Cascais Photo Galleries

Yngling

The Basics

Event: Women's Keelboat
Equipment: Yngling
Fleet size: 40
Olympic qualification places: 10
Reigning World Champion: Monica AZON, Sandra AZON and Graciela PISONERO (ESP)
Reigning Olympic Champion: Shirley ROBERTSON, Sarah WEBB and Sarah AYTON (GBR)

Yngling Runners and Riders

Yngling Top Ten Results

Full Yngling Results

Click here to view the nations which have qualified for the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition

11 July

AYTON's Yngling Trio On Top Of The World

By Lindsey Bell

Sarah AYTON, Sarah WEBB and Pippa WILSON clinched Great Britain's first gold at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Cascais, Portugal, on Wednesday, winning the Yngling World title and pulling one step closer to Olympic qualification for Beijing 2008.

Double Olympic gold medallist Shirley ROBERTSON with her crew Annie LUSH and Lucy MACGREGOR claimed the bronze medal spot behind the American team of Sally BARKOW, Carrie HOWE and Debbie CAPOZZI.

The new 'three blondes in a boat' of AYTON, WEBB and WILSON went into the final Medal Race on Wednesday with a slender one point lead over ROBERTSON's second-placed crew. After clear start they were the second boat to reach the first windward mark, with ROBERTSON's team in sixth.

Already on the back foot after a poor start, ROBERTSON, LUSH and MACGREGOR then had to take penalty turns for infringing the German boat which set them back further.

But there was a heart-in-mouth moment for AYTON and WEBB when, heading into the windward mark for the second time, WILSON missed the toe straps and fell into the water - their boat came painfully close to touching the buoy as they tried to haul WILSON back on board.

The trio crew recovered to cross the line sixth in the Medal Race, which was enough for them to capture the World title by just one point. The American crew of BARKOW, HOWE and CAPOZZI gained silver, with ROBERTSON, LUSH and MACGREGOR in third after finishing ninth in the Medal Race.

'It's just awesome,' exclaimed AYTON. 'We've been working so hard for this ever since I became a helm and especially since Pippa joined our team at the end of the last year.

'Preparing for the event, we knew it would be a windy venue, which are the conditions that Shirley is strong in, so we knew there was the chance that it could have come down to who beat who in the Medal Race. Our goal was to win the start, we did that and managed to hold on.'

'This was only the third medal race I have competed in since the new format was introduced two years ago,' ROBERTSON commented. 'I felt we sailed a really good regatta this week, but our execution of the Medal Race wasn't good enough.'

'But we've come such a long way in such a short space of time,' ROBERTSON continued. 'Who would have thought we would be battling it out for the gold medal here against teams who have been together for the last three years?'

Outside the Medal Race the battle for the last two Olympic qualification slots was won by Finland and South Africa.

10 July

Down to the wire for British Ynglings in Cascais

By Lindsey Bell

The battle for British honours in the Yngling class will go down to the wire at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Cascais, Portugal, with Sarah AYTON, Sarah WEBB and Pippa WILSON (GBR) leading Shirley ROBERTSON, Annie LUSH and Lucy MACGREGOR (GBR) by just one point heading into Wednesday's final medal race.

The two Skandia Team GBR crews are in first and second places respectively in the women's keelboat class, with AYTON's Team Mirabaud posting an 11,4 from their two races on Tuesday, and Team Shirley Robertson scoring 2,3 to close the gap on top spot to just one point from 11 points overnight.

A third British crew featuring development squad sailors Victoria RAWLINSON, Emma RAWLINSON and Sue MONSON also secured a place in the final ten-boat, double points scoring Medal Race on Wednesday.

'We had a really tough day today, but there's everything still to play for out there tomorrow,' commented WEBB.

On whittling down the points gap today, ROBERTSON commented, 'I know how to put together a programme and I know how to make that all come together at the right time. We have not been as polished here as I would have liked but we are happy with our new boat and set-up.'

Six points behind ROBERTSON and in third place overall are Mandy MULDER, Annemieke BES and Floortje HENDRIKSEN (NED), whilst world #2 Sally BARKOW, Carrie HOWE and Debbie CAPOZZI (USA) are just a further two points behind them.

These top four crews have proved a class apart in the breezy conditions, showing an astonishing ability to sail through the fleet even if they have made a bad start or a bad strategic choice.

Further down the fleet the battle isghtening up for the last Olympic qualification places. Nations involved are Finland, South Africa, France and Greece. Yesterday's race 8 saw a lot of protests from exactly these teams, resulting in the disqualification of South Africa, making it even closer point wise.

5 July

British Ynglings On Top In Cascais

By Lindsey Bell

Day three of racing at the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Portugal saw a number of Skandia Team GBR team sailors up move up the leaderboards, as well as the start of competition in the Finn and Yngling classes.

The much anticipated battle in the Yngling class didn't fail to disappoint in the fleet's opening race today with Sarah AYTON, Sarah WEBB and Pippa WILSON (GBR) leading the pack significantly for the majority of the race, only for double Olympic gold medallist Shirley ROBERTSON and her crew Lucy MACGREGOR and Annie LUSH (GBR) to then edge in front at the downwind gate. AYTON, WEBB, and WILSON fought back at the top mark in the 20 knots of wind on the race course and resumed their lead. But ROBERTSON, LUSH and MACGREGOR, refusing to be beaten, pushed hard to overtake AYTON, WEBB and WILSON and took the win in their first race of this regatta

Both of these Skandia Team GBR teams led the fleet by over 300m making for a very promising start to the challenging week ahead. The second race of the day was no less exciting with AYTON, WEBB and WILSON coming back well to post a third just behind ROBERTSON, LUSH and MACGREGOR in second. The two British crews are in first and second place going into the second day of racing for the women's keelboat class.

RYA Olympic Manager Stephen PARK commented, 'It was a fantastic first days' racing making it clear that it's going to be a tight battle between the top two British Ynglings. Today's opening races were definitely some of the best Yngling racing I've ever seen.'

About The 2007 ISAF Worlds

Over 1,300 sailors from 76 nations are competing at the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships, from 28 June-13 July in Cascais, Portugal. 'The Wind Is Calling' is the official motto for the 2007 Worlds. The Championships are the principal qualification regatta for the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition, with 75% of all national places to be decided.

Watch the Medal Races live on Sail.TV

For all the news on the ISAF Sailing World Championships 2007 CLICK HERE.