After a tough first day of competition, Matt Wearn was hoping to make amends in Race 2 of the Laser class. But things began badly – an infringement with another boat near the start line meant he had to perform a 720-degree turn to “exonerate” himself. 

“I got a penalty just before the start, so I thought I’d exonerate myself regardless of whether I was in the right or wrong. I was thinking obviously I can’t really afford to have a DSQ, but that decision did really put me on the backfoot from the get-go,” Wearn said.  

“I then worked really hard to get back up, but then on the last upwind my vang broke, so that kind of ruined all that hard work and I lost more places.”

  The medal-hope finished in 28th place – a disappointing result that could have spiralled. But in a stunning comeback, Wearn gathered himself and came out bursting in Race 3, crossing the finish line in 2nd position, and proving to his opponents why he’s a real contender in this fleet. 

“I just told myself to go out there and keep following the processes, race hard and trust my training,” he said.  

“I still feel a bit of frustration because I know I’m capable of giving that sort of performance every race, but at the same time it’s nice to get the monkey off the back and get a decent result. Hopefully that builds a bit of momentum going into a three-race day tomorrow.” 

The conditions were also dramatic – with more breeze than expected causing choppy waves.  

“I didn’t expect it to be so windy but obviously things have been a bit weird the last couple of days with the system rolling through, so it’s really keeping us all on our toes,” Wearn said. ‘”’m hoping things go back to those nice sea breezes for the rest of the week.” 

Fellow Olympic debutant Mara Stransky is also hoping for calmer weather, after describing her two races in the Laser Radial class today as “the toughest conditions I’ve ever had to sail.” 

Stransky entered Race 3 sitting in 21st position, after a solid first day of competition.  

“I’d love to say I loved every minute or racing today and that it was super fun, but I probably loved about two minutes of it,” Stransky laughed.  “It was seriously hard and super frustrating, but it’s the Olympic Games and I think you have to expect the unexpected, and we certainly had that.” 

Race 3 saw Stransky struggle early, but she fought back valiantly and managed to secure 19th place. 

“I had an absolute shocker of a start, it was abysmal,” she said. “But all-in-all a pretty good come-back.” 

And there were more positives in Race 4, in which Stransky finished 10th, and even took the lead for a couple of laps. 

“It was nice to be leading after three laps but it was a tricky day to protect the lead and I couldn’t do it,” she said. “But I’m learning more every time I go out there, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.” 

Next wave of Aussie crews to hit the water 

Tuesday will see the next wave of Australian sailors take to the water for their Olympic debuts. The competition will start for the Men’s Heavyweight One Person Dinghy – Finn, Men’s Skiff – 49er and Women’s Skiff – 49erFX.  

Tess Lloyd and Jamie Ryan will be first out on the water in the 49erFX class. Lloyd is fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming an Olympian after a near-fatal sailing accident in 2012 had doctors questioning whether she’d ever sail again. Ryan is also making a debut of sorts – she’s swapped from women’s 470 class (which she competed in at Rio), to the 49erFX class. 

In the Finn class, Rio Olympian Jake Lilley will be battling it out for Australia. The Finn has been gifted the smallest fleet at Tokyo 2020 for its last appearance at the Olympics, but it’s offering one of the strongest line-ups of potential medallists, meaning competition will be fierce. Lilley is coming into the event after picking up an 8th place at the 2021 Europeans and a 7th at the 2021 Finn Gold Cup. 

Brothers Sam and Will Phillips are both first-time Olympians – they’ll be representing Australia in the 49er fleet. The Aussie siblings have big shoes to fill, following in the wake of the London 2012 gold medallists and Rio 2016 silver medallists, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen. The Phillips brothers prefer strong breeze and big waves, and could be well placed to take on the Pacific swell of Enoshima. 

Wearn will continue his Laser campaign with a big three-race day to make up for the postponement of his second race on Sunday. And Mara Stransky and the Laser Radial fleet will face-off in Race 4 and 5. 

Australia has fielded a 13-strong Sailing team at the Tokyo Games, qualifying boats in eight of the ten Olympic classes.