Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mapfre - Seven-medal haul for Britain’s sailors

by Lindsey Bell on 8 Apr 2013 At the ISAF Sailing World Cup, Alison Young and Giles Scott claimed gold - topping the seven-medal haul for Britain’s sailors at the conclusion of the event in Palma de Mallorca. Steely performances from established campaigners Young in the Laser Radial event and the 2011 World Champion Scott on his return to the heavyweight Finn class were underpinned by some impressive displays from rising British sailing stars at this first European World Cup event of the 2013 season.

The scratch pairing of Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre claimed silver in the 470 women’s event, while Dave Evans and Ed Powys recorded their first World Cup podium finish, with a bronze in the 49er event.

After 2.4mR Paralympic sailor Megan Pascoe kicked off the medal tally for Britain with silver on Friday, it was Young, who scored her first World Cup win at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth and Portland last June, who was the first to add to it. Under the new scoring format being trialled at this regatta, there were two double-points medal races for the majority of the Olympic classes.

Young maintained her overall lead after the first of the day’s two races, but was left fighting back in the second. Her closest rival and the only sailor who could prevent her from winning gold was Denmark’s Sarah Gunni .

The Bewdley Olympian pulled back alongside Gunni and once she had her in her sights, match raced her to the back of the fleet to ensure she couldn’t get away again. It meant that Young crossed the line tenth out of ten boats in the final medal race, but had dragged her rival back with her to ninth place to ensure gold remained in her hands.

'Going into the last race it was only the Danish girl who could beat me, so coming down the run I was just going to make sure of it, and make sure she couldn’t get boats between us,' said Young of her tactics.

'I’m pretty pleased to come away with a win – I’ve learned lots of lessons here, it shows all the winter’s training is going in the right direction so I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.'

Giles Scott also deployed match racing tactics at the start of the final Finn race to get the better of Dutchman Pieter Jan Postma, who had narrowed Scott’s lead to just one point after the first of the two medal races.

'It feels good actually. It was quite stressful with the double medal race. Matt had a little bit on trying to work out the maths to see if we could do the take-out in the pre-start. I think he got it alright and it came good!'

'We needed to get a decent result in the first race, and then see how the points were, and as it was I finished a place behind [Postma] so it came down to who beat who in the final race.

'We had a little bit of an engagement in the pre-start which was good fun and fortunately I came off the better! He also made it a little bit easier for me half way round when he capsized!'

The two Finn medal races were each won by Brits, with Mark Andrews winning the first and Andrew Mills then second to end their regattas in sixth and fifth respectively.

Two race wins for Flavia Tartaglini saw the Italian overturn Bryony Shaw’s narrow lead in the RS:X women’s event, with the British windsurfer adding World Cup silver to her World Championship silver last month, while Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre held on to their second place after the two medal races in the 470 women’s event to claim silver at their first regatta as a new pairing.

Dave Evans and Ed Powys also secured their first World Cup podium finish, winning bronze after four dramatic short-course ‘stadium’ races in the 49er class which saw various capsizes – including the British pair – while Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes finished just outside of the podium spots in fourth.

Luke Patience and Joe Glanfield captured bronze at their first event since teaming up in the 470 class in their bid to turn separate Olympic silvers into gold in Rio. The duo went into the day in third overall, and held on to the bronze medal spot after a tricky first race in which they finished seventh. It was a shifty, gusty racecourse, with the second medal race eventually abandoned due to the windshift and unable to be re-started due to the time limit for racing on this final day, leaving the Brits with their bronze.

British sailors experienced their first taste of competitive action this week in the two new Olympic classes for Rio, with a promising start in both events. In the women’s 49erFX, Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth finished fifth overall, while ‘Lucy Macgregor and Tom Phipps were also fifth in the Nacra 17 mutlihull event with a third and a second from their medal races. Pippa Wilson and John Gimson were eighth overall.

Development squad sailors Alex Mills Barton and Tom Squires also featured in their first World Cup medal races today – Mills Barton ended his run in the Laser class in ninth overall, with Squires also in ninth the RS:X men’s windsurfing event.

'It’s been a good start to our competition season,' said RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park. 'As well as some fantastic performances by proven performers such as Ali Young and Giles Scott, there have been two really good things to have come out of this regatta. The first is the potential of so many of our new, young teams such as Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre and our teams in the new 49erFX and Nacra classes.

'The second is that the team has had a cracking week together, has had good fun, and everyone is really looking forward to the next event and excited about racing again in Hyeres in two week’s time.'

While Park is feeling positive about the performance of his charges, he remains unconvinced about the racing format which has been trialled in Palma this week.

'The scoring format has been challenging for sailors, race teams and event organisers alike. It’s not necessarily been clear what the desired outcome was, or has been, other than increasing the element of luck in the process. There’s a whole heap of sailing before you even get to the medal stage that doesn’t seem to count for much.

'On the positive side though, we do know that these are trials, and that ISAF is open to feedback which they will take forward to discuss with its various stakeholders to test at future World Cup events before deciding on what is best for the future of the sport.'

Gold: Alison Young (Laser Radial); Giles Scott (Finn)

Silver: Megan Pascoe (2.4mR); Bryony Shaw (RS:X Women); Sophie Weguelin- Eilidh McIntyre (470 Women)

Bronze: Dave Evans-Ed Powys (49er); Luke Patience-Joe Glanfield (470 British Sailing Team website