RS:X medal races

"I'm just so f*****g happy" - Britain's Bryony Shaw on scoring bronze.... and other news from the Olympic race courses

Another day of very light winds on the course A, where the Medal Races were scheduled for the RS:X Women and Men classes. The three final full fleet races were also scheduled for the Star and Tornado fleets, prior to their Medal Races - and the end of the Olympic sailing competition - tomorrow.

In the RS:X Women's event considerable place changing went on with the Gold eventually being taken by Chinese sensation Jian Yin with veteran sailboarder Alessandra Sensini taking Silver with Bryony Shaw getting Bronze, Britain's first ever medal in Women's Sailboarding.

Among the men, there were high hopes of a medal for Britain's Dempsey. However after a slow start, a shortened course did not give him enough runway to pull up and Dempsey finished two points from the podium in fourth with Kiwi Tom Ashley snaring Gold, Julien Bontemps (FRA) silver and Israel's Shahar Zubari the bronze.

In the Stars, after today's three races Freddie Loof and Anders Ekstrom (SWE) continue to lead but Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR) are just two points adrift of them and with third placed Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) 12 points behind, the Brits are in a strong position to medal tomorrow.

Not so, sadly for the British Tornado sailors, who are two of their best results today are into tomorrow's medal race, but out of contention for the podium.


RS:X Women - Medal Race

It was another very light wind start for the women’s RSX fleet. This is the race all the Chinese in Qingdao will have been waiting for as local sailor and light wind specialist, Jian Yin (on 33 points going into today's medal race) only needed to be the top three to secure Gold Medal. However, things were tight at the top of the leaderboard: Allesandra Sensini (ITA) was in second with 38 points with Bryony Shaw (GBR) on 41 points, Jessica Crisp (AUS) on 46 points and Marina Alabau (ESP) also on 46 points.

With the tide underneath the fleet at the start, the first attempt at getting the race underway was abandoned as a General Recall was given. The biggest sighs of relief came from the British camp as Shaw had made a right old mess of the start, being clearly over from about 15 seconds.

With the wind forecast to drop throughout the day the race committee were keen to get the race underway as quickly as possible. Due to this, we saw very little delay as the next start sequence fired up.

Off the startline it was Spain, Britain and China all looking strong, pumping hard. Early on there was no clear consensus about which side looked best, as much of the fleet chose to head up the middle of the course and play the shifts. Britain and Spain were heading slightly to the left, though, and looked strong half way up the beat.

At the first windward mark it was Spain first, Britain second, Italy third and China fourth. This would leave the medals in the same order as before the start.

The wind had increased slightly for the run against the tide, but it was still very much pumping weather and this race would b a real test of endurance. Looking downwind the right seemed to pay with Davidovich (ISR) making an impressive move up the fleet.

At the leeward gate, almost all of the fleet selected the left hand side mark (looking upwind) and then tacked out to the left of the course. The rounding order was Spain first Britain second, Israel third, Italy fourth and China fifth.

In the early stages, Shaw was leading up the beat having gone left of middle. She held onto this lead to be ahead at the final windward mark, just ahead of Spain and Italy. If Shaw could keep the Spanish boat between herself and the Italian and the Chinese remained down in fifth or worse Shaw could take Gold....

But halfway down the run, Shaw had dropped back into third position and looked to be struggling to gain any ground on Spain, who was now in second or Italy who had now taken first position.

With a three reach slalom down to the finish, Shaw was on the move, going straight past the Spanish, and began to hunt down the Italian. However, China had improved their lot and were now challenging for third.

Italy, GBR and China all had to tack for the slalom mark, leaving Italy with a reduced lead, Spain in second Britain in third and China fourth. The breeze was decreasing through the last three reaches with the Chinese starting to look stronger and stronger in the lighter wind, moving away from the Ukraine in fourth.

Round the penultimate mark it was Sensini in first, Shaw second and Alabau third. However, Spain were deemed to have barged in at the mark by the jury and had to do a penalty turn. This left Italy in first, Britain in second and China in third, pushing the Brit hard.

On the final leg the fleet looked to have closed up as they raced their final reach against the tide. At the finish Italy crossed in first, Britain second and China third, giving the Gold Medal to China, Silver to Italy and Bronze to Great Britain.

Shaw’s bronze medal is the first ever medal for a British, female windsurfer and she was understandably elated, an exhausted emotional wreck in fact, even using the f-word live on BBC1! “I am so happy to be among the medals and out there with the likes of Ben, Sarah and Goodie. It is unreal - I am just so happy,” commented the Brit at the end of the race, laughing while at the same time in floods of tears.


