French Olympic Sailing Week in Hyères - Day 5
by Lindsey Bell, RYA 29 Apr 2010 22:27 BST
25-30 April 2010
Shaw has Hyeres World Cup gold within grasp
Bryony Shaw was the stand out performer for Skandia Team GBR on the penultimate day of the ISAF Sailing World Cup event in Hyeres, France, on Thursday, as Britain secured 11 boats into Friday’s final races.
The Olympic bronze medallist Shaw took advantage of the improved wind conditions to extend her lead at the top of the RS:X women’s fleet to 18 points, meaning barring major upset, she can be confident of gold heading into the final day.
The 27-year-old secured another race win and a second from Thursday’s two races to pull ahead of nearest rival and Spanish training partner Blanca Manchon.
“It’s been a really demanding week – physically and mentally – not just on the water with the light winds we’ve had, but the delays are pretty draining as well,” Shaw explained.
“It’s great to be in such a strong position going into the medal race. I knew that I was strong in the light winds so that’s been a bonus, but it’s also encouraging to know that the work that Dom and I have been doing on technique has really paid off and we’ve seen the benefits of that this week.
She continued: “The medal race is all about putting on a good show for the media and spectators, so I’ll go out with the hope of winning it tomorrow.”
Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith have a nine point buffer held at the top of the 49er fleet heading into the final day. Starting out started out with a 23rd, they hit back in their second and third races of the day, picking up two second places to keep their yellow leader jerseys heading into the final medal race.
“We saw every end of the fleet, I think, and we saw both side of the racecourse but that’s the nature of sailing these boats in those conditions,” Brotherton explained.
“The only time we lost places today was when we were mincing around in the middle [of the course] so we just decided from then on that we had to back ourselves and got two second places from it.”
Brotherton and Asquith will be joined in the medal race by fellow Skandia Team GBR 49er crews Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes, currently in eighth, and development squad duo Dave Evans and Ed Powys who enjoyed a race win and two further top results to boost them into the top five and within shot of the medals.
In the Laser fleet, Olympic, World and European Champion Paul Goodison is poised for a podium finish, just one point away from the top spot held by Spain’s Javier Hernandez.
Goodison, competing at his first World Cup event of the year, explained: “This week I feel like I’ve not been on the right side of anything, but have managed to pull back well, so that’s pretty pleasing.
“I was 25th at one point in the first race, but pulled back up to seventh on one beat to finish the race in fifth so it’s been tricky racing but you just have to hang in there.”
Charlotte Dobson made huge gains in the Laser Radial fleet on Thursday, with 3,14,10 boosting her into fourth place overall and just a point off of the medal places, while in the Finn class Ed Wright saw his hopes of a third straight World Cup win slip from his grasp. He’s in fifth place overall, with the top spot of the podium out of reach.
There was disappointment for Skandia Team GBR’s women’s match racers Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Ally Martin, who lost in the quarter-finals to Silke Hahlbrock’s German team, and also for the men’s and women’s 470 crews, who failed to make the cut for the 10-boat medal races.
Hannah Mills and Claire Cumming just missed out in the 470 women’s event, finishing in 11th place, while Sarah Ayton and Saskia Clark finished their first regatta proper in 14th. The two-time World Champions Nic Asher and Elliot Willis were 16th overall, while RS:X windsurfing World Champion Nick Dempsey finished just outside of the medal race positions in 11th.
A disqualification from race five of the 2.4mR Paralympic class for Helena Lucas saw her drop to fifth place overall, while teammate Megan Pascoe is in fourth, with the Sonar trio of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas in eighth place and Skandia Team GBR’s Star crew of John Gimson and Ed Greig in fifth.
Racing at the French Olympic Sailing Week will conclude on Friday 30 April. For the latest news and information, visit www.skandiateamgbr.com or follow us on Twitter (@skandiateamgbr) for updates during the regatta.