Ainslie’s quick off the blocks at Weymouth test event 

Olympic Champion opens his test regatta with a second and a first

Ben Ainslie started his Olympic test event in style on Saturday (6 August) to top the Finn class leaderboard after two races at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta.  

The triple Olympic gold medallist had to stage a comeback in his opening race after a taking penalty turns on the startline, but pulled through the fleet, rounding the first mark in 15th before coming back to take second, and picking up a subsequent race win in the second of the day’s two races.

“We’ve been training a lot since the Sail for Gold Regatta a couple of months ago so it was good to get racing again,” said Ainslie.   “I had a slight issue in the first race – I had a two-turns penalty at the start which put me right at the back of the fleet so I had a bit of work to do after that.

“It was really just a startline incident which was a little bit 50/50 but I decided to play it safe and take the penalty.  The wind was a little bit lighter and shiftier so I felt there was a chance to come back in the race so I felt it was worth taking a penalty rather than risking a disqualification.  In the end it paid off and I got back to second so it was a good start."

Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark maintain their lead at the top of the 470 women’s fleet, with a third and a seventh for their day’s efforts, while a tenth and a race win for Nick Dempsey keeps him level on points at the top of the RS:X men’s windsurfing leaderboard, locked in battle with Dutchman Dorian van Rijsselberge on seven points apiece after six races.The 49er class saw their first day of racing on Saturday, with Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes happy with their ‘conservative’ 6,4,7 from the day which sees them in fourth place overall.

“We sailed pretty conservatively as those results would perhaps suggest, but we were very pleased,” the 32-year Morrison explained. 

“We’ve made a lot of changes since the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in the way that we do things and how we use the equipment we’ve got.  It was always a bit of risk but was something we felt we needed to do in looking ahead to try and win a gold medal summer, we should try and make changes now. 

“It felt pretty good, it felt like we were racing well and feel that we’re going to be on an upslope as the week goes on,” the Exmouth sailor concluded.Bryony Shaw picked up her first race win of the regatta, followed by a sixth, in the RS:X Women’s windsurfing fleet to pull her up to fourth, while Olympic and World Champions Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson are in 11th overall after a seventh in their first race and a comeback 14th in their second race after they went back to re-cross the startline believing they had jumped the gun.

It was a day to forget for Skandia Team GBR’s match racing trio of Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Kate Macgregor, whose medal chances ended when they lost their quarter-final in straight matches to the French team, helmed by Claire Leroy.

“It definitely wasn’t the day we came out for,” said a disappointed Lush.“With the match racing, unlike the fleet racing, the couple of good days we had beforehand really don’t do anything for us.  It’s a new stage, and the quarters is probably the biggest stage of the regatta because it cuts the fleet down to half, so it’s the biggest cut and unfortunately we’ve fallen on the wrong side of that today."

“I think you’d say Claire was definitely sailing well today and we definitely didn’t get the shifts right today,” Lush continued.  “We had two really good, strong pre-starts against her and winning the starts, one even with a penalty against her and we were ahead as well and we just really sailed the shifts badly and let her get around us like that, so we’re very disappointed. 

“In the final race it the first start we’ve actually lost for the entire regatta and it was the one start where we really needed to be ahead and it was a must-win race.  It was a disappointing day, but other things we did really well – we were starting strong, we were sailing I think fast and sailing well.  We just really need to work on one area of our sailing there in shifty conditions.”  

A scoreline of 20,8  sees Paul Goodison in sixth place overall in the Laser fleet, Charlotte Dobson is in ninth with 16,17 for the day and Nick Rogers and Chris Grube are in 11th overall after four races in the 470 men’s event.

Racing will continue on Sunday (7 August), for all classes except the RS:X windsurfers, who have a rest day.

Skandia Team GBR squad for the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta:
Laser - Paul Goodison
Laser Radial - Charlotte Dobson
Finn - Ben Ainslie
RS:X Men - Nick Dempsey
RS:X Women - Bryony Shaw
470 Men - Nick Rogers & Chris Grube
470 Women - Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark
49er - Stevie Morrison & Ben Rhodes
Star - Iain Percy & Andrew Simpson
Women's Match Racing - Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush & Kate Macgregor

For the latest news and information from the British Sailing Team at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, visit www.skandiateamgbr.com or follow us on Twitter (@SkandiaTeamGBR).