Trofeo Princesa Sofia Iberostar - Day 1: Brits overcome wacky weather in Palma opener
by British Sailing Team 1 Apr 2019 18:30 UTC
1-6 April 2019
Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre on day 1 of Trofeo Princesa Sofia Iberostar © Sailing Energy
- Dream start for Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey in the 49er FX - a 1, 2, 4 puts them second overall on day one.
- Olympic champion Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre top women's 470 table with two top-four finishes.
- Ben Saxton and Nikki Boniface kick off their Nacra 17 silver medal defence with a 5, 3, 5 to sit 9th overall.
- John Gimson and Anna Burnet just two places behind in Nacra 17 fleet.
- Ed Wright second in Finn class after brace of 2nds while reigning Princess Sofia Trophy Finn class champ Giles Scott wins race 2.
- No racing for the 49er and both RS:X fleets as wacky wind halts play.
Ben Saxton, 28, Cambridge (Nacra 17):
"We got a 5, 3, 5 and I'm pretty happy with that. To escape with anything countable in the first race was good - we sailed well but it was really unstable. We had good speed and did the basics well in the next two, so we're happy with day one."
Nikki Boniface, 25, Polegate, East Sussex (Nacra 17):
"We had a long day day today - we waited onshore for the gradiant breeze to fill in, and then we had one wacky race in offshore breeze and two good races in the sea breeze. You're always nervous going into the first day of the regatta. You can't win a regatta on day one but you can lose it, so we're happy with how things went - but we've got a long week ahead of us."
Saskia Tidey, 25, Portland, Dorset (49er FX):
"We're really happy with the solid day that we had. We couldn't have asked for any more. It sets us off on the right foot and it's a good position to build on over the week. There's a huge fleet of FXs here and it's going to be a big week but we're looking forward to the rest of it."
See www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall for the latest results.