London Olympics 2012- 49er class - Norregaard and Lang lead

by ISAF on 31 Jul 2012 London Olympics 2012 Sailing competition, Weymounth - 49er class.

Allen Norregaard and Peter Lang (DEN) lead the 49er after the opening day but a fantastic finish in Race 1 saw them miss out on the opening 49er victory at the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Manu Dyen and Stephanie Christidis (FRA) flew past Norregaard and Lang on the run to the finish in Race 1 after the Danes and French exchanged leads throughout the race. Norregaard said, 'It's a very long competition and we've only done two races so a lot can happen but it's a good start.

'We got a bit too much wind, usually that's good but we were so far out to the layline so it acutally meant we came over it. It wasn't good for us so he was inside us.'

On the Nothe the Danes said, 'It's very good fun and you can hear the people shouting for you.'

The French pair end the opening day in fifth place and were happy with their performance, 'It was very nice to win the first race because we didn't have a very good start,' said Dyen 'We got better and better throughout the race, we passed the Danish just on the line so was good to get the win.

'Every point will make the difference so we will have to be at our best always.'

Pre-race favourites Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS), Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) and Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez (ESP) were all over the line at the start of Race 1. However in Race 2 it was business as usual for Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) as they took the bullet to sit third overall.

Outteridge said, 'It was a pretty good day. We had a tough start but a good recovery. The first days are always the hardest. We escaped without a disaster and that was the goal. It has put us in a good spot.

The Kiwis end the day in eighth place whilst the Spaniards are down in 15th after a slow start. Sweden's Jonas von Geijer and Niclas Düring are second after a consistent display of racing.

49ers resume racing tomorrow at 12:00 local time on the Portland Harbour course.

Results here

ISAF website