Stakes high for strong British entry at 49er Worlds in Argentina
by Imogen Stanley 15 Nov 2015 07:31 PST
16-21 November 2015
Peters & Sterritt leading during the 49er South American Championship © Bernardita Grez
British skiff hopefuls will begin racing tomorrow in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the 49er and 49erFX World Championships.
Argentina will host some 100 crews aiming to be crowned 2015 49er or 49erFX World Champion, with just nine months to go to Rio 2016 the stakes are high.
At the recent South American Championships (5-8 November) in Buenos Aires, all three British Sailing Team 49er pairs, James Peters-Fynn Sterritt, John Pink-Stuart Bithell, Dylan Fletcher-Alain Sign, finished inside the top eight. In the 49erFX Charlotte Dobson-Sophie Ainsworth ended their South American event in eighth. A confident conclusion for British sailors at the World Championship warm-up event.
Peters-Sterritt led the British contingent and the fleet for the majority of the week, almost dethroning the unbeaten Kiwi sailors, Peter Burling-Blair Tuke. However, a disappointing final Medal Race left them just outside the silverware in fourth.
It was a tough end to a superb opening series for the young pair, and they will take the positives forward explained Peters: "The style of sailing out here feels somewhat different to the UK and many other venues in Europe.
"The wind feels soft and easily disturbed, making clear air important on the racecourse. It is also shifty, even though the wind has been coming onshore. This combined with the fact that pressure differences on the water have been hard to spot has made for difficult conditions. We can take forward our experience of this combined with our good boat speed.
"This week a top ten finish would be great. I also think it would be great for the British team if one of us were able to get a medal," concluded Peters.
Pink-Bithell finished sixth at the South Americans, and now want to be that team securing a medal said Pink: "We are aiming for a medal here, and know we have the necessary kit and setup to do that, we just need to put together a week we know we are capable of and get the best from our team."
So far this season Pink-Bithell have tasted medal success twice, at the 49er European Championships in Porto (7-12 July) and the ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland (8-14 June).
The hard work never stops explained Bithell: "It has been an interesting season with the World Championships at the end of the year, we also have the 2016 World Championships in February, but we have planned our peak around that schedule.
"We made sure after the test event in the summer that we took a good bit of time off, so we are fresh for the busy winter we have ahead. But don't feel sorry for us, Argentina in November and Florida in February are no bad place to be."
A good performance at this event is key admitted Bithell: "The world Championships is important on our road to Rio, it's within nine months of the Olympic Games itself, so you need to be looking at putting in consistent medal winning performances. That being said, although fairly close to Rio, the racing conditions are very different."
World number one ranked pair, Fletcher-Sign finished seventh at the South Americans and will also be in the hunt for a 49er World Championship medal. In the women's 49erFX Dobson-Ainsworth are the top ranked British boat in attendance, meanwhile Kate Macgregor-Steph Orton are teaming up for the first time.
Results will be available at 49er.org/event/2015-world-championship/?event_id=6686
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