Mills and Clark get the perfect start 

470 team take two race wins to open Weymouth test regatta

Women’s 470 crew Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark were the ones to beat on the first race day for their class at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta on Friday (5 August), picking up two race wins to see the perfect start to their 2012 sailing test event.

The duo has had a rapid ascent since teaming up in February following the retirement of Clark’s former helm Sarah Ayton, and they mastered the conditions on two different racecourses in their two races today, taking the second race win by a minute over their nearest rivals, to take an overall early lead in the 26-boat fleet.

“We’re definitely pleased with the day.  The first day of the regatta is all about not losing it really, and there was definitely potential for that with our first race being up on the Nothe course,” explained the 30-year-old Clark.  

“It’s the first proper race we’ve ever done there and definitely there were some anxious moments but we managed to get round in first.

“For our second race we moved into the harbour which was a bit more straightforward.  We were patient up the first beat, choosing our moment to get up the first beat and then after that it was quite straightforward really.  We just had to keep ourselves in between the mark and the fleet and it was quite straightforward from thereon.

“It was just about keeping your eyes out of the boat and looking,” Clark continued. 

“It was obvious on that Nothe course that it was going to be short and sharp shifts and that was the style that was required, and then looking upwind when we got into the harbour there were a lot more, bigger patches of breeze coming down and not that big a shift range so you had to adjust your style for that.”

Nick Dempsey continued his first day form in the RS:X men’s windsurfing fleet, with another race win and a second keeping him in equal first on points with key rival Dorian van Rijsselberge after four races.

“I had a great first race, a great start and pretty much led all the way round,” said Dempsey. 

“The second race was a bit different – we were kind of on the transition between planing and not planing.  I had a bad start and went pretty early into the planing, and just kind of threw the dice a little bit and came out alright!   

“I made a big gain and got back into the race, which was good, and picked them off after that to finish pretty closely behind Dorian.”   Bryony Shaw will be in overall fourth after a second and a fifth from her two races on her second day of competition, while Friday saw the first day of the regatta for the Laser and Laser Radial fleets.

Charlotte Dobson picked up a 2,17 to sit her in sixth place in the Laser Radial event after two races, while Olympic Champion Paul Goodison is in fourth with 6,7 to open his regatta.

“It was nice to get out there and finally get started.  There were some pretty tricky conditions today, but it’s nice to be up and running.  The first race was quite tricky in the building breeze.  It was quite pin-biased, I got a good start and got her up there, but then I had an unfortunate incident just before the windward mark which probably left me third round, so did a 720 just to cover my back and then that put me in the pack, so I had a bit of a tough fight there. 

“In the second race I had a reasonable start,” he continued, “but then the wind just went and went and went left so all the guys on the left rounded in front and then I had a bit of a comeback to get seventh in that one. It was a tricky day but two alright results so I’m reasonably happy with that.”  

Nick Rogers and Chris Grube started their regatta solidly with a fifth and a seventh to see in them in sixth overall.

“It’s always quite stressful, the first day.  When you wake up in the morning you just want to get out there and on the water,” Grube explained. 

“We had quite a long wait this morning – our racing didn’t start until 2.10pm so I went back to bed!  It’s always good to get the first day out of the way, and to get two good results as well.

“We could have actually won the last race,” he continued.  “We sailed a little bit too conservatively at times.  In the second race we ended up doing a 720 turn which put us back in the fleet, right towards the back of the fleet and then we pulled back to seventh from there, so we were happy with that.”

Racing will continue on Saturday (6 August), with women’s match racing quarter-finals, the Finn, Star and 49er sailors seeing their first day of racing, and the continuation of fleet racing for the 470, Laser, Radial and RS:X fleets.

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).