British Sailing Team at Aquece Rio – International Sailing Regatta - Day 7
by Lindsey Bell 22 Aug 2015 00:43 PDT
15-22 August 2015
British crews in medal hunt for final day of Rio racing
British 470 Women's duo Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are assured of a podium finish heading in to the last day of racing at the Rio Olympic Test Event on Saturday, with the stage also set for tantalising final races in the Finn and 470 Men's events.
The 2012 silver medallists carry the yellow leader's jerseys into the final medal race for the 470 Women's class, extending their lead to five points over the second-placed American pair on the penultimate day of this Aquece Rio International Regatta.
They are assured of a medal spot, and a minimum of silver providing they sail a clean race on the testing Sugarloaf course on Saturday.
"It's great that we can go into the medal race relatively clear of third and we've got a few points off second," Clark explained.
"The Sugarloaf course is so tricky that any points advantage you can go in with is a godsend. It's really hard to defend on it. We've got to start clean, defend the Americans and hopefully that will go to plan.
Mills and Clark picked up a fifth place from their only race on a day disrupted by course changes for the 470 fleets, and Clark admitted they were happy with their efforts.
"We were really pleased with how we raced today. We changed course twice because of wind and conditions so you had to try and brief yourself on each course area with all that confusion. To get our race in on the course we did and come fifth was really pleasing. We did really well just to keep our heads clear and our minds on what we had to get done today."
Clark said the duo were looking forward to the fight: "It's still going to be a scrap. It doesn't matter what position we're in right now. We'll be ready for that tomorrow and also it's an opportunity to race under some great pressure which we don't get that often so it's great practice for next year."
Giles Scott managed to reel in the 'Flying Dutchman' Pieter-Jan Postma on the penultimate day of his regatta, with just one point now separating the two at the top of the Finn standings with just the medal race left to run.
The World Champion described his day as a 'stressful one', having to pull back through the pack in the first of his two races to keep the pressure on and keep in contention for the podium spots.
"In the first race I didn't really feel that quick upwind, I was on the back foot with the shifts and found myself towards the back of the fleet," Scott explained.
"Fortunately I had a really good last run that pulled me through to fifth. I just got round the main group of the fleet which was needed. In the second race I won the starboard end and held and went round the top in first and managed to hold from there."
"I think after day two or three if you'd have told me that I was going to be a point off the lead going into the medal race than I'd have probably have taken that. I think I've got to take some positives from that," said the 28-year-old on his testing start to the regatta.
A medal is not assured and Scott will have to watch his back with Finland's Tapio Nirkko currently seven points behind in third and France's Jonathan Lobert also within reach of the podium spots in fourth.
Luke Patience and Elliot Willis are also in the hunt for the podium spots in the 470 Men's event. They're poised in fourth, on equal points with the third and fifth placed boats, four points from silver and 11 points behind Croatia in gold medal position.
Friday (21 August) saw the final day of competition for the Laser, Laser Radial, 49er and 49erFX classes with British boats featuring in all four races.
World Champion Nick Thompson had been hoping to move up the overall standings in the Laser class with a solid medal race performance, but he was disappointed to end his regatta in tenth.
"I obviously didn't come here to finish tenth, I came here to try and win," the Lymington sailor explained.
"To have such a poor week was a bit frustrating. The positives I can take from it are at the beginning of each race my strategy was usually pretty good and my execution was good, it was just that the big shifts didn't really go my way this week.
"There are certainly a lot of things learned and I'll take a lot away from this and improve for next year.
"The way I normally sail was not really working this week and I certainly know what I need to change and what I need to do differently for next time."
Alison Young finished ninth in the Laser Radial medal race to end her regatta in eighth place, while John Pink and Stuart Bithell moved up one spot to finish seventh after a confusion finish to the 49er medal race.
"There was a bit of confusion on the finish line where the leaders didn't know where the finish was so we made a few places there. We gained a place overall," Bithell explained, who rued races lost from the schedule leaving them little opportunity to catch up after a difficult start to their event.
"We're a little bit disappointed but we're coming away from the week with a much clearer vision. We've done regattas here before but not in the small numbers and high quality.
"We've got a better idea now of what it does take to win here and we've got a bit of work to do in the next 12 months to come back with some more fight in us."
Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth were satisfied with their performance in the 49erFX event – their first regatta in three months after an injury lay off for Ainsworth. They finished fifth in the medal race to their regatta in seventh overall.
Schedule for Saturday 22 August:
- 1300: Nacra 17 medal race (postponed from 21 August)
- 1345: Finn medal race
- 1430: 470 Men medal race
- 1515: 470 Women medal race
For all the latest news and updates from the British Sailing Team, follow us at www.britishsailingteam.com, on Facebook or on Twitter.
Results at www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/results