Double World Cup Gold for Brits Down Under
by Lindsey Bell, RYA 15 Dec 2014 08:06 GMT
14 December 2014
Ed Wright and Alison Young made the most of their trips to the ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne (9-14 December), each claiming gold and early confirmation of their places at the 2015 World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi next October.
The 2014 Sailing World Cup Final may have only just concluded in the Emirati capital last month, but the 2015 World Cup series kicked off at the Melbourne event this week, with Wright and Young the only two British Sailing Team members to make the trip Down Under.
But it proved a worthwhile one for the duo, as they secured victories in their respective Finn and Laser Radial events and maximum world ranking points towards qualification for future World Cups next year when the revised format sees lower entry quotas across the classes.
Wright, who won bronze at the 2014 World Championships in Santander, cut a dominant figure in Port Phillip Bay this week. He led the Finn fleet from day one, not finishing any race outside the top two and with only Australia's Oli Tweddell – Wright's friend and his host for the week – realistically able to post a threat in Sunday's final medal race.
But the Bournemouth-based sailor managed to win the medal race as well to Tweddell's fourth and claim his top spot on the podium.
"Oli was the only threat I had to cover. I didn't care about winning the medal race, but I did!" Wright said about his medal race approach.
"The first upwind was really lovely with breeze up to 20 knots, then it dropped out," said the 37-year-old of the conditions. "I was quite upset because when we were out there practising before the start the downwind conditions were epic.
"In the race I managed to hold onto the lead and cover Oli quite tightly on the on the second beat, then pulled away in some nice waves."
"I chartered a boat and the old girl went well this week.... I think I might take her home with me!" Wright joked.
"I should have given him a worse boat, it was already leaking but I should have made sure it leaked a bit more," quipped Tweddell.
Bewdley's Alison Young took a comfortable victory 16-point in the 30-boat Laser Radial fleet at her third regatta in as many weeks with a fourth place in Sunday's medal race more than enough to secure gold over Belarus sailor Tatiana Drozdovskaya.
"It was quite a tricky medal race we had there," Young suggested.
"It was pretty light beforehand and then the breeze pumped in and there were pretty big gains on the right hand side. It was quite tense on the first beat."
"It's been some good, fun racing. There are a few 'learners' on some of the starting and some of the downwinds, so I'll look to progress some of those," added Young, who now will join some of her British Sailing Team colleagues in Rio for one final regatta – the Copa Brasil de Vela (16-20 December) – to round off 2014.
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