SAILING: Australia’s Tom Burton has had a strong day in the Laser class to come back from his tough first day at the Olympic sailing regatta.
A key contender in the Laser class, Burton was sitting tenth after the first day of racing, but has come back with a second place and a tenth in today’s two races to move up into fourth overall.
“I had a better day today,” said Burton.
“Today we had a bit more consistent breeze and I got two good results, which I’m happy with.
“I felt more comfortable today, having got the first races out of the way.
“I made a few major errors yesterday - it couldn’t have got much worse.
“I didn’t feel I was sailing that well yesterday and today I did, so I’m pretty happy.”
Burton is scheduled to race another two races tomorrow, as is Laser Radial sailor Ashley Stoddart.
Stoddart, who had a great first day of racing, found the going a little tougher today.
“It was really tight racing today,” said Stoddart.
“The lighter winds meant everyone was a lot closer. It was really tricky and there were a few subtle shifts that I just missed out on.”
Stoddart posted a 17th and a 28th in today’s two races and is currently laying 14th overall.
In the Finn class, Australia’s Jake Lilley had a tough first day.
Lilley finished the first race in 16th, then received a start line U-flag penalty in the second race. He is currently lying 19th overall, but is still optimistic with eight races remaining in the preliminary series.
“I’m absolutely still in the mix,” Lilley said after racing today.
“A lot of people picked up some big scores today and we probably had the trickiest day at the start of the regatta.
“There’s plenty of racing left and we’re pretty optimistic about what we can do here.”
Racing tomorrow will feature the Finn class, 470 Men and Women, Laser, Laser Radial and Nacra classes. Mat Belcher and Will Ryan will have their first races in the 470 men, along with Carrie Smith and Jaime Ryan in the 470 women and Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin in the Nacra 17.
Megan McKay
olympics.com.au
