SAILING: Australia’s Tom Burton has taken the Bronze medal on the final day of the Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland event. The regatta, which is the final major event in the leadup to the Rio 2016 Games, was held at the London 2012 Olympic sailing venue.
In what has proven to be a week of light wind sailing with racing postponed on most days due to a lack of breeze, a good 8-15 knot breeze from the south west filled across the courses today, along with some fog.
Burton, who was in second place overall going into the Medal race, found the going tough on the final day of racing, crossing the finish line in ninth place, but it was enough for him to hold onto the Bronze medal.
“We had more breeze today, which was great,” said Burton at the conclusion of the regatta. “Our course had 10-12 knots. I didn’t have a great start and got bounced in the middle of the fleet, so I had to play catchup for most of the race.
“I’m quite happy with how I sailed throughout the week. I’ll now go into a final training block at Lake Garda and then I’ll head to Rio for some final training ahead of the Games.”
Australia’s Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan had a strong performance in the medal race of the 470 Men’s class, crossing the finish line in second place, putting them just outside of the podium placings on the overall standings.
“This week has been pretty difficult,” said Belcher at the conclusion of racing. “We have learnt a lot in terms of tuning techniques and our understanding in those lighter conditions. We’ve made a few too many mistakes, but we’re happy to have moved up to fourth overall. It’s quite a unique situation for us in that it’s the first time we’ve been off the podium in almost five years. I’m pleased it’s happened here – we’ve learnt a lot from it.”
In the Women’s 470 class, Carrie Smith and Jaime Ryan have finished in fifth place overall, after a fourth placing in today’s Medal race.
“Today’s race was a tricky one, as we had everything to loose given the pointscore was so close,” said Smith at the end of racing. “We’re thrilled to have finished with a top five place. We’ve been training really hard and working on all the things we think need improving and this was the perfect place to test that. We’re really pleased to be mixing it with the current world champions and other top contenders.”
In the Nacra 17 class, Sydney cousins Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin finished eighth overall after a tenth placing in today’s medal race.
“Today was pretty fun, as we had about 15 knots,” said Darmanin. “The day didn’t go our way – we had a good start but just couldn’t get the boat going today. We’ve taken a lot out of this week. We are content with our preparations for the Games and we’re looking forward to heading back to Sydney for some final preparations ahead of going to Rio.”
In the Finn class, Australia’s Jake Lilley crossed the line in seventh position in today’s medal race, moving his overall standing to ninth place.
“I’ve learnt a lot this week,” said Lilley as he came off the water. “I’ll now head to Rio for a final training block ahead of the Games, and look to consolidate some of my learnings and build on my knowledge of the Olympic venue.”
Australia’s Olympic sailing representatives now head into final training ahead of going to Rio for the Games.
SAILING AUSTRALIA
