IFDS Worlds 2011 - Team GBR wins three medals

by Lindsey Bell on 9 Jul 2011 IFDS Worlds 2011's final day resulted in more medal success for Britain’s sailors, with the Sonar trio of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas claiming silver, and Helena Lucas taking bronze in the 2.4mR event to add to the gold already secured by SKUD duo Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell a day earlier.

Strong winds with gusts in excess of 25 knots at the 2012 sailing venue of Weymouth and Portland meant that Friday’s final race in each of the three Paralympic classes was unable to get underway, with the medals in the 2.4mR and SKUD events decided on the standings at the end of Thursday’s racing.

Rickham and Birrell couldn’t lose the Championship title heading into the final day, regardless of whether they raced, whereas Skandia Team GBR’s Helena Lucas must have secretly breathed a sigh of relief when the abandonment flags were raised.

With the Dutch duo of Thierry Schmitter and Andre Rademaker fighting it out for gold and silver, Lucas was poised tentatively in the bronze medal position heading into the final day, with the points margins so close that five other boats – including Megan Pascoe – had the chance to snatch bronze at the final opportunity on Friday.

But with that opportunity denied due to the windy conditions, a relieved Lucas took World Championship bronze to add to her Disabled Worlds medals from 2006 and 2009.

'I knew what the forecast was yesterday and I knew it was key to try and make sure that I finished yesterday in the medal places just in case we didn’t race today,' the Southampton-based sailor explained.

'My coach was great – he said ‘right, we’re going down to the dock and put the sails on’ just to make sure I was in the right frame of mind to be going racing and be prepared to race rather than hoping that we didn’t race and sitting on the dock praying that the wind would keep up.'

'It’s brilliant to medal in the venue – it gives you so much confidence,' continued the 36-year-old, who hoped that a podium finish in the Paralympic venue would boost her prospects of selection for the Games team in 2012.

'There’s loads of stuff that I can improve on – there’s loads of mistakes that were made and things like that, so it’s kind of a good thing that I know that I can go away and there’s lots of things to work on and get better. It’s really encouraging for the future.'

The situation in the three-person Sonar class was less cut and dried – the Israeli team of Dror Cohen, Benni Vexler and Arnon Efrati had their premature start penalty from race 10 on Thursday overturned by the Race Committee late on Thursday evening, handing them back the overall lead by four points over the British two-time World Champions Robertson, Stodel and Thomas heading into the final day.

It was a decision which the British team contested, arguing that the evidence the Israelis put forward in support of their claim was obtained via an illegal camera on board their boat and was therefore inadmissible.

The jury agreed that a class rule had been broken by the visiting team, but elected not to impose a penalty for the transgression – and with no racing on Friday to try and better their score, the Skandia Team GBR crew were forced to settle for Worlds silver for the second year in a row, and will have to wait for their world title hat-trick.

At the 2010 World Championships, the British Sonar team also missed out on gold through a last-minute protest involving two other boats which impacted on their score.

But in spite of their disappointment, the 25-year-old Stodel is adamant that their time at the top of the podium will come again.

'It’s not ideal, but a medal’s a medal – we’re still going in the right direction. Morally, we know we were right so we’ve got everything to play for. We played the game fairly.

'Surely if we get all the bad luck out of the way now then next year will be easy-peasy. We must be due some good luck, surely?!

'I think people are scared of us again, which we really love,' she continued. 'We sailed consistently and we’re going to be the team to have a look at next year, because this is really going to wind us up no end.

'This winter we’re going to be hammer down, and putting the hours in. They’d better watch out!'

'The outcome of the Sonar event was a bit disappointing really. I suppose really just disappointing that the final day of the event has ended up in the protest room rather than on the water, and a little bit of controversy there,' said RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park.

'However, at the end of the day, we have come away with three medals – one of each colour – and we are the only nation that has managed to win a medal in each event. We’ve had a number of sailors through the course of the week who’ve been performing very well and have been fighting it out for the medals at the front of the fleets.'

Park continued: 'It’s been a very tough competitive event – certainly the toughest IFDS Worlds in terms of competition that I can remember and racing-wise on the water it’s been a pretty good, so it’s been particularly great for all of our Skandia Team GBR sailors to have been at the front of the fleet, fighting it out for medal positions from day one right the way through until the end of the regatta. They should be proud of their achievements and take that forward into next year.

'Certainly if we could deliver these results in 2012 with one medal in event we’ll be very happy indeed.'

IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships 2011, Weymouth and Portland Final standings:

Sonar (three-person keelboat)
1. Dror Cohen-Benni Vexler-Arnon Efrati (AUT), 34 pts
2. John Robertson-Hannah-Stodel-Steve Thomas (GBR), 38 pts
3. Alexander Wang Hansen-Per Eugen Kristiansen-Marie Solberg (NOR) 45 pts

SKUD (two-person keelboat)
1. Alexandra Rickham-Niki Birrell (GBR), 19 pts
2. Jennifer French-Jean Paul Criegnou (USA), 26 pts
3. Daniel Fitzgibbon-Liesl Tesch (AUS), 30 pts

2.4mR (one-person keelboat)
1. Thierry Schmitter (NED), 27 pts
2. Andre Rademaker (NED), 39 pts
3. Helena Lucas (GBR), 52 pts
6. Megan Pascoe (GBR), 56 pts

Skandia Team GBR squad for the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships:

SKUD18 (two-person keelboat)
Niki Birrell 16/08/1986 Manchester Knutsford
Alexandra Rickham 11/09/1981 Kingston, Jamaica Epsom, Surrey

2.4mR (one-person keelboat)
Megan Pascoe 29/11/1986 Shoreham-by-Sea Portland
Helena Lucas 29/04/1975 Redhill, Surrey Southampton

Sonar (three-person keelboat)
John Robertson 11/02/1972 North Haven, Sunderland Portland
Hannah Stodel 27/08/1985 Colchester West Mersea
Stephen Thomas 05/01/1977 Bridgend Cardiff

IFDS Worlds website