Laser Gold Medal win stems from intelligent, if not percentage sailing

by John Curnow on 18 Aug 2016 A Gold Medal win was just one chance in 10! That was what Australia's Tom Burton gave himself going into the Rio 2016 Laser Olympic double points medal race, but that is all he needed. He won the pre-start match race with series leader, Croatia’s Tonci Stipanovic, and then sailed through the bulk of the fleet to win the Gold Medal.

A decade ago, Michael Blackburn, who is now the Australian Laser coach, showed the importance of match racing in the 2006 Laser Worlds in Korea. Blackburn snatched the World Championship title from the series leader, fellow Australian Tom Slingsby, with some clever pre-start manoeuvres in the final race in the series.

At the 2012 Olympics it was Slingsby who hammered home the nine-inch nail to take the Gold by holding his rival, Cypriot Pavlos Kontides, to the back of the fleet. A tactic that seems not to have gone unnoticed by his training partner, Tom Burton. World Number One for most the quadrennial, Burton had plenty of match racing practice in the World Cup and Championship circuit.

At the 2015 Sailing World Cup regatta in Hyeres, it was in the last Laser Men’s pre-medal race that Croatia’s Tonci Stipanovic match raced, and then pushed Burton back through the fleet. The International Jury found that Stipanovic had infringed RRS17, by sailing above his proper course, and Burton was granted redress and went on to take the Gold Medal.

So in the two days between the last series race and the postponed medal race, the main subject in the Australian Laser camp was how second placed Burton, could beat Croatian Tonci Stipanovic by five places, and go on to grab the Gold Medal.
In the much-anticipated prestart battle, when Tonci came a-hunting, Burton luffed up the Croatian, and there was contact between the boats. Stipanovic, as windward boat had no rights, and the ensuring penalty circle work, left the Croatian at the back of fleet, more importantly had Burton on his way to catching up.

While Burton says it was all over with that pre-start penalty, he in fact had to sail out of his skin to go from ninth to third place. He said, “Before the start, I thought Bronze was the most likely result, but Tonic's mistake made Silver possible and Gold a chance!”

Sailing quickly, Burton steadily ran down the fleet and then his decisive inside line at the fourth mark delivered him third place in the medal race, and Tonci's pumping penalty on the last run held him back at ninth. So it came to pass that Burton got the Gold.

It was a medal race that the 25-year-old will remember for the rest of his life.

Looking ahead to Tokyo 2020, the talent in the Australian Laser camp is awesome. Rio 2016 Gold Medallist Burton enjoys the Laser scene, but is looking to do some refreshing with some foiling Moth sailing, before then returning to the World Cup circuit for the next quadrennial.

Interestingly, Slingsby is now 85.5 kg, which is his lightest weight since London 2012, says the Rio Olympics has him psyched for Tokyo, but will it be in the Laser or the Finn? That is the question. All the while, the gifted 21-year-old, Matt Wearn, who lost to Burton in the Australian Olympic selection, is just champing at the bit to start his Tokyo campaign.

So it would be a brave punter at this stage to place a bet against the third Olympic Laser Gold in a row going to Australia in 2020! Get in now, for your odds are unlikely to improve from here!