World Sailing Championships in Cascais, Portugal - GBR Day 5

Brits put to the test in tough Cascais conditions

Big breezes swept across Cascais Bay (POR) on the fifth day of racing at the ISAF World Sailing Championships on Saturday (7 July), with British sailing’s Olympic hopefuls enduring mixed fortunes amidst the testing conditions.

Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes put on a dominant display to extend their lead over the rest of the 49er fleet with the help of two first place finishes from their two races on Saturday. The European Champions and world number two pair shone in the first of the day’s two races, lapping several other boats on the race track and crossing the finish line with just five other crews on the same leg of the course behind them.

“It was just crazy out there,” Morrison explained. “It was so shifty and the wind was so up and down – at one stage we were tacking without moving the tiller!”

Paul Campbell James and Mark Asquith also had a strong outing – they’re in tenth place with the help of a second and a first from their two races, while defending champions Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks are currently in 20th.

The Yngling class saw huge gusts of 30 knots in their first race on Saturday, with many of the fleet struggling to stay upright in a race described by RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park who witnessed it as a “demolition derby”. Two Skandia Team GBR boats, helmed by Victoria Rawlinson and Sarah Ayton, managed to survive the first race unscathed, crossing the finish line in second and third places respectively, but Shirley Robertson, Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor’s boat, along with several others in the fleet, broached violently in the first race after being caught by a gust which forced it over onto its side. They fought back 33rd to finish 10th.

The second race was held in lighter conditions, but was equally unpredictable – Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson finished 13th to extend their lead to 11 points over Robertson, Lush and Macgregor, who are currently in second place..

A fourth place finish for Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson – in spite of having to take penalty turns at the race start – was enough to see them retain their third place in the overall Star class leaderboard, while in the 470 class, Athens silver medallists Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield are also in third place, with a 7,1 from their first day of racing at these Championships.

Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark also got their regatta underway today in the 470 women’s event, and are in eighth place with a 13,1. In the RS:X windsurfing fleets, Nick Dempsey is in fourth in the men’s event, while a race win for Bryony Shaw in her only race of the day also sees her into fourth place overall.

The tricky conditions on the Finn course saw numerous boats capsize – 2006 world bronze medallist Ed Wright was one of them, but recovered to second place in the first race, before posting a fifth in his second race of the day. He’s now in fifth place overall and just two points off of the podium positions.

The Yngling and Finn classes will enjoy a day off on Sunday, with the Laser and Laser Radial classes seeing the start of their final series after their layday on Saturday.

Racing at the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Cascais, Portugal, continues through until Friday 13 July.

Results after Day 5:

Star (after 7 races)
1. Robert Scheidt-Bruno Prada, Bra (12pts)
2. Xavier Rohart-Pascal Rambeau, Fra (13pts)
3. Iain Percy-Andrew Simpson, GBR (16pts)

Laser Radial (after 6 races)
1. Lijia Xu, Chn (13pts)
2. Tania Elias Calles Wolf, Mex (13pts)
3. Sophie de Turckheim, Fra (24pts)
Selected GBR
10. Charlotte Dobson (35pts)
15. Lizzie Vickers (43pts)
22. Alison Young (56pts)

Laser (after 6 races)
1. Tom Slingsby, Aus (6pts)
2. Thomas Le Breton, Fra (19pts)
3. Paul Goodison, GBR (19pts)
Selected GBR
42. Mark Powell (70pts)
51. Nick Thompson (82pts)
60. Robert Godwin (89pts)

Yngling (after 6 races)
1. Sarah Ayton-Sarah Webb-Pippa Wilson, GBR (14pts)
2. Shirley Robertson-Annie Lush-Lucy Macgregor, GBR (25pts)
3. Sally Barkow-Carrie Howe-Debbie Capozzi, USA (27pts)
Selected GBR
17. Victoria Rawlinson-Emma Rawlinson-Sue Monson (71pts)

49er (after 4 races)
1. Stevie Morrison-Ben Rhodes, GBR (5pts)
2. Jan-Peter Peckolt-Hannes Peckolt, Ger (11pts)
3. Rodion Luka-Georgiy Leonchuk, Ukr (13pts)
Selected GBR
10. Paul Campbell James-Mark Asquith (17pts)
20. Chris Draper-Simon Hiscocks (25pts)
26. John Pink-Simon Wheeler (30pts)

Finn (after 5 races)
1. Aimilios Papathanasiou, Gre (7pts)
2. Jan-Pieter Postma, Ned (8pts)
3. Rafael Trujillo, Esp (10pts)
Selected GBR
5. Ed Wright (12pts)
13. Chris Brittle (33pts)
16. Mark Andrews (35pts)

470 Men (after 2 races)
1. Mathias Buehler-Marcos Lamas, Arg (3pts)
2. Nathan Wilmot-Malcolm Page, Aus (7pts)
3. Nick Rogers-Joe Glanfield, GBR (8pts)
Selected GBR
24. Nic Asher-Elliot Willis (24pts)
44. Luke Patience-Chris Grube (30pts)
56. Neil Marsden-Ian Dobson (36pts)

RS:X Men (after 3 races)
1. Pietr Myska, Pol, (5pts)
2. Ricardo Santos, Bra, (8pts)
3. Ivan Pastor , Esp (8pts)
Selected GBR
4. Nick Dempsey (5pts)

RS:X Women (after 3 races)
1. Alessandra Sensini, Ita (7pts)
2. Zofia Klepacka, Pol (8pts)
3. Yin Jiao, Chn (9pts)
Selected GBR
4. Bryony Shaw (9pts)

Tornado (after 6 races)
1. Fernando Echavarri-Anton Paz, Esp (25pts)
2. Carolijn Brouwer-Sebastien Godefroid, Bel (29pts)
3. Xavier Revil-Christophe Espagnon, Fra (35pts)
Selected GBR
5. Leigh McMillan-Will Howden (38pts)
9. Andy Walsh-Ed Barney (53pts)
15. Rob Wilson-Mark Bulkeley (64pts)