GB sailors poised for 49er Worlds finale 

British crews secure finals berths amid a testing penultimate day in Marseille

British 49er sailors Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign have resolved to put a difficult day behind them and draw on positive medal race experiences when they embark on the final day of the 49er World Championship in Marseille on Sunday (29 September).  

Fletcher, 25, and 27-year-old Sign – European Champions in the men’s Olympic skiff class – endured a tough day of semi-finals racing amid breezy conditions on Saturday, with scores of 15,11,11,6 dropping from the overall lead to fourth place heading into the final day.  

“It wasn’t our best day and probably one we’d quite like to forget!” Fletcher admitted.

“It didn’t start too well for us – we had a big knot in our mainsheet on the first beat of the first race which we were actually looking pretty good on, but we had to stop.   



“We always seemed to be on our back foot at the first beat and then were having to claw back through the fleet which we did an alright job on, but not really good enough.   

“We know we can do better and it was disappointing.”  

But with three double-points scoring races set to determine the podium spots on Sunday, there will be plenty of snakes and ladders to be found – and Fletcher admits he and Sign have good memories of the ‘theatre-style’ racing format to be adopted for the finals, where course boundaries and three short, sharp races put a premium on boat-handling.

“It’s all to gain going into tomorrow.  We really enjoy the theatre-style racing, we’ve had a pretty good record on the theatre-style racing, so it’s all to gain,” explained the Market Harborough sailor. 

“We’ll go in there, have fun and do what we do best.

“We had good speed at the end [of the day] and the boat-handling was quite good.  It was just a tricky day, a few things didn’t go our way and sometimes you just get days on the water like that.  You just have to keep getting your routine right and everything will come right tomorrow.”

With the top nine boats automatically through to the finals, the British Sailing Team’s John Pink-Simon Wheeler and Stevie Morrison-Ben Rhodes will have to race some more to see if they can qualify in the one remaining spot when they race in the ‘petit finals’ tomorrow for the teams placed 10th-21st.  

Both British pairs lost ground in Saturday’s four races, and now sit 11th and 12th overall.  After three difficult races, Pink and Wheeler were poised in second place in the fourth race when they capsized amid shifty offshore conditions with just 200m left to run, costing them their automatic berth in the finals.

In the women’s 49erFX fleet, Frances Peters and Nicola Groves remain within reach of the podium spots, and will go into Sunday’s finals in overall fifth.

“We’re really pleased with our position,” said the 24-year-old Groves.

“It’s what we were aiming for, to be in the medal race within touching distance of the medals and that’s exactly where we are.

“There are 60 points potentially up for grabs – we’ll just keep going exactly the same as before. 

“Everyone keeps saying it’s going to be booming, others are saying it’s going to be light – no one actually really knows yet so we’ll just take what we’re given and take it as it comes.  We’re just going to see what we can do – we’ve got everything to gain.”

The European bronze medallists picked up 10,13,4,8 from their four races today – with the building, shifting breeze providing some tricky moments.

“We were taken a bit by surprise – when we first launched we were all set up for it to be booming and it wasn’t at all.  There was absolutely nothing, so it took us a little while to adjust,” Peters explained.

“With [the wind] being offshore today for the first time it was shifting all over the place – absolute Mario Kart racing!

“In the final race we were all over it until the finish and then I went water-skiing out the back on the final gybe so was a little bit rusty there!” Peters laughed, adding: “but they were counters anyway so it wasn’t a disaster by any means.”

The duo are enjoying their first season and the first World Championship for the new women’s skiff class.  

“It is going well – every event we do and every race we do we’re learning a lot and things pull together a little bit more.  From this event we’ve learned shedloads and stands us in really good stead going into the next year of training,” said Hayling Island’s Peters.  

“I love the challenge that it gives us – there’s never a dull moment really, and we’re always learning which is really good fun.  It’s exciting on days like today – exciting but scary!”

Sunday’s final day in Marseille will see the petit finals (two races) for the 49erFX starting from 1200, the petit finals for the 49er from 1300 (two races), followed by the 49erFX finals (three races) from 1400 and the 49er finals from 1500 (three races).

For full regatta results and information visit http://49er.org/2013-world-championships/

For race updates and the latest news from the British Sailing Team visit www.britishsailingteam.com, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @BritishSailing.