RS:X Men – Medal Race

If things were tight at the top of the Women’s fleet, the Men’s RS:X was even tighter. At the start of the day, Julien Bontemps (FRA) was leading on 45 points from Nick Dempsey (GBR) second on 46 points with Tom Ashley (NZL) in third on 46 points and Sharar Zubari (ISR) in fourth with 54.

Conditions at the start saw slightly less wind than the women had in their Medal Race, but the tide had also reduced in strength. The fleet were pushing the line hard at the start and an individual recall was called. Israel and Japan went back but the flag remained up, so one sailor was still over - while the concern was that this might be Nick Dempsey, it later transpired Greece had picked up the OCS.

Early on the beat there was a fairly even spread of boards across the leg with New Zealand's Ashley looking strongest. But on the approach to the windward mark Bontemps had stretched out into the lead and was looking good, slightly more to the right. With the wind occasionally increasing, some of the fleet were able to get the boards onto the plane making some huge speed and angle differences up the beat.

At the windward mark it was Hong Kong's King Yin Chan in the lead, coming in from the right, New Zealand second, Israel third, China fourth, France fifth - but he slipped off his board while rounding having to leap back on quickly - with Spain in sixth and Britain Nick Dempsey in seventh.

With Dempsey having a lot of work to fight his way back up the fleet, his objective was not helped by the Race Committee blowing the whistle to indicate that this would be a one lap sprint, giving the sailors just one upwind leg to prove their worth, no doubt thanks to the Women’s Medal Race overrunning earlier.

Meanwhile on the downwind, Ashley was working hard, fighting with Chan for the lead. There was no clear advantage on either side of the course, significantly limiting position changing opportunities for the sailors. At the leeward mark it as Hong Kong first, Israel second, New Zealand third, China fourth, France fifth and Britain sixth. In this position Dempsey looked set to slip off the podium.

After the leeward gate, the sailboards then headed off down a three reach slalom, as the Women had earlier - a unique feature of the RS:X Medal Races. These final three legs are designed to offer the audience a clear idea of who is leading but overtaking is not common on them. There had been no position changing down the first two reaches, but the whole fleet was still fighting hard for positions.

The final reach into the line saw a defeated Dempsey slow to a relative standstill as his medal hopes shot out the window. Across the finish Hong Kong took the win, Israel were second, New Zealand third, France fourth, China fifth, Brazil sixth and Britain seventh.

The final positions mean Ashley (NZL) finishes the day with a Gold Medal, Bontemps (FRA) with a Silver and Zubari (ISR) with Bronze. Dempsey (GBR) drops out of the Medals and takes fourth overall a measly two points short of the podium.

Star R8

After their race yesterday was aborted half way through due to a lack of wind, so today the Stars were able to get sailing in a good breeze that built to 15 knots.

At the first weather mark rounding, it was series leader Freddie Loof and Anders Ekstrom (SWE) who had pulled ahead but with Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) and Afonso Domingos and Bernardo Santos (POR) hot on their heels.

In second place overall, Team GBR’s Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson arrived at the top mark in sixth, but stormed down the run to reach the leeward gate in first place. From here they were able to maintain their lead ahead of the Swedish duo for the rest of the race, with the Brazilian favourites coming home in third.

With this result Percy and Simpson have closed to within two points of leaders Loof and Ekstrom, the lead duo now with a comfortable 11 point cushion over third placed Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Życki (POL).

Star R9

With the wind going soft for today's penultimate race it was Marc Pickel and Ingo Borkowski (GER) who were first up the beat, rounding just ahead of the Portugese with Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau (FRA) in third and Diego Negri and Luigi Viale (ITA) fourth.

Once again Percy and Simpson were on the charge down the run and again they pulled into the lead at the leeward gate, but with the ominous Swedes on their transom, followed by Scheidt and Prada. Could the Brits hang on? Sadly not. Up the second beat they dropped four places allowing Loof and Ekstrom to regain their lead ahead of the Portugese and Brazilians. Thankfully down the final run Percy and Simpson were able to pull it out of the bag again but not enough to catch the Swedes who finished first to their second, with Scheidt and Prada third.

Again the Swedes and Brits have further extended their lead overall but at the end of this race Loof and Ekstrom have now got three points between them and the Brits. Scheidt and Prada have now pulled into the bronze slot but 15 points astern of Percy and Simpson.

Star R10

The first two Star races of the day being dominated by the top three teams of Frederik Loof and Anders Ekstrom (SWE), Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR) and Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA). However, leading the fleet at the first mark in the rinal race of the series, were Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau (FRA). Behind them it was Father and son in law team, John Dane and Austin Sperry (USA) who rounded ten seconds back, closely followed by Percy and Simpson. Significantly for the Brits, Scheidt and Parda rounded in fifth with Loof and Ekstrom back in sixth.

