World Sailing Championships in Cascais, Portugal - GBR Day 1

Strong start for Percy-Simpson at Cascais Worlds

Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson got British sailors off to a solid start on day one of the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Cascais, Portugal, on Tuesday (3 July).

Percy – the gold medallist in the Finn class at the Sydney 2000 Games – and new crew Simpson won their opening race of the Star event, crossing the finish line with a minute’s lead over nearest rivals, Robert Scheidt-Bruno Prada of Brazil, before posting an eighth in their second race to end the first day in fifth place overall.

French duo Xavier Rohart-Pascal Rambeau currently top the Star Worlds standings, with a five point margin over Percy and Simpson.

The Skandia Team GBR sailors are competing in just their third regatta together since forming their partnership in January, and after a disappointing America’s Cup campaign with +39 Challenge, their hungry for a successful return to Olympic classes sailing at the Cascais Championships – a key event in the selection process for Beijing 2008.

“We sailed well in the first race, read the shifts well and had some great pace. It was just one of those races where the rich got richer.” Percy explained.

“But we were brought back down to earth a bit in the second race where we were a little bit too obsessed with the right hand track and the shift came in from the left.

“So, there were a few missed opportunities, but the key for today was just to avoid making any big and costly mistakes which we’ve done so we’re pretty happy.”

In the Tornado class – the only other class scheduled to race on Tuesday – British sailors endured mixed fortunes. Rob Wilson and Mark Bulkeley had the most consistent performance of the British crews with 12,17 seeing them into 14th place on the leaderboard, while development squad sailors John Gimson and Stuart Bithell posted a notable sixth in their opening race after leading at the second windward mark rounding. A 32nd in their second race sees them in 19th overall.

Wednesday sees further action in the Star and Tornado classes, with the Laser and Laser Radial classes getting their regatta underway. World number one Paul Goodison will be in the hunt in the Laser class, boosted by his gold medal-winning performance at the recent Laser European Championships.

“I can’t wait to get started,” Goodison enthused. “This regatta’s been a long time coming.

“The training’s all been going well, so I just need to make sure I start well without taking too many big risks and then push harder for the final series.”

In the women’s single-handed Laser Radial class, Penny Clark, Charlotte Dobson, Andrea Brewster, Lizzie Vickers and Athens Olympian Laura Baldwin will be amongst the British sailors hoping to for a strong showing to catch the eye of the British selectors in Cascais when they start racing on Wednesday.