Brits head to Holland for second EUROSAF regatta
Written by RYA | 20 May 2013
British sailors prepare for action at the second EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup event in Medemblik
The Netherlands plays host to round two of the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup series this week, with the British Sailing Team set to compete across ten classes at the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, from 21-25 May.
The new EUROSAF five-event series in the Olympic and Paralympic classes kicked off at Lake Garda, Italy, earlier this month, where Ed Wright claimed gold for Great Britain in the Finn class and Bryony Shaw picked up silver in the RS:X women’s windsurfing event.
Both sailors have opted to skip this Dutch leg of the series, but the British team will be fielding a host of recent World Cup series medallists among its 48-sailor entry at the Ijsselmeer venue.
Alison Young, the Palma World Cup winner and bronze medallist in Hyeres, will look to challenge in the 47-sailor Laser Radial fleet, as will teammate Chloe Martin, while Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre will hope to maintain their early season success in the 470 Women’s class.
The duo only joined forces at the beginning of this year and have so far claimed silver and bronze respectively at the Palma and Hyeres World Cup series regattas.
Among the five-boat British Sailing Team entry in the 49er class are Dave Evans and Ed Powys, who will be looking for a third podium finish in a row to add to their World Cup bronze and silver medals from Palma and Hyeres, while Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign will be looking to maintain winning ways after claiming their first World Cup victory at the French venue last month.
The 2.4mR Paralympic class will see both 2012 champion Helena Lucas and Megan Pascoe – medallist at all three World Cup events this year – vying for honours in the 26-boat fleet, while in the men’s single handed events, Hyeres World Cup winner Andrew Mills is in action in the heavyweight Finn class, with three-time World Championship medallist Nick Thompson looking to challenge in the Laser fleet.
The British squad rotation continues in the 49erFX class, with Penny Clark teaming up with Hyeres silver medallist Mary Rook, Kate Macgregor with Nicola Groves and Frances Peters with Sophie Ainsworth for this week’s event, while Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond will be keen to improve on their fourth place in the Nacra 17 event in Hyeres, where they missed out on a first British medal in the new multihull class by just two points.
Izzy Hamilton will be the sole British Sailing Team representative in the RS:X women’s windsurfing event, with Paralympians John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas also in action in the Sonar class.
Racing at the Delta Lloyd Regatta is scheduled to start from 1100 (local) on Tuesday 21 May, with the final medal racing due to be held on Friday 24th for the 49er (from 1800hrs) and 49erFX (1900hrs) classes, and Saturday 25th for all other classes.
Follow the action at www.deltalloydregatta.org with race updates throughout the week on Twitter @BritishSailing
The EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup is a series of five regattas in the Olympic and Paralympic Classes designed to complement the ISAF Sailing World Cup series. The Delta Lloyd Regatta (Medemblik, NED, 21-25 May) is followed by Sail for Gold Regatta (Weymouth and Portland, GBR, 9-13 June), Kiel Week (Kiel, GER, 22-26 June) and the Semaine Olympique Francaise (La Rochelle, FRA, 9-13 October).
British Sailing Team members in action at the Delta Lloyd Regatta:
Laser
Nick Thompson; Lorenzo Chiavirini; Ben Cornish; Martin Evans; Elliot Hanson; Alex Mills Barton; Matt Reid; Jack Wetherell
Laser Radial
Alison Young; Chloe Martin
Finn
Andrew Mills; Mark Andrews; Peter McCoy; James Hadden; Harry Briddon; Paul Childs
RS:X Women
Izzy Hamilton
Nacra 17
Lucy Macgregor-Tom Phipps; Ben Saxton-Hannah Diamond; Rupert White-Nikki Boniface
470 Women
Sophie Weguelin-Eilidh McIntyre
49er
Dylan Fletcher-Alain Sign; Dave Evans-Ed Powys; Nic Asher-Fynn Sterritt; Stuart Bithell-Chris Grube; John Pink-Simon Wheeler
49erFX
Penny Clark-Mary Rook; Kate Macgregor-Nicola Groves; Frances Peters-Sophie Ainsworth
2.4mR
Helena Lucas; Megan Pascoe; Will Street; Carol Dugdale
Sonar
John Robertson-Hannah Stodel-Stephen Thomas