Down the run, the French managed to hold their lead with Dane and Sperry also holding second. Flavio Marazzi and Enrico DeMaria (SUI) had improved their lot, jumping up to third, pushing Percy and Simpson back to fourth. The Brazilians and Swedes held their respective position.

Up the final beat, Scheidt and Prada were on the charge, pulling through the fleet up into second position, rounding the windward mark 12 seconds behind Rohart and Rambeau. Percy and Simpson were still back in fourth position, with Marazzi and DeMaria in third.

On the run to the finish, Marazzi and DeMaria were on the charge, finally crossing the line in first with Rohart and Rambeau slipping back into second by just four seconds. Scheidt and Prada crossed the line in third, while Dane and Sperry improved to take fourth. Percy and Simpson slipped back on the final leg to cross the finish line in sixth, just ahead of series leaders, Loof and Anders Ekstrom.

These final results have left the top of the table very close as the fleet heads into their Medal Race tomorrow. Loof and Ekstrom are now leading the fleet by just two points overall. Percy and Simpson are in second, themselves 12 points ahead of Scheidt and Prada. Interestingly back at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney Percy and Loof had a final race battle for Gold in the Finn. Percy came out on top in that one, match racing Loof down the fleet with the Swede eventually taking Bronze. Tomorrow looks set to be a re-match of that situation, with fortunes so far reversed. Can Loof exact his revenge or will it be the Brits or the Brazilians that come out on top?

Tornado R8

Like the Stars, the Tornados were unable to race yesterday. Today with the wind hovering around the 10 knot mark and flicking left, it was the turn of the promising Greeks, Iordanis Paschalides and Konstantinos Trigonis, to lead the charge in the first race for the Olympic cats. With three windward-leeward laps to sail they were first around the top mark ahead of a tightly grouped pack including Johannes Polgar and Florian Spalteholz (GER), Francesco Marcolini and Edoardo Bianchi (ITA), Mitch Booth and Pim Nieuwenhuis (NED) and Xavier Revil and Christophe Espagnon (FRA).

Over the next legs the lead swapped between the Greeks and Germans, but the Argentinian Athens bronze medallists Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola were on the move. They took over pole on the second run to arrive at the leeward gate ahead of the Germans and Booth and Nieuwenhuis.

Up the final beat the Argies and Germans clung on to their positions with the mixed pairing of Carolijn Brouwer and Sebastien Godefroid (BEL) moving up to third. However…. Team GBR’s Leigh McMillan and Will Howden had been relatively slow out of the blocks, rounding the top mark for the first time in 10th, but sailing a storming final run pulling up from sixth place to second…their best result of the series so far. While it might not count for much the Brits went to this race out of contention for even the medal race, holding 12th place, although just a point behind the French and Austrians. But with this second they leapt to 8th…

Tornado R9

With the wind sub-10 knots and going right in the last lap, the Spanish former World Champions Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz proved dominant in today’s second race. As they managed in race seven, so they led from start to finish again in race nine.

On this occasion at the weather mark it was the Canadians Oskar Johannson and Kevin Stittle who were second, but clearly in a positive mental state following the previous race, McMillan and Howden were close behind them in third, with Athens silver medallists John Lovell and Charles Ogletree finally putting in an appearance in this Olympics, in fourth.

Down the run it was the Brits who pulled up to second with Bundock and Ashby slipping ahead of the Canadians into third at the leeward gate. All was looking good for the Brits who were able to hold second until the final beat when the Canadians edged ahead of them at the top mark. However McMillan and Howden were able to hang in there to hold third, their second solid result of the day.

With Bundock and Ashby finishing eighth so Echavarri and Paz after this race had put a margin of seven points on the Australians, after the two teams had been levelled pegging for the lead at the opening of play this morning.

Tornado R10

in terms of the overall lead, today's third race, and the final one for the whole fleet before the top ten go into tomorrow’s Medal Race, saw Bundock and Ashby close in on Echavarri and Paz once again, finishing fourth to the Spaniards’ eighth and now just three points off the overall lead.

At the top mark it was the turn of Johannes Polgar and Florian Spalteholz (GER) to be first around, with a healthy 26 second lead over the French duo and Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola (ARG). However the Argies pulling up to second on the second beat and into the lead on the subsequent run, a position they then held on to until the finish, coming home first ahead of Oskar Johannson and Kevin Stittle (CAN) and the Germans.

After their strong first two races today, the third was a shocker for McMillan and Howden who were ninth around the top mark for the first time, but finished 12th. Overall this has dropped the Brits to ninth, which gets them into tomorrow’s medal race, but sadly 22 points behind the third placed Argentinians, they are out of contention to bring home any metalware from this Games.