Sailing Gold for Britain in Yngling event

by Sail-world.com/uk on 17 Aug 2008
Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson of Britain took Gold in the Yngling event in the rain and wind at Qingdao early Sunday morning.

With 20 knots of wind and a two metre seaway, the rain and poor visibility added a very British quality to the Yngling Medal Race. From the start the two rivals the Brits and the Dutch team of Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen battled away from the start line.

The Yngling girls ground out a lead at the first mark to lead down the first run and the Dutch were caught by the chasing pack and it was game over. The German boat challanged for the lead on the second beat and led the Brits around the final mark and down the second run.

But, now on a charge Ayton, Webb and Wilson surged past them to take the winning gun and the Gold. The Dutch finished in fifth place to take Silver and the Greek finished in third and took the Bronze.

Speaking after the race Webb said: 'I’m lost for words, it is such a relief. Our experience was everything, we stayed sure and we got better.'

Ayton said: 'It’s been brilliant, this campaign has been about pure perfection and we’re just an awesome team.'

Wilson added: 'This has been the dream and it hasn’t really sunk in.'

Yngling - Final overall positions

Gold GBR Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson 24pt
Silver NED Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen 33pts
Bronze GRE Sofia Bekatorou, Sofia Papadopoulou and Virginia Kravarioti 48pts

4 GER Ulrike Schuemann 56
5 AUS Krystal Weir 57
6 RUS Ekaterina Skudina 58
7 FRA Anne Le Helley 62
8 USA Sally Barkow 63
9 CHN Xiaqun Song 65
10 NOR Siren Sundby 71
11 FIN Silja Lehtinen 60
12 RSA Dominique Provoyeur 63
13 CAN Jennifer Provan 66
14 ESP Monica Azon 67
15 ITA Chiara Calligaris 74