Nick Thompson and Chloe Martin take first Europeans podium finishes in Split
It was a double celebration for Britain’s sailors in Split today (14 June), as Olympic hopefuls Nick Thompson and Chloe Martin both took bronze medals at the Laser and Laser Radial European Championships.
This event sees the first medals at senior European Championship level for both sailors – although Thompson is a three-time World Championship medallist – and comes after a tough week of racing at the Croatian venue where the fleets saw only six of their scheduled twelve races across the six days of competition.
The shifty and hot conditions made for a testing week with no room for error out on the racecourse. No wind meant no racing at all was possible for Saturday’s planned three-race final day, handing Thompson and Martin bronze medals on the results of Friday’s standings, where just one solid race from that day had pulled them back into the podium spots.
“It’s really good to be back on the podium,” Thompson explained, who finished just six points from the top spot, claimed by local hero Tonci Stipanovic, and on equal points with the Netherlands’ Rutger van Schaardenburg who took silver on countback.
“We’ve had a tricky week with a real mix of conditions which made it interesting, although a little frustrating for the past couple of days with the wind not playing ball. It would have been nice to have had the chance to race for the win today, but it proved impossible.”
“In terms of my sailing, it’s good to have been consistent across a range of conditions and to have sailed a tidy series,” continued the 28-year-old, who’s also picked up bronze medals at this year’s ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami in January, and the EUROSAF circuit event at Garda in May.
“I’ve managed to build my boat speed back up and to have ironed out some of the mistakes I was making, especially at the Worlds last year. I’m pleased to have sailed a clean series and am looking forward to building towards the Worlds in Santander in September.”
The 23-year-old Martin, who broke through to her first World Cup podium finish at Palma in April, was equally delighted with her performance at this week’s event.
“It’s incredible - I wasn’t quite expecting it if I’m honest, but my coach Hugh [Styles] believed I could do it so that really helped push me on. It was a tricky week but you just had to keep sailing your best.
“It’s been really hot out here so being fair-skinned it was tough and I was sun-creamed up to the max! On the racing front it was just about trying to keep a cool head, and keeping your head out of the boat. There were lots of changes happening on the racecourse so you have to be looking out and have your wits about you to anticipate those changes and be in the right place to take advantage of them.”
“It’s definitely a great confidence boost for the rest of the season to know that I can be up there at the front of the fleet, but there’s lots still to work on!” Martin concluded.
2014-06-14 17:22:44