Matt Mulder managed to gain the important top four finish which allowed him to firm his grip on title trophy with a race to spare.
His 1-1-1-4 score placed to title beyond reach of his rivals leaving the consistent Victorian Jono Neate, Italy’s Andrea Bonezzi and England’s Simon Mussel to settle the minor medals while Queensland skippers Geoff Fisher and former Australian champion Steven Grimes completed the top six when officials managed to set a fair course for the final in a fading and unpredictable late afternoon breeze.
Steven Grimes who spent the early part of the morning repairing a damaged fin-case expressed his light wind skills to win race four and his fifth in race five allowed him to finish with the best final day result overshadowing the exciting final heat clash between Jono Neate and Andrea Bonezzi to decide who would win the Silver Medal.
Neate was the star performer winning the heat while Bonezzi used his proven experience to claim third 12 seconds ahead of Geoff Fisher.
The result presented an 11 point tie with the 1 minute 20 second win favouring Jono Neate to win the silver on count back.
Interestingly Bonezzi had the faster four race to count aggregate finishing a clear 2 minutes 33 seconds clear of Neate but the Victorian proved he could master both the heavy and light by securing a runaway 1 minute 20 second win in the medal deciding final this afternoon.