Into the Medal Races

Ayton, Webb and Wilson fly the Brit flag on the third day of the Breitling Regatta (formerly Spa)

Although the forescast opitmistically suggested an avarage of 15 knots for the third day, Friday, of the Breitling Regatta in Medemblik, Holland - the morning races were delayed but by the end the day the salors for the Medal Races were decided.

Skandia Team GBR sailors Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson extended their lead over the 30-boat Yngling fleet, with a nine point buffer now between them and nearest rivals, Russians Ekaterina Skudina, Diana Krutskikh and Natalia Ivanova of Russia.  Ayton’s team posted results of 6,12,4 from their three races to hold firm at the top of the table and remain on course for their fourth straight podium finish at a major event this year.

Meanwhile, there was a disappointing end to the regatta for Shirley Robertson, Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor  who bowed out of the competition in order to return to the UK and carry out important work on their boat.  Robertson explained that the week has “highlighted changes we need to make to the boat to enable us to perform at our optimum.”

The battle for honours in the Laser Radial class continues – with four British boats now within the top eight with Athens Olympian Laura Baldwin holding on at the top of the leaderboard with strong performance of 6,1,8.  Penny Clark, silver medallist at the 2006 Holland Regatta, dropped to fifth place overall, with Andrea Brewster close behind and Charlotte Dobson in eighth place. Belgium sailor Evi van Acker poses the biggest threat to Baldwin holding second place just three points behind.

Nick Dempsey and Ed Wright are currently the only other British sailors currently in medal positions, with two days left to run in the regatta.  Wright couldn’t manage to hold on to his overnight lead in the Finn class and slipped to third following a disappointing 21,13, while Dempsey improved his standing to third with a sixth and a fourth from today’s two races.

It's Canadian Chris Cook who has a four point lead in the Finn class over his Dutch rival Pieter-Jan Postma. Dempsey has the two Hong Kong RS:X sailors Chi Ho and King Yin ahead.

Leigh McMillan and Will Howden had their best day of the regatta so far in the Tornado class, with a race win a sixth and fourth pushing them up into eighth place overall. The French sailors Xavier Revill and Christophe Espagnon has a slim four point lead at the top.

Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark enjoyed a good day also in the women’s 470 event.  Their day got off to a less than ideal start with a 22nd from their first race of the day, but followed that up with a second and a fifth to boost them into fifth place overall – and just seven points behind Slovenian leaders Vesna Deklava Paoli and Klara Maucec.

Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes remain the top British contenders in the 49er class, currently in eight place overall. The Italian Sibello brothers have maintained their run of all top ten finishes to lead the field.

The young pretender Australian Tom Slingsby heads the field in the Laser class with an impressive 13 points in the 108 strong class after discarding his Black Flag start from race two. Paul Goodison has broken into the top ten – now in ninth place – thanks to 4.3,2 from his three races today.

Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, and Nick Rogers-Joe Glanfield are hovering on the brink of the medal race positions in the Star and 470 men’s events – they’re both in 11th place.

Remaining schedule:

Saturday
17:00 Medal race Yngling
18:00 Medal race 470 Men
19:00 Prize giving 470 Men & Yngling

Sunday
Medal races
11:00 470 Women, Finn
11:40 RS: X Men, Tornado
12:20 RS: X Women, Laser Radial
13:00 49-er, Laser, Star

470 Men

470 Women

49er

Tornado

Star

Yngling

Finn

Laser

Laser Radial

RS:X Men

RS:X Women