49er sailors get roped in with Marlow

by RYA on 2 Mar 2007 Skandia Team GBR’s Transitional Squad sailors Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign are the second sailing duo to be awarded the Marlow Ropes Prize in 2007 and will officially receive their prize at the RYA Dinghy Sailing Show (3-4 March at Alexandra Palace).

The Award, which entitles the pair to free Marlow Ropes for a year, recognises up-and-coming sailors and helps them to build on their Olympic campaigns. 49er sailors Fletcher and Sign have recently joined forces on the Olympic campaign trail, with Fletcher moving from youth racing into the Olympic classes at the end of 2006.

While their campaign is still fresh, Team Fletcher-Sign can already see the benefits that winning the Marlow Ropes Award will bring. 'It is awesome to be awarded all this Marlow Rope. We haven’t been campaigning in the 49er long but we already know how quickly the boats go through rope with mainsheets lasting a week at most! So this will be a massive help towards our campaign,' Sign explains.

Northamptonshire’s Fletcher made the switch into the 49er at the end of 2006 after a successful youth racing season which saw him win a silver medal at the 2006 29er Worlds and be crowned as the 2006 29er Youth World Champion. Sign from Lee-on-Sea had also got several accomplishments to boast about including a win at the 2004 Travermunde Woche in the 29er and bringing home a gold medal at the 29er World Championships in the same year.

The team are already showing rapid progress in the 49er despite being a new pairing and Fletcher being the rookie of the 49er Transitional Squad.

'We both split up with our old pairings and both have successful youth campaigns under our belts,' Fletcher reveals about his new partnership with Sign. 'It was fresh start for both of us and we have been learning new things off each other which have kept us climbing a steep learning curve. We get on well with each other and we are totally committed to our Olympic campaign.'

So far their results have been encouraging, culminating in a third place finish at the first of 2007’s Olympic Classes Spring Series events, held at Weymouth (17-18 February), which did not come without some hard and cold winter training.

Fletcher continues, 'We have been sorting out our boat handling especially in windy and wavy conditions, so have spent lots of time at Stokes Bay just getting the boat around the cans. The other big area we’re working on is upwind boat speed; we have worked really hard to get our boat speed up to standard which seems to have paid off!'

RYA Olympic Development Squad Manager Barrie Edgington can see the potential for the two sailors. 'Dylan and Alain have impressed me and their fellow sailors with their mastery of the 49er in such a short space of time and with their professional approach to Olympic campaigning.

'Selection for the Marlow Award will ensure they have the best rope support as they begin their international 49er campaign.'

Along with sponsoring up-and-coming sailors, Marlow Ropes is also the Official Supplier and Exclusive Team Ropes Partner to Skandia Team GBR and is a brand that has earned an outstanding reputation based on products tried and tested in the world’s harshest environments. Marlow is committed to developing and delivering the ultimate range of rope products to suit all marine requirements.