No room for complacency Scott insists as he extends Finn lead at Rio 2016
by Imogen Stanley 13 Aug 2016 22:29 BST
8-18 August 2016
Giles Scott declared "it isn't over" as he extended his lead at the top of the Finn leaderboard to 16 points in Rio today (Saturday 13 August).
Another race win – his third of the event – plus a third ensured Scott banked another good day at the office on Guanabara Bay, with the final two races of their 10-race opening series to come tomorrow before Tuesday's Medal Race.
Scott proved his dominance downwind in free pumping conditions, when, having had a good first beat to round the first mark third in race one today, he pressed the accelerator to the bottom mark to round first with a 10 second lead, which he held, and extended to over half a minute, for the rest of the race.
With the wind having built to around 12 knots and the sea breeze funneling straight down the bay, the four-time World Champion Scott against impressed on the first downwind leg in the day's second race, going from sixth at mark one to third, again the position he held until he crossed the line.
Second behind Scott currently sits Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) with Australia's Jake Lilley in third, and Scott will know by the close of play tomorrow exactly how he stands heading into Tuesday's final medal showdown.
But with that race worth double the points, and already carrying two scores outside of the top 10, Scott insists he cannot afford to take his foot off the pedal tomorrow.
Scott said: "I'm very pleased today. I'm certainly not going to turn my nose up at a first and third. It's nice to put in consistent results at the top of the fleet. Vasilij and I had a good day today and behind that there were a few guys who were up and down. It's looking good going into tomorrow but there's still a lot to play for.
"Having the points margin is a big confidence booster, but the thing for me to focus on is that it isn't over, you can't get complacent, you need to attack tomorrow, like I've done today. Nothing really changes but clearly having that margin is a good place to be.
"Sailing is an odd sport. It's contested over a week and the key to being successful is to know when to turn the killer instinct on and off. Clearly you can't be aggressive for a week as you'll just implode, knowing when to switch out of that helps me lots."
Racing for the Finns is set to resume from 5pm (BST) tomorrow. The Finn class is scheduled to contest an 11 race series, with three races per day on 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14 August before the final one off medal race on Tuesday 16 August.
To follow Scott's fortunes at Rio 2016 visit www.rya.org.uk/Rio2016, follow @BritishSailing on Twitter and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/britishsailingteam