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Smith and Ryan want Rio 470 spot

Australian sailors Carrie Smith and Jamie Ryan are building towards Olympic qualification at the Melbourne sailing world cup.

Carrie Smith and Jamie Ryan secured Australia an Olympic sailing spot - now they need to secure it for themselves.

The women's 470 pair won Australia a spot in the race in Rio with their results at the world championship.

But if Smith and Ryan want to sail at the Olympics they still need to qualify.

"We have to be top six at our next world championships, which are in March next year," Smith told AAP.

They're in Melbourne for a sailing world cup event, which starts on Monday, and are using it to build up their hours in the boat after Smith missed a lot of the year.

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"We missed out on a lot of world cups this year due to my illness, it's nice to be back and being able to do Melbourne," Smith said.

Ryan said the pair were building up their team work in stronger wind conditions.

"It looks like we should get a bit of a taste of (the wind) here and I think that's probably likely what we'll see in Argentina," Ryan said.

Ryan's brother Will has already qualified and will be at a test event in Rio, while her sister Sasha is also competing for a 470 spot and will be in Melbourne.

The Melbourne sailing world cup will be held in St Kilda for the first time, with sailors from 23 countries expected to compete.

The final races will be held on December 13.


2 min read

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Updated

Source: AAP



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