Dateline Rio - Boulevard of Broken Dreams or the Stairway to Heaven?

by Richard Gladwell on 14 Aug 2016 The Mixed Zone at the Rio Olympic Regatta was certainly true to its name this evening, with some of the sailors passing through having seriously improved their regatta, and for others a steep climb to the podium just got steeper.

From a Kiwi perspective, the highlight was the Gold Medal win by Dutch boardsailor Dorian van Rijsselberghe - coached by New Zealand's 2000 Olympic Bronze medalist Aaron Macintosh. The win, which was decided before the start of today's Medal race - such was the points lead of van Rijsselberghe in the Qualifying Series - was the second Gold medal for the Dutchman and his Kiwi Coach. An outstanding effort.

Also walking with their heads up and smiling, was Finn sailor Josh Junior, who had a good day out in the Atlantic Ocean scoring a fourth and sixth place in today's racing in light to moderate winds.

'I sailed well and excited what I wanted to and had a good race. It was tricky out there with some big swells, the trick was to link up the pressure to get to the top mark in a good position.'

Conditions today on the Niteroi course was a SE breeze with a one metre cross swell. The wind was 7kts initially increasing to 10kts and the second race was sailed with the sailors being able to pump and work the boats at will.

Junior was pleased with his performance 'a couple of days ago my goal was to make the Medal race, now I am there and in with a chance at a medal.' However to achieve a Bronze medal a lot of things will have to go his way with a 15pt deficit to close in the double points scoring race.

In the second race of the day, Junior didn't have a good beat and was well back in the fleet. 'On the downwind we were allowed free pumping and I split away from the fleet, I was able to get some good speed on my own and passed a lot of boats, who had elected to sail closer to the Brazilian coast.'

Junior said that it was frustrating not to be sailing at today's level from the start of the series. 'You live and you learn', was his comment. 'We have still got an opportunity, so it is a matter of moving forward. But fourth place is very achievable,' said the first time Olympian.

There was elation for the British team on today's Finn course, with World Champion Gilles Scott, keeping the statistics ledge straight by winning the Gold medal after placing second in the final race of the day, without having to do anything but sail the course in the Medal Race. That result means that the GBR Finn team have now won every Olympic championship sailed this century. The run of current World Champions being undefeated in the Olympic regatta continues, and Kiwi Russell Coutts remains the only non-European to have won an Olympic Gold medal in the Finn class in the 64 years that it has been an Olympic class.

470 sailors, Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox had a good day, also on the Copacabana course, five miles out into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Kiwi pair scored a fifth and second placings today. 'It was a nice result after a tough week,' Snow-Hansen quipped.

'We were well offshore, the waves were choppy and there was not much breeze. We had to navigate carefully and stay out of any big holes in the wind, which was fairly challenging.'

'We weren't really trapezing, so if you got caught up with other boats, you'd get spat out of the back very quickly.'

'We have done a lot of practicing in those conditions, which we think are more typical of Rio, at this time of the year. We had a good strategy for that course which worked out well.'

'The wind clocked left, by about 20 degrees during the day,' said Dan Willcox. 'The first race was in 8kts of breeze, then the course was moved even further offshore and we got 10-12kts of breeze for the second race. It was bit steadier than other days and more of a typical Rio day.'

'We knew after yesterday and the day before that we really needed to get some good results under our belt. We are at the halfway point, before the start of today, with five races to go and need to get some good places.'

'The weather for the rest of the week looks light.'

'But if you get on the wrong side of a shift on the first beat it is very hard to catch up. You really have to be on your game and get those first shifts,' he added.

Along the aisle in the Mixed Zone, the British Mens 470 crew of Luke Patience and Chris Grube had a trying day, getting maximum points for jumping the start of Race 6 and placing 20th in the 26 boat fleet in the second race of the day. Those two results dropped them from being third overall to 10th - a place they now have to hold to make the Medal race - but with three races to sail to make amends before the Medal Race.

'We started early, which you don't find out until the end of the race,' said the normally ebullient Patience. 'We had a really good race and were firing on all cylinders.'

'As we crossed the finish line we were told by our coach that we, and two other boats had been disqualified. It was not a fine day in the office.'

'It wasn't a mental thing,' he said of the second race. 'We lost control of ourselves on the startline. It is and area of judgement as to what we thought was the right thing to be doing. We were a bit rushed on the start line, and that is probably a reflection from the previous race.'

The defending Olympic Champions in the Womens 470 class had a similar tale to tell. They too were called out as being over the line at the start of the first race of the day, and not advised to the finish. The 2012 Gold Medalists scored a very useful third place in the second race of the day on the Copacabana course.

'We got a good start but it was one of those where we were a little bit out. We don't know how much we were over by - 10 cm maybe more,' said Aleh.

'We'll have a look at the video and see what the issue was, before deciding if we will take it further.'

'There was a lot of swell out there, between the two start boats and that could have been a factor,' said crew Polly Powrie.

The water depth on the Copacabana course is around 25-30 metres deep and with a swell not running in the direction of the wind, the New Zealanders may have a point. However that is not a point on which a protest could be lodged.

'it is tight racing, and we have to push the margins,' Powrie added.

'We are happy that we were sailing well all day,' said Aleh.

'We are not looking at the overall points situation,' she added. 'We are just trying to sail each race as well as we can. We will just keep doing that for the next few races and see where we end up. '

But for all the brave face the 2012 Gold medalists have some work ahead of them, currently they are lying seventh place overall, but only 10 points off third place, with three races and a Medal race to come.

They only have the opportunity of one discard race, and now have two races where they have scored the maximum points after losing a sixth place after a marginal protest in the first race of the 11 race series.

'In the second race we finish a solid third. We didn't get a very good start, but chipped away at it to finish third.'

'From here it is the same game plan we have always had - how do we win the next race?'

The Womens 470 fleet is led by the British crew of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark.

The start of racing was delayed today due to light winds which took almost two hours to settle in allowing racing in the Medal races for the RS:X Windsurfers, and the Finns, 470 Men and Women, and Nacra 17.

The Nacra 17 finished their qualifying series with the New Zealand crew of Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders placing 13th and second in the two races sailed. The Kiwis lie in fifth place overall, 7pts out from the Bronze medal spot and will again need some things to go their way to get on the Olympic podium.

The Olympic marathon route passed the sailing venue causing some delays with traffic.

A suspected bomb was also dealt to in the park opposite the sailing venue with armed guards shooting at the object before denoting an explosive charge alongside it, as bemused spectators watched nearby.