Light wind test for Dempsey as Palma World Cup kick-starts his Rio challenge
Written by RYA | 31 March 2014
2014 Princess Sofia Trophy gets underway in light and testing conditions
British sailors got off to a steady start on a light and testing first day of World Cup racing in Palma Bay on Monday (31 March).
Paralympic Champion Helena Lucas secured the perfect scorecard with two race wins in the 2.4mR fleet to kick off her regatta, while eight other British Sailing Team crews across seven of the ten Olympic classes picked up race wins on a tricky sea breeze opening day at the Princess Sofia Trophy.
Among them was RS:X Windsurfing World Champion Nick Dempsey, for whom this event marks the start of his 2016 assault.
After a low-key – albeit successful – 2013 competition season in which he claimed a history-making second RS:X world crown, Dempsey has resolved to have one last shot at claiming an elusive Olympic gold in Rio after previously indicating that 2012 would be his last attempt.
“I would have liked to have done something different after the Games, but sometimes life changes a little bit,” the 33-year-old explained.
“I found myself wanting to do what I knew and what made me happy – and what made me happy was windsurfing, so here I am doing another Olympic campaign.
“I wasn’t sure last year after the World Championships, but I’ve got some good people around me and I found myself loving it and enjoying it, and feeling like I can go to Rio and win a gold medal.
“It’s a positive place to be after a challenging time, but I’m excited by it and I want to win, and if I still want to win then I’m still going to do it.”
If Dempsey achieves his golden ambition then he would become the most successful men’s Olympic windsurfer with a silver from 2012 and a bronze from 2004 already under his belt. But it’s the medal, not the moniker, that entices the Weymouth sailor.
“It doesn’t really bother me. It’s an Olympic gold medal, isn’t it? I haven’t got one, and I want one!
“I’ve windsurfed my whole life and not achieved what I think I should have. It’s my final chance and I think it’s well within grasp.”
Dempsey is poised in ninth place after this first three-race day for the windsurfers in Palma, posting a ninth, a race win and a tenth, and admitted to struggling in the fitness stakes in today’s light airs.
“It’s not ideal, and it’s not where I want to be, but it’s where we’re at right now and it’s a case of making the best of what we’ve got. At the moment I’m not the fittest I’ve ever been, so it makes days like today pretty difficult. But we’ve got a long summer ahead of us, so it’s all pretty positive.
“I want to go away [this week] knowing that I’ve approached it in the right frame of mind, professionally, positively, raced my best and come away with a lot of good goals and things to work on for the season.
“After this week we’re going to know exactly where we are and exactly what’s required for the coming season and what needs to be worked on to win the Worlds in September. It’s always nice to do well, but that’s kind of secondary to the processes this week.”
In the Laser Radial fleet, Chloe Martin started and finished her three-race day strongly, with a 14th sandwiched by a second and race win to sit her in second place after this first day, with Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond poised in third in the Nacra 17 multihull class. Their victory in the second of three races was supported by a two third places to cap off a consistent day amid the challenging conditions.
In the men’s heavyweight Finn fleet, Andrew Mills picked up a race win and a fourth to see him into overall third after day one, with the world number two acknowledging some tough and close racing.
“There was some big pressure differences and some big shifts out there as well. In the first race I thought I would be rounding about 15th or so after the first beat and then I nailed a couple of shifts absolutely perfectly,” Mills explained.
“The pressure differences and shifts were that big that you could round everyone and go from 15th to first. That was the main gain and I fell back to second at one point, but then got the French guys back on the last run.”
The British Sailing Team’s 49er crews had a long, but solid, opening day with the final boats returning to shore as the sun was setting. Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign end the day in third overall with the help of a race win and a fourth from their three races, with Dave Evans-Ed Powys in fourth and Stevie Morrison-Chris Grube fifth, while Nic Asher and Fynn Sterritt ended their day on a high with a first World Cup race win in their final race of the day.
Podium Potential squad sailor Elliot Hanson emerged as the best of the British Laser sailors on this opening day, with a race win and a third helping him into third overnight, while in the 2.4mR fleet there’s a British 1-2 at the top of the leaderboard, with Megan Pascoe right behind Helena Lucas.
On the 470 racecourse, Luke Patience and Elliot Willis had a steady first day of World Cup sailing together, with a consistent 6,5,6 – a scoreline matched by Bryony Shaw in the RS:X women’s windsurfing fleet.
Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are ninth after their first two races in the 470 women’s event, while in the 49erFX Kate Macgregor-Katrina Best and Charlotte Dobson-Sophie Ainsworth are poised in 11th and 12th overall.
Racing at the Princess Sofia Trophy gets underway on Monday 31 March, with the final medal races scheduled for Saturday 5 April.
Follow all the British Sailing Team news, results and reaction from the event at
www.britishsailingteam.com, on Twitter @BritishSailing or via our Facebook page.