Light winds upset day two of Rio Test regatta
Written by RYA | 04 August 2014
Sailors find a windless Guanabara Bay on day two of competition at Aquece Rio International Regatta
The 2014 Rio Test Event proved more of a test of patience than of sailing skill on Monday (4 August) as light winds prevented any racing on day two of this Aquece Rio International Regatta.
In spite of a full schedule with racing planned across all ten Olympic sailing classes at this first official Test Event for the 2016 Games organisers, only the 49er class managed to leave the boat park – but returned a short while later empty-handed after racing proved impossible across the windless Guanabara Bay.
The British Sailing Team’s 49er European silver medallist Dylan Fletcher explained: “We got down here and the wind was blowing from the north west, which it sometimes does in the morning before it switches round to a sea breeze.
“We went out, having been slightly delayed, and the race officer tried four starts for us, but the wind wasn’t playing ball. We minced around out there for a while and we came back in and have been just chilling ever since.”
In spite of the false start, Fletcher is still fired up as to what the rest of the week holds for him and crew Alain Sign, and he feels that the Test Event is an important one in the duo’s quest for gold in 2016.
“I think the Test Event is important for us – probably not so much as the Europeans or the Worlds this year, but looking longer term it’s really significant for us to perform in the Olympic venue. When we hopefully come back here next year, and more importantly when the Olympics are on, you know that you’ve performed in this venue, you’re happy with the area and you know you can beat your rivals here.
“For us this year although it is the lowest priority of the major events we’re doing this year, it is important for us and it’s the first time that we’ll get to race the Aussies and Kiwis in these conditions. For the 26-year-old Fletcher, this is his third visit to the 2016 venue and it’s proving a valuable experience.
“We’re still learning the venue and certainly learning about it in the [Brazilian] winter. It’s the first time we’ve been here at the same time that the Olympics are on, so we’re seeing what the conditions are like. They seem actually relatively similar to the summer, so a lot of lessons we learned there we can still take forward into this event.
With an improved wind forecast in prospect tomorrow, the start time for Tuesday has been brought forward to 1100 with three races planned for each class across all five courses.
The medal race deciders will take place on Thursday 7 August (RS:X Men, RS:X Women), Friday 8 August (Finn, 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17) and Saturday 9 August (470 Men, 470 Women, Laser, Laser Radial).
Stay with us for all the news from inside the British camp throughout the Rio International Regatta at
www.britishsailingteam.com, on
Facebook or on Twitter @BritishSailing.
Full results can be found at
http://www.aquecerio.com/en/competitions/international-sailing-regatta-2014