Weymouth and Portland International Regatta 2011 is being held from 31 July to 13 August. The 470 fleets begin sailing on 5 August with the Medal Race taking place on 12 August.
The 116 470 sailors comprising of 32 male teams and 26 females teams head to the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta well prepared following the ISAF Sailing World Cup series.
Eight of the world’s top ten Men’s 470 teams will sail in the 32 boat fleet at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta.
The favourites to take gold will be World number one Australian pair Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page who sailed in all of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Regattas to take the Men’s 470 title by 19 points. The Australians won gold at Sail Melbourne, Delta Lloyd Regatta and Kieler-Woche. They also picked up silver at US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR and Skandia Sail for Gold. Page won gold with helm Nathan Wilmot at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Sailing Competition and with Belcher now at the helm the pair will look to continue their momentum in Weymouth.
Nick Rogers (GBR) sailed at three Olympic Games with Joe Glanfield finishing fourth at Sydney 2000 before claiming two silver medals at Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008. Rogers is now sailing with new crew Chris Grube in a bid to claim the gold medal that he has come close to on two occasions. The pair recently came fourth at Skandia Sail for Gold and with home advantage and local knowledge they will look for a podium finish one year ahead of London 2012.
The fleet also includes Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos (FRA) who finished ahead of Belcher and Page on three occasions throughout the 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup series. Notably the French pair came ahead of the Australians on Olympic waters at Skandia Sail for Gold. World number two Croatian duo Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic and World number three pair Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis (GRE) will also sail at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta.
With one year to go until the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition there is no firm favourite to take Women’s 470 gold at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta. Throughout the ISAF Sailing World Cup Series there were six regatta winners and just 15 points separated the top nine sailors.
Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving (USA) claimed the Women’s 470 ISAF Sailing World Cup title following their gold medal at Kieler-Woche. They finished five points ahead of Tara Pacheco and Berta Betanzos (ESP) who won gold at Semainé Olympique Française. Both teams will sail in Weymouth as they prepare for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition.
New Zealand’s Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie were the only duo to win two regattas throughout the 2010-2011 series. They picked up gold at Trofeo S.A.R. Princess Sofia Mapfre and Skandia Sail for Gold and will look for another regatta victory at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta.
Sail Melbourne gold medallists Kathrin Kadelbach and Friederike Belcher (AUS) and Delta Lloyd Regatta victors Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout (NED) will also make the trip to Weymouth.
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