Race Day 5 - RS:X Men Report
Written by RYA | 02 August 2012
Dempsey Say Gold Quest Still On
Nick Dempsey insists he has “no doubt” that he can still be in the hunt for gold after a mixed bag on day five of the Olympic Regatta at Weymouth and Portland saw him sitting in fourth heading into the RS:X Men’s rest day tomorrow.
After two general false starts in the opening race of today – race five of their event overall - Athens 2004 bronze medallist Dempsey rounded the first mark in 17th but battled back well to climb through the fleet to 10th.
However, undoubtedly disappointed with that score the 31-year-old blitzed the field in race two, leading the field from start to finish.
The results leave him sat fourth overall, just a point behind the medal places with four races of the opening series, plus the double points medal race, to go.
Dorian Van Rijsselberge (NED) has been in devastating form so far in this event, leading with six points from six races. But Dempsey still believes there is plenty of racing left in the regatta to battle it out for gold with the Dutchman.
Dempsey said: “In the first race the wind went very, very light as we started, making it very flaky and unpredictable. I was just caught out and I still made a bit of a mess on the first leg even after the bad start. I had a half reasonable recovery. Thank God I’m fast downwind because I’d be in a lot of trouble if I wasn’t. I made the best of a bad situation in the first race.
“I have no doubt I can come through. I know I should be racing with Dorian and it’s quite frustrating that I’m not. But at the moment I just need to battle away and take every race as it comes and hopefully get a bit of distance between the Polish and German sailors and then worry about Dorian at the end of the week.
“The next four races are critical. They are all in Portland Harbour, the forecast is good and I’m fast. I don’t worry, it’s frustrating but it is how it is. I will do my best to win as many races as I can, I can’t control what he is doing so we will see.”
After tomorrow’s rest day, the RS:X Men are scheduled to resume at 2pm on Saturday (4 August) on the Portland Harbour course.
The Olympic Sailing Regatta runs from Sunday 29 July – Saturday 11 August. The RS:X Men’s medal race is scheduled for Tuesday 7 August (1pm).
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