British Team at 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships day 2
by British Sailing Team 4 Dec 2019 23:32 AEDT
3-8 December 2019
John Gimson and Anna Burnet - 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships day 2 © Pedro Martinez / Sailing Energy
The headlines:
- All fleets race on day 2
- Four races for each fleet as they try to catch up on schedule
- Strong Nacra 17 start with a British 1-2 on the leaderboard. John Gimson and Anna Burnet top with Ben Saxton and Nikki Boniface in second.
- 2017 world champs Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell move up to fourth with aid of a race win
- Jack Hawkins and Chris Thomas also in 49er top ten
- Chris Taylor and Rhos Hawes claim first race win since teaming up
- Tokyo 2020 bound Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey sit eighth in 49erFX
- Racing continues at 11am local time Thursday / 10pm GMT Wednesday
What they said:
Nikki Boniface (29, Polegate, East Sussex), Nacra 17
"I'm really happy with how we are sailing and to start the regatta solidly. Disappointed with the UFD but excited about what we can do with the days ahead.
"There was a building sea breeze but it was pretty shifty once it developed. You needed to be confident and go with what you saw each lap. It was lighter to start with then quite choppy and breezy by our last two races."
Saskia Tidey (26, Portland, Dorset), 49erFX
"Finally we are off after a long day of waiting around yesterday. We finished off today with four races in 8 - 12 knots. Some pretty massive shifts out there splitting the course in two at times. Points are tights with some big counters on the board from most top teams. All is up for the taking tomorrow! Looking forward to the next few days of chipping away at the top of the pack."
Anna Burnet (27, Rhu, Scotland), Nacra 17
"We're happy with the way we sailed today - we had good boat speed and kept it simple. It's going to be a long series so we're just looking ahead to what we need to do tomorrow."
Rhos Hawes (22, Cirencester, Gloucestershire), 49er
"Obviously buzzing with the race win. It was a tricky day with plenty going on, making it hard for teams to get four consistent scores. It was difficult to work out exactly what was driving the gains. So we saw what worked, copied that and sailed quick. We are going to keep our heads down and aim for gold fleet after one more day of qualifying*."
*To make gold fleet you need to be inside the top 25 in qualifying
Find all the results here
Follow the British Sailing Team at britishsailingteam.com