Trofeo Princesa Sofia IBEROSTAR - Overall
by 46 Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofía 4 Apr 2015 19:37 BST
28 March - 4 April 2014
Palma golds for Scott and Lucas as GBR sailors claim seven medals
Giles Scott and Helena Lucas secured final day victories at the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma on Saturday (4 April) to bring the British Sailing Team's medal tally to seven at this European season-opening event.
Scott, whose unbeaten run now spans 18 months and nine world-ranked regattas, took an 11 point buffer into the final medal race for the Finn class, while Lucas ground out a victory by just one point over teammate Megan Pascoe in the Paralympic 2.4mR event.
Silver medals also went to Alison Young in the Laser Radial, John Gimson-Hannah Diamond in the Nacra 17 and Luke Patience-Elliot Willis in the 470 Men's event, with Hannah Mills-Saskia Clark sealing bronze in the 470 Women's class.
Lucas's gold was the first of the day and it was a last gasp victory, coming on the last run of the last race of the series.
The London 2012 gold medallist went in to the final day on equal points with Pascoe, and it was Pascoe who took the win in the first of two races for the Paralympic class to edge in front of Lucas by one point, setting up an exciting duel for gold in the final race.
The 2.4mR fleet faced a tense wait as the wind dropped and shifted around, giving the race committee a hard time setting a course. Eventually the final race got underway with the two British Podium squad sailors leading the way at the first mark. Lucas was in front after the first lap, but with Pascoe right behind in second it would still be Pascoe who would take the regatta win on countback over her teammate if the places held.
Lucas maintained her lead on the second lap, but Norway's Bjornar Erikstad managed to pass Pascoe at the last gasp coming into the finish line to relegate the Miami World Cup silver medallist into third in the race and overall second place by the narrowest of margins.
"I was a little bit lucky that Bjorner pipped [Meg] on the line," a relieved Lucas said afterwards. "I'd done everything I could having won the race, but I really needed to get another boat in between us otherwise she would have won it on countback. I think I owe Bjornar a couple of beers!"
"We had a few curveballs at the beginning of the week and I didn't end up using the mast that I wanted to use, but it was all good," Lucas reflected on her regatta.
"I'd put the hard work in beforehand. I was out here at the beginning of March training so we'd done a good two weeks solid before the regatta started, which I think at the end of the day probably paid off."
Scott's Finn medal race was the last of the day, having been delayed while the northerly winds died and the sea breeze established.
The World and European Champion had an 11 point cushion heading in to the day over Croatian and Finnish rivals, and was quick out of the blocks, leading at the first windward mark and holding his lead from thereon in to claim the medal race victory and defend his regatta title in a boat borrowed from his teammate Pete McCoy.
"It's been pretty trying to say the least, but I think actually it's been pretty trying for a lot of us Finn sailors," said Scott, reflecting on a tough regatta.
"It's been pretty difficult out on the course that we've been racing on, and on top of the conditions I've had a bit of damage to my boat, but it's going off to Poland to be fixed and it'll be ready for Hyeres which I'm pretty happy about!
"I certainly owe [Pete] one. I'm not going to say it's been convenient because poor old Pete's pretty injured at the moment, but it was very nice of him to lend me his boat.
"It was good to see how I could go in a different boat. Finns are very personal, so to be able to use someone else's and still come away with the regatta win, you have to take some positives from that and it's all good practice.
"I feel that things haven't really gone my way this week so to come away with the victory is pretty good."
John Gimson and Hannah Diamond were ecstatic with their first regatta medal race and their first medal as a new team in the Nacra 17 class.
With gold already won by French World Champions Billy Besson and Marie Riou, Gimson and Diamond were out to protect their silver medal position in the final ten-boat race for the multihull fleet. A sixth place in the race was enough to do just that, and Diamond was delighted with their progress as a new pair.
"We're so happy! It was a really good medal race for us, and we did exactly what we had to do," Diamond explained. "I feel we sailed really well for our first medal race together, and picked up a load of things that we need to work on which I'm excited about.
"We're really happy with the progress that we've made together, and John's done a great back on the helm again. We know the mistakes we've made and we don't feel like we're the finished product yet, so we're really excited about the next couple of events and working through those areas we've identified ready for the big summer events."
Alison Young was in a similar position in the Laser Radial medal race. Belgium's Evi Van Acker had already secured the regatta win, leaving Young to protect her silver which she managed to do successfully, finishing fourth in the medal race.
"It's been a pretty solid week and some things have moved forwards, which is pleasing, and there are some learning points to take on to the rest of the season.
"Evi had a great week, and really well done to her. Today I was just trying to go out and win the medal race. There were two boats behind me that I had a little bit of a gap on but I just tried to sail a good race and try to win it. Fourth at the end was OK."
Young continued: "I was a bit disappointed with my performance yesterday. I didn't get my head into the day, but the rest of the week has been pretty solid. It's been a good way to get the European season rolling."
Luke Patience and Elliot Willis attempted to overhaul their Argentine rivals Lucas Calabrese and Juan de la Fuente at the start of 470 Men's finale in a bid to wrest gold from them, but it was not to be in the painfully light winds that befell their medal race.
The British pairing finished seventh in the race ahead of the Argentinian Olympic bronze medallists in eighth, but it was not enough to reduce the 11 point deficit.
Willis explained: "The approach was to try and engage him as close to the start as possible, to try and inflict a penalty on him. We gave it a good go, but it was pretty hard to do in those conditions."
"We were a bit disappointed with the [u-flag penalty] yesterday as it just made it that bit harder to close the gap today, but two medals from our first two events of the year is a good place to be," Patience added.
"We've learned a lot about some of the equipment we've been testing – that was one of the main aims of for this event. Some of it wasn't ideal, so to still be up there in spite of that shows that we're generally sailing pretty well and we're looking forward to the next event."
In the 470 women's event, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark held on to overall third in what Mills described as a 'hideous race', beset by wind shifts and fluctuating pressure across the course.
"The wind was tracking right the whole time, but the pressure would come down a bit randomly and sometimes the left would just get the pressure first and sail round everyone on the right," the Olympic silver medallist explained.
"There were place changes all over and quite weirdly we all ended up bunched together on the last run for a quite exciting finish!"
Clark said the pair was satisfied with their week's efforts and the progress they feel they have made.
"We're really pleased with how our training's gone this winter. We've had two chances to check in with it – Miami and here – and I know we've come away with the same result as last year here, so on paper it might look like nothing has changed, but we really do feel like we've pushed forward a great deal with our equipment and comms in the boat, so we're really pleased."
British Sailing Team duo Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre narrowly missed out on the 470 Women's podium spots, finishing fourth in the medal race and fourth overall.
Elsewhere in final day action, British windsurfers Izzy Hamilton and Tom Squires ended their regattas in seventh in their respective women's and men's RS:X classes, with Hamilton finishing second in the medal race.
Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth, and Dave Evans and Ed Powys also finished seventh overall in their respective 49erFX and 49er skiff events.
After this first regatta of the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup series, the focus now switches to the ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres, which will take place at the southern French venue from 20-26 April.
Full event results can be found at www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall.
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