Brits take 5 Golds in Qingdao, Kiwis win third

by ISAF on 23 Aug 2007 Great Britain swept to another two gold medals as the last of the Medal Races brought the competition at the Qingdao International Regatta to a close.

It was another great sailing day in Qingdao, with an easterly breeze of 9-10 knots for the final three Medal Races. Britain picked up their fourth and fifth gold medals of the regatta, in the Laser and Yngling, to finish way ahead in the medal table. World #1 Anna TUNNICLIFFE (USA) secured the USA’s only medal, a gold in the Laser Radial.

The Radial fleet got the day's Medal Racing underway and although TUNNICLIFFE came in last in the Medal Race, her 11-point cushion going into the race was enough for her to hold on to gold. TUNNICLIFFE’s only rival for gold was Jo ALEH (NZL) and the American never allowed the Kiwi out of her sight.

'I went into today’s race with my primary goal being to slow Jo Aleh down as much as possible, and I succeeded in doing that,' revealed TUNNICLIFFE. 'My start did not go as well as I would have hoped, but Jo had a slow start as well. I worked up behind her, and started forcing her to tack out. I forced Jo to sail at a slow pace, and she had no momentum at all during the first upwind. I ensured that we stayed far enough from the rest of the fleet that she could not catch up at all. Although Joe managed to make up some room on the downwind side, I worked up behind her again and continued to carry out my plan.'

From there ALEH was able to get ahead but needed to put at least five boats between her and TUNNICLIFFE to move into the gold medal position. This she was unable to do, eventually crossing the line seventh, but secure in the silver medal position. Evi VAN ACKER (BEL) took the bronze after winning her battle with Tina MIHELIC (CRO).

Next up were the Lasers in what proved to be another incredibly close finish as Paul GOODISON (GBR) just held on to win gold by 3 seconds. The British skipper, also a winner at last year's test event, held a five-point lead going into the race but almost saw that overturned as Rasmus MYRGREN (SWE) made a charge for gold. The Swedish skipper had to put at least two boats between him and GOODISON to win gold and crossed the line in fifth.

GOODISON and Maciej GRABOWSKI (POL) both had poor starts but made up some ground and, along with Bruno FONTES (BRA), were battling for seventh on the final run. GOODISON just edged it by 3 seconds ahead of GRABOWSKI to hang on to the gold medal by a single point. The battle for bronze was equally close with GRABOWSKI holding off World Champion Tom SLINGSBY (AUS) by the same margin, after the Australian finished just 8 seconds behind race winner Michael LEIGH (CAN).

GOODISON’s victory is a timely boost after he missed out on the medals at the recent Worlds in Cascais. 'This regatta has given me a lot of confidence for next year,' he said. 'The competition here in Qingdao is part of GBR’s Olympic selection process. Maybe my performance here will help me get selected to come back next year. I am also confident that after doing well twice in the unique Qingdao conditions, I will be successful in next year’s Olympic Regatta.'

Five Golds
The Yngling Medal Race brought this year's competition to a close in Qingdao and was all set to be another fascinating contest between Sarah AYTON, Sarah WEBB and Pippa WILSON (GBR) and their archrivals Sally BARKOW, Carrie HOWE and Debbie CAPOZZI (USA). As it turned up the British World Champions ended up confortably winning their fifth gold medal as the Americans fell foul of the tide and went over the line early.

With the Americans scoring 22 points for their mistake, they fell out of the medal places as Renee GROENEVELD, Bes ANNEMIEKE and Marije KAMPEN (NED) moved up to silver, whilst Medal Race winners Ekaterina SKUDINA, Diana KRUTSKIKH and Natalia IVANOVA (RUS) claimed bronze. AYTON, WEBB and WILSON never looked in danger as the played the course perfectly to finish second in the race and overall winners by nine points.

Looking ahead to next year, AYTON was in a confident mood, 'We are very pleased and very excited. We have had a great year, and are on a roll. One win leads to another, and we want to carry this momentum into the Olympics next year.'

Reflecting on past nine days, AYTON said that adaptability was a key ingredient in the team’s success, 'You have to be ready for anything in Qingdao; you never know what will happen next. It is very important that sailors are flexible and on top of their game at all times.'

With five gold medals and a silver, the Brits leave the 2007 test event as the masters of Qingdao again. The big question now is can they repeat the feat in 2008?