2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup series comes to Weymouth and Portland

by RYA on 7 Jun 2015 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup | Weymouth and Portland - British sailors are preparing to take on the world’s best on home waters next week, as the ISAF Sailing World Cup series returns to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic venue of Weymouth and Portland (8-14 June).

Some 76 British athletes, including Olympic and Paralympic medallists, are set to compete across the ten Olympic and three Paralympic classes, plus an invitational kiteboard event, over five days of racing at this fourth stage of the revamped world tour.

Entries are limited to 40 boats in each of the Olympic classes, with qualifying berths either via the ISAF world ranking lists or from last week’s Delta Lloyd Regatta in Holland, so the calibre of racing is set to be high from the outset.

Olympic bronze medallist Bryony Shaw, who hails from Weymouth, is excited to welcome an elite world event back to her home waters again.

“Weymouth is my home, my parents live there and they loved the whole buzz of the Olympics and having all the people there. So the fact that there is a truly world class event with the best sailors in the world coming back to Weymouth and Portland is just amazing,” the 31-year-old explained.

“The event will be a great showcase for the sport in the UK and us as athletes, and it will also provide the opportunity for people to come into the venue, rub shoulders with some of the best sporting talent and see them doing their thing. That can be pretty inspiring.”

Shaw will compete in the RS:X women’s windsurfing class, with male counterpart and fellow Weymouth local Nick Dempsey also racing on the waters which saw him clinch an emotional Olympic silver medal in 2012.

World Champion Giles Scott will spearhead the British challenge in the Finn class, still with an 18-month winning streak to his name in the men’s heavyweight dinghy event. He’ll be joined by 2014 bronze medallist Ed Wright plus young talents Ben Cornish and James Hadden, with the latter having earned a last gasp World Cup berth at the Dutch qualifier a week ago.

Having come within touching distance of victory at the last two World Cup events in Miami and Hyeres, Nick Thompson, 2014 World Championship bronze medallist, will be looking to chase down World Cup gold in the Laser class next week, and with it a timely boost to his 2015 World Championship preparations. The ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland is the last event for the Class ahead of the World Championship, which gets underway in Kingston, Canada, at the end of June.

Three British crews will contest the 470 Women’s event, including Olympic silver medallists Hannah Mills-Saskia Clark, plus Sophie Weguelin-Eilidh McInytre and Amy Seabright-Anna Carpenter, who ensured a British one - two at the Delta Lloyd Regatta last week.

In the 470 Men’s event, Luke Patience and Elliot Willis have World Cup gold and bronze under their belts from the Miami and Hyeres events earlier this year, so will be keen to continue their podium run on home waters, while Alison Young is expected to challenge in the Laser Radial event.

In the women’s 49erFX skiff, leading British crew Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth will have to sit out of their home World Cup event, with Ainsworth recovering from injury, so Kate Macgregor-Flora Stewart, Vicky Payne-Steph Orton and Anna Burnet-Katie Tomsett will fly the flag. In the men’s 49er class, six British boats will be vying for honours, including Podium squad pairings John Pink-Stuart Bithell and Dylan Fletcher-Alain Sign.

Lucy Macgregor and Dave Evans will be putting their new partnership through its paces in the Nacra 17 multihull event, with Ben Saxton-Nicola Groves, John Gimson-Hannah Diamond and Tom Phipps-Nicola Boniface also aiming to be in the mix for the British Sailing Team.

Helena Lucas will have fond memories of Portland Harbour as the site of her 2012 Paralympic triumph as she prepares to race again there in the 2.4mR class this week. Paralympic SKUD bronze medallists Alexandra Rickham-Niki Birrell are also in action, with SKUD newcomers Will Street-Megan Pascoe extending their experience in the two-person Paralympic class into a third regatta next week.

British Sailing Team crews John Robertson-Hannah Stodel-Steve Thomas and Craig Wood-Steve Palmer-Liam Cattermole will be in action in the Sonar class, while mother and son kiteboard World supremos Steph and Olly Bridge are also set to race just along the coast from their Exmouth home.

Racing gets underway on Wednesday 10 June, with the Paralympic Classes concluding on Saturday 13 June and the final ten boat medal races for the Olympic Classes on Sunday 14 June.