Sail for Gold Regatta ready for the off
Written by RYA | 01 June 2014
The third stage of the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup to get underway at WPNSA
EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup action comes to British waters this week as the Sail for Gold Regatta 2014, the third stage of the series, takes place at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (2-6 June).
The annual event will welcome some of the world’s top Olympic and Paralympic sailors across the eight Olympic and two Paralympic classes as they compete for event honours on the world class waters of Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour.
Returning to home waters after an impressive run on the ISAF Sailing World Cup and EUROSAF circuit, Megan Pascoe will be determined to continue her fine form in the Paralympic 2.4mR event.
“I am definitely looking forward to the Sail for Gold Regatta this year, it is one of my favourite competitions - we have world class waters here in Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour and it’s always nice to compete on home waters and at a home regatta.
“I think it’s going to be a tough week of racing. It is a completely new format they are using which is something that us 2.4mR sailors aren’t used to so it could be quite entertaining with 16 very short races – theatre style racing in a way which we don’t do much of. We don’t do any medal racing in our class so we’re not used to this format but I’m sure it will be a good experience for us all.”
The Ardingly sailor has picked up four podium finishes so far this season, with two gold medals at the Sailing World Cup Miami and at the Delta Lloyd Regatta, her last regatta before returning back to Weymouth and Portland, and will line up against 12 other boats when racing gets underway on Monday.
“It’s always nice to win regattas and it’s always the aim to carry that momentum into the next regatta and the next one after that and so on. I won Sail for Gold last year so it would be great if I could retain my title but we have some tough competition here this year. I’m sure Helena [Lucas] will be back sailing faster than ever and Matt [Bugg - AUS] isn’t slow, he came fourth at the IFDS Worlds last year so it’s going to be tough but I’m confident I can get there.”
“Every regatta is important and a crucial stepping stone towards Rio. There isn’t long now until the World Championships and the boat is in the container being shipped, so this is ideal preparation for that!” concluded Pascoe.
In the 15 strong 49er fleet the British Sailing Team’s Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign will be have the bit between their teeth as they look to continue from where they left off at the second leg of this EUROSAF series in Holland, but will face stiff competition from the likes of John Pink and Stuart Bithell who finished hot on their heels in second.
In the 49erFX event, last year’s champions, will be aiming for similar success, however this time around with different sailing partners. Charlotte Dobson and Nicola Groves, 2013 Sail for Gold victors, will be vying for event honours with their now permanent teammates of Sophie Ainsworth and Frances Peters.
Nacra 17 sailors Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond will be looking to improve upon their fourth place finish at the Dutch leg, with Diamond admitting to looking forward to getting back out on to home waters.
“We are really happy to be back in Weymouth to go racing at Sail for Gold this year. Even though it’s not a massive fleet this year, it is always important to sail as well as we can and get a good result on the board.
“Having won the regatta last year it would be amazing to defend our title and claim the top step on the podium for a second consecutive year. We are still building up towards the summer events, especially the Santander Worlds in September, so part of the emphasis is on training but while we are racing we have always got one eye on winning as many races as we can.”
Having only narrowly missed out on a medal at the second leg of this EUROSAF Series in Holland two weeks ago, finishing fourth, Diamond insists a podium finish here in Weymouth and Portland would be ideal preparation for their summer regattas.
“It’s always a massive confidence boost to finish on the podium at any regatta, we have been close and there or thereabouts but not quite making it at the past three events which has been disappointing, so a win would give us the momentum needed as we head into key events.”
In addition to the cohort of British Sailors in this week’s Nacra 17 fleet, three of the ten boat fleet are overseas entries coming from Japan, Norway and USA.
The British Sailing Team Podium sailor says she is looking forward to racing against some of the visitors for the first time.
“We have such a strong GBR fleet in the Nacra 17 so it’s nice to see a few international competitors joining us this week at Sail for Gold. We have never raced against some of them before so that will be interesting to see how we fare against them.”
Diamond continued: “I know they are quite new to the boat but you can always learn from everyone in the fleet, no matter how much racing they have done in the Nacra they all bring different skills from other classes, so it will be good to line up against them on the start line come Monday.”
Luke Patience and Elliot Willis will look to continue a strong EUROSAF Series performance where they claimed their first podium finish in Holland since they joined forces in the 470 Men’s event in late February, while Hyeres World Cup silver medallists Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre will be vying for honours in the Women’s 470 event.
Elsewhere, RS:X Windsurfing World Champion Nick Dempsey will be a firm favourite while world number two windsurfer Bryony Shaw will be hoping to continue her 2014 form in the RS:X Women’s event. Giles Scott will be the one to beat in the Finn with the 26-year-old Portland-based sailor looking to maintain his unbeaten run since returning to full-time Olympic classes sailing since September, while John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas will be hoping for their fourth straight consecutive Sail for Gold title in the Sonar class.
John Derbyshire, RYA Racing Manager and Performance Director, said: “The Sail for Gold Regatta is shaping up to a fantastic regatta this year. Even though numbers are down, as they have been for all the EUROSAF events this year with the Santander Worlds and Rio Test Event impacting on team budgets, we still have the quality here to make it a really competitive and worthwhile regatta.
“What we have created here this year is a useful regatta for both home-grown sailors as well as the foreign teams who have made the trip over. We have created a fairly unique event with small fleets where we provide a significant amount of on the water umpiring, effectively mini medal races. This is something which many sailors have never actually qualified for, so when they do they will have a bit more of an understanding of how it works and for those that have been in medal races get the chance to try out a few tactics and be in a position to move up the rankings when they experience medal races at their class World Championships later in the summer.”
For further information on the Sail for Gold Regatta 2014 please visit the event website www.sailforgold.co.uk, like the event Facebook page or follow @sailforgold on Twitter.