Paralympics London 2012 - Britain’s sailors guaranteed medals

by Matt Carter on 5 Sep 2012 London 2012 Paralympic Games Sailing Regatta penultimate day was held in Weymouth and Portland today, Wednesday 5th September. Britain’s sailors are guaranteed at least a silver and a bronze medal as they head in to the final day of the sailing competition tomorrow.

Helena Lucas – the only woman in the class - is guaranteed at least a silver medal in the 2.4mR one-person keelboat class. But she currently sits in gold medal position with a nine-point advantage over Heiko Kroger (GER) with one race to come tomorrow.

Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell are also guaranteed at least a bronze medal in the SKUD two-person class. They currently sit third overall, two points behind Jen French and J-P Creignou (USA) in second but cannot be caught by the Canadian boat currently in fourth. Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) hold an unassailable lead in gold medal position heading into tomorrow’s final race.

These medals are the first Britain has won in sailing since the sport became part of the full Paralympic programme at Sydney 2000 and come in addition to the gold medal won by the British Sonar team of Andy Cassell, Kevin Curtis and Tony Downs when the first Paralympic sailing event took place as a demonstration event at Atlanta 1996.

Meanwhile, the British Sonar three-person keelboat team of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas could still make it a silverware hat-trick for the British Sailing Team at London 2012 as they currently sit in bronze medal position spot overall just one point behind the German team in silver. Netherlands have wrapped up gold with a day to spare. Only eight points separate Germany in silver medal position and the USA in seventh place.

All results are subject to protest. Full report, reaction and schedule for tomorrow to follow.

Racing is scheduled to start tomorrow at 11am.

The London 2012 Paralympic Sailing Regatta runs from Saturday 1st September to Thursday 6th September.
RYA London Olympics website