Ready to race at revamped World Cup
by Lindsey Bell, RYA 19 Apr 2015 23:01 BST
22-26 April 2015
Giles Scott set for ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres © Ocean Images / British Sailing Team
British sailors will be out in force at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres this week (22-26 April) as the world series undergoes a facelift for the 2015 season.
Some 34 British boats and 52 sailors will contest the French regatta, as the World Cup format moves from open entry to a smaller, more elite series of 40 boats in each of the ten Olympic Classes, with primary qualification through the ISAF world ranking lists, and culminating in a season-ending final in Abu Dhabi.
The British Sailing Team will be represented across all ten Olympic Classes, plus the invited 2.4mR and Sonar Paralympic Classes in Hyeres, with Giles Scott attempting to acquire one regatta title that's missing from an otherwise impressive CV.
The World and European Champion Scott will be joined in the Finn Class line-up by teammate and world bronze medallist Ed Wright, plus Podium Potential squad sailor Ben Cornish who earned one of the final qualifying berths available at the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma earlier this month.
Olympic silver medallist and world number two windsurfer Nick Dempsey and his Podium Potential Squad teammates Tom Squires and Joe Bennett are confirmed for the RS:X men's event, with four-time World Championship medallist Nick Thompson, Elliot Hanson and Alex Mills Barton set to compete in the Laser class.
Windsurfer Bryony Shaw and the 470 Men's pairing of Luke Patience-Elliot Willis will be aiming for consecutive World Cup victories off the back of their Miami successes, with Shaw also joined in the RS:X Women's line up by Izzy Hamilton, plus Podium Potential squad sailor Imogen Sills who also picked up one of the final ten qualifying berths in Palma.
The women's double-handed events will see Olympic silver medallists Hannah Mills-Saskia Clark, Sophie Weguelin-Eilidh McIntyre and Amy Seabright-Anna Carpenter on the 470 women's start line, with Charlotte Dobson-Sophie Ainsworth and Kate Macgregor-Mary Rook in the 49erFX skiff event.
The 49er class will also see a four-boat British entry through world number two pairing John Pink-Stuart Bithell, Dave Evans-Ed Powys, Dylan Fletcher-Alain Sign and James Peters-Fynn Sterritt, while Chloe Martin, Alison Young and Hannah Snellgrove line up in the women's single-handed Laser Radial event.
John Gimson and Hannah Diamond join the Nacra 17 startline following their silver medal at the Princess Sofia Trophy and subsequent Hyeres call-up, with Ben Saxton-Nicola Groves, Lucy Macgregor-Andrew Walsh and Tom Phipps-Nicola Boniface also in the fray in the multihull event.
In the Paralympic Classes, Helena Lucas, Megan Pascoe and Will Street will be fighting it out in the 2.4mR, while John Robertson-Hannah Stodel-Steve Thomas will aim to defend their 2014 crown in the Sonar event, with Craig Wood-Steve Palmer-Liam Cattermole also in action in the three-person Paralympic Class.
"Hyeres is a milestone event for the rejuvenated ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit, being the first to be raced in this new, condensed format where only the top 40 crews in the world ranking lists are invited to compete," explained RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park.
"We're excited to see what the new format brings in terms of performance, competition, media and commercial opportunities. With only the top 40 ranked crews invited, the world ranking system, for the first time ever, becomes important for the world's top sailors if they want the opportunity to race against the best.
"From a British perspective, all our top teams are competing and, along with the second European leg of the World Cup in Weymouth and Portland, this will be important milestones en route to the Olympic Test Event in Rio in August 2015.
"Hyeres as a regatta typically provides high quality and tough competition. I expect no different this year, but now with that talent concentrated into just 40 of the best crews in each of the Olympic Classes and some top Paralympic talents across five days, the racing becomes more intense from the outset which should bring an increased level of excitement from race one until the medal races on Sunday."
Racing for the Olympic Classes will run from 22-26 April, with Paralympic Classes competition from 22-25 April.
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British entries for the ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres (FRA):
470 Men
Luke Patience-Elliot Willis
49er
John Pink-Stuart Bithell; Dylan Fletcher-Alain Sign; Dave Evans-Ed Powys; James Peters-Fynn Sterritt
Finn
Giles Scott; Ed Wright; Ben Cornish
Laser
Nick Thompson; Elliot Hanson; Alex Mills Barton
RS:X Men
Nick Dempsey; Tom Squires; Joe Bennett
470 Women
Hannah Mills-Saskia Clark; Sophie Weguelin-Eilidh McIntyre; Amy Seabright-Anna Carpenter
49erFX
Charlotte Dobson-Sophie Ainsworth; Kate Macgregor-Mary Rook
Laser Radial
Alison Young; Chloe Martin; Hannah Snellgrove
RS:X Women
Bryony Shaw; Izzy Hamilton; Imogen Sills
Nacra 17
Ben Saxton-Nicola Groves; Lucy Macgregor-Andrew Walsh; Tom Phipps-Nicola Boniface; John Gimson-Hannah Diamond
2.4mR
Helena Lucas; Megan Pascoe; Will Street
Sonar
John Robertson-Hannah Stodel-Steve Thomas; Craig Wood-Steve Palmer-Liam Cattermole