Brits pass light wind test on second day in Palma
Written by RYA | 01 April 2014
Brits advance on second day of ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca
Paralympic Champion medallist Helena Lucas remains unbeaten from four races so far in the 2.4mR fleet after a long and challenging second day of racing at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca on Tuesday (1 April).
The London 2012 gold medallist won both her races for the second day running at this Princess Sofia Trophy, with British Sailing Team crews in the Olympic Classes also faring well in the light wind, testing conditions across Palma Bay.
Lucas tops the 2.4mR standings with teammate Megan Pascoe in third overall after four races in the one-person Paralympic event, while six GBR crews are poised inside the top three spots at the end of the two-day opening series.
Britain’s 49erFX crews had an impressive day, with Charlotte Dobson-Sophie Ainsworth and Frances-Peters-Nicola Groves picking up mirrored scorelines of a second and a third apiece from their two races, with both pairs remarking on the huge progress the fleet has made in the new class since their first World Cup regatta at this venue a year ago.
“It most definitely has been a steep learning curve!” admitted Ainsworth, who transitioned into the class from the 470.
“I think this time last year we had slightly different expectations at the beginning of the regatta of just staying upright and getting round the course, whereas now it’s a bit more of a battle and it was about getting off the line and doing what you wanted.
Groves echoed her compatriot’s view: “The fact that there’s some wind on the way, and I’m actually looking forward to it rather than absolutely dreading it, is a massive step forward.”
Dobson and Ainsworth are in fourth place overall at the end of this third day of racing, and were pleased with their showing on the racecourse today.
“We managed to come out of a real snakes and ladders day really well, so we’re really happy with that,” said Dobson of their racing. “We sat around on shore for hours this morning watching the fight between the sea breeze and the gradient, and the gradient eventually won out. We ended up having two snakes and ladders-type races in 8—11 knots so it ended up being quite a nice day of yachting when it didn’t look like it was going to be at 10 o’clock.
“We’re really happy that we managed to stick it all together today.” For European bronze medallists Peters and Groves, the pressure was on to make the cut for the gold fleet after a tough opening day on Monday.
“Yesterday was a really tricky day for us – it was one of those days where it didn’t matter where you put yourself, or what you did, things just didn’t seem to go our way,” said Peters.
“But we were encouraged by the fact that our starts which have been a real focus for us, were all pretty good and our routines were there, so we weren’t too disheartened. It was just one of those days.
“Today was really encouraging – we got a second and third so we’re chuffed to have climbed back a little bit and made it into gold fleet because it was close!” explained the Hayling Island helm, who ended her day in 19th place overall just behind compatriots Kate Macgregor and Katrina Best who will also race in the gold fleet tomorrow.
In the men’s 49er event, British crews impressed on the water after a long delay on shore. Three different British crews picked up race wins, and five British crews end this second day in the top ten spots. Stevie Morrison and Chris Grube are second overall, Dave Evans-Ed Powys are third, Nic Asher-Fynn Sterritt fifth and Dylan Fletcher-Alain Sign are in sixth, with the European Champions managing to win their first race of the day in spite of breaking a board and a pole before the race.
The Finn fleet had the longest day on the water, being the first the leave the shore for a three-race, seven-hour stint afloat. Giles Scott advanced to fourth overall amid the shifty conditions on the Finn course, admitting it was a ‘super tricky day’.
“We ended up racing in south-easterlies which we don’t often get here. It was real flaky, and pretty hard to predict big shifts, but I managed to put in a reasonably solid day.”
Unbeaten since his return to the class in the autumn, Scott insists that a result at this Palma World Cup is not important in the grand scheme of his Santander World Championship preparations – but admits that competitive spirit still gets the better of him.
“Palma’s probably going to be the hardest [so far] with the big fleet, and the whole international fleet is here, so the competition is very high. But really it’s a process regatta and It’s about performing well in Santander this year and Rio.
“That said, I’m sure I’ll be very annoyed if I don’t win. Just because it’s not an outcome regatta of the year, it doesn’t mean I don’t want to win – I do!”
The new 470 men’s pairing of Luke Patience and Elliot Willis picked up their first World Cup race win to end their day on a high and move them into second overall, with Chloe Martin occupying the same position in the Laser Radial fleet, with a third place from her only race of the day.
Bryony Shaw is poised third in the RS:X Women’s windsurfing event, with Nick Dempsey ninth after five events in the men’s event.
World silver medallists Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond are third overall on the Nacra 17 fleet, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are fifth in the 470 women’s event, and Nick Thompson advanced to 11th overall in the Laser event with 2,3 for his efforts today. An increase in wind speeds is expected to provide a new challenge for first day of finals series racing on Wednesday (2 April).
Racing at the Princess Sofia Trophy continues on Wednesday 2 April, with the final medal races scheduled for Saturday 5 April. Follow all the British Sailing Team news, results and reaction from the event at britishsailingteam.com, on Twitter @BritishSailing or via our Facebook page.