Kiwi Quotes - Tom Ashley and Carl Williams

by Jodie Bakewell-White on 20 Aug 2008

Hamish Pepper and Carl William on Leg 3 of Race 5 2008 Olympic Regatta - Day 10 - Star Richard Gladwell www.photosport.co.nz

Tom Ashley and Carl Williams comment on their racing yesterday in the RS:X windsurfer and Star class respectively.

Comments from Tom Ashley after race ten…

'Tough day today!'

'Very light, VERY shifty offshore breeze for the last fleet race of the Olympics.'

'I had a really great start at the pin end of the line, and was planning to go left. Unfortunately (!) my start was so good that I made all my rivals (FRA, GBR and ISR) tack off towards the right and I succeeded in getting to the left, at which point the wind went 40 degrees to the right and I ended up deep.'

'In those conditions, and being that far behind, there was no way that I would be able to finish in the top seven and make the race count (I was discarding an 8th until today) so I backed off and cruised the rest of the race to save energy for tomorrow's medal race.'

'So, the overall situation is very tight now, with three of us separated by a single point at the front of the fleet. Julien Bontemps of France is leading, followed by Nick Dempsey (GBR) and myself one point back. Shahar Zubari of Israel is another eight points back, and fifth place is nineteen points behind.'

'With the medal race counting double, this means that the medals will be fought out between the four of us tomorrow. It's all on! It'll be a great way to finish a very toughly fought regatta.'

Comments from Carl Williams after Tuesday…

'The mood is good, a strong performance is needed tomorrow and it will be a bitter fight to the end as nobody has any real buffer at this stage.'

'We are scheduled for 3 races on Course D from 11am. So an early start, but a day we are looking forward to.'

'All the best to team mate Tom Ashley who heads into tomorrow’s RS:X Medal race with a winner take all battle. Tom is in seriously good condition and has backed it up with strong performances on the water all week. Go get them mate!'
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