Worlds bronze for Thompson on a full race day in Santander
Written by RYA | 18 September 2014
A fourth World Championship podium for the Lymington sailor
Nick Thompson claimed Great Britain’s first medal of the ISAF Sailing World Championships – a bronze – in the Laser class on Thursday (18 September).
The 28-year-old took admitted to mixed emotions with his podium finish after a tight battle in the final 10-boat medal race in Santander.
With two silvers and a bronze medal in the bag from previous World Championships, the Lymington sailor had his eye on a first gold, and went into the finale effectively level-pegging with the Australian series leader Tom Burton.
But it was the Netherlands’ Nicolas Heiner who took a convincing medal race victory, and with it the World Championship title.
“If I am honest I am a little bit disappointed,” said Thompson of his World Championship bronze, which he adds to bronze from the 2009 event, and two silvers from 2010 and 2011.
“It was my chance to try and go one better than I have done previously but obviously it is good to get a medal and to have done so in the three major events this year. But at the moment it is mixed feelings for sure.”
“It has been a tricky event. I think it has been one of the most challenging events I have done in a while, pretty similar to Rio in that respect as we have seen a bit of everything. It has been a real mixed bag and I guess it is good to have come away with a medal in those varied conditions.
"I have shown that I don’t have many weaknesses now which is rewarding. I will now try and work on a few of the smaller areas and try and do better next year.”
Earlier in the women’s Laser Radial medal race, Alison Young consolidated her ninth place overall with a seventh place finish in the finale.
She went into the day out of contention for the medal race spots, but aiming to finish on a high after an illness-hit season with the World Championships only her second event back.
Young was in third in the 10-boat race after the first lap, but a number of places on the second lap saw her cross eighth to maintain her overall ninth place.
“I had a good start to race with a good first beat and I was in a good position. Then on the second beat I just got stuck with my head in the boat and didn’t play the shifts and made quite a lot of losses,” explained the Bewdley sailor.
“It has been good to finally have a bit of breeze over the last couple of days for a bit of hiking and to mix it up through the regatta. There is a lot of learning to take forwards.”
Elsewhere in World Championship action on Thursday, Nick Dempsey, Bryony Shaw and Izzy Hamilton all ensured their berths in Friday’s windsurfing medal races. After a high-scoring day on Wednesday, Dempsey hit back on the water today with 13,4,2 to see him into sixth place overall, but even so the Olympic silver medallist will concede his World Championship crown here.
“It was an important day. It was a pretty awful day yesterday so I really needed to find some form and put in a good solid set of results. I had a 13,4,2 which is much better and it was good to be racing at the front again,” Dempsey explained.
“I’m in sixth place overall. The medals are slightly out of reach which is a bit disappointing. After yesterday it will be good to finish somewhere around the top five.”
In the women’s windsurfing event, France’s Charline Picon has already sewn up the gold medal, but the remaining podium spots are up for grabs with Bryony Shaw heading into the double-points final in fourth, ten points from third. Izzy Hamilton goes into the final day in ninth overall.
Giles Scott continued his fine form in the Finn class to post a fifth straight race win and a second on Thursday, having to pull back from a mid-fleet position to take the win. He now has a 13 point lead over Frenchman Jonathan Lobert after six races. Fellow British Sailing Team Finn sailor Ed Wright is in fourth overall.
The 49erFX sailors have now completed their five-race qualification series with three British boats making the cut. Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth are in second overall after a second and a third on the water today, while Frances Peters-Nicola Groves and Kate Macgregor-Katrina Best are in 12th and 13th respectively.
Pippa Wilson and John Gimson revelled in the breeze in the Nacra 17 fleet today, ending their four-race day in third overall with 4,2,4,3 on the board and firmly cementing their place in the gold fleet along with four other British Sailing Team crews.
Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are in fifth overall after eight races in the 470 Women’s event, with Christian Bassadone and Eilidh McIntyre hovering just outside of the medal cut in 11th with one more fleet racing day to go before the finalists are determined.
In the 470 Men’s event Luke Patience and Elliot Willis picked up 3,18,5 to sit in seventh overall after the first day of gold fleet racing, while John Pink and Stuart Bithell are the top-placed British crew in the 49er fleet in eighth place.
Great Britain has qualified country quota spots in the Laser, Laser Radial and RS:X Men’s and Women’s windsurfing events for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games so far at these World Championships.
The final medal deciders in Santander are scheduled as follows:
19 September: RS:X Men and RS:X Women
20 September: 470 Men and 470 Women
21 September: 49er, 49erFX, Finn and Nacra 17
Medal races are being broadcast in the UK on the BBC Red Button and on the BBC Sport website.
For a full list of British competitors and all the latest from the ISAF Sailing World Championships, stay with us at
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Click here for the British Sailing Team’s video channel from the Santander Worlds.