British Sailing Team at ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères - Day 2
by Lindsey Bell, RYA 23 Apr 2015 23:45 BST
22-26 April 2015
Two yellow jerseys on day two in Hyeres
Finn star Giles Scott and the 470 women's pairing of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark claimed the yellow jerseys at the end of the second day of ISAF Sailing World Cup racing in Hyeres on Thursday (23 April).
World Champion Scott and the Olympic silver medallists Mills and Clark each added race wins to their scorecards to elevate them into the overall top positions in their respective events as conditions improved at the southern French venue, welcoming strong and steadier winds across the courses.
It was a better day across the board for the British Sailing Team after a testing opening day. European Champions Luke Patience-Elliot Willis won the day in the 470 Men's event to improve their standing to third overall, with Izzy Hamilton in overall second in the RS:X Women's windsurfing event.
Mills and Clark won their opening race on Thursday by a 45 second margin over Italians Roberta Caputo-Alice Sinno. Their second race of the day turned to be their discard, and the duo is now at the top of the leaderboard after four races, albeit tied on points with a USA crew and the New Zealand World and Olympic Champions.
Scott, on the other hand, edged in front of teammate Ed Wright in the overall Finn standings thanks to a fifth followed by a race win claimed after overtaking Dutchman PJ Postma on the final downwind leg.
"The breeze came in and it was a lot steadier today but it certainly wasn't straightforward. It was a bit of a hike-off really," said Scott of the conditions on Thursday.
"It was a very physical day and pretty exhausting, but very good to come away with a five and a one and to just sneak by and get PJ [Postma] was a good way to end it."
"It was quite light yesterday," recalled Scott of his difficult opening day on Wednesday. "I know on our course we were wedged underneath the peninsula a little bit, so it was always going to be a difficult day with the breeze flicking left and right of the headland that we were racing under.
"I ended up starting my regatta with a 25 which was pretty disappointing, but I managed to sort things out for the second one and managed to win that, so it wasn't all bad and I certainly had company with that. There were a lot of guys who seemed to get one bad and one good and I'm still certainly in the mix."
The Hyeres World Cup is one trophy currently not adorning Scott's mantelpiece, having been trumped by his teammate Andrew Mills at his last attempt here in 2013. The 27-year-old admits that would be something he would like to rectify this week, but insists his eyes are on the bigger picture towards 2016.
"I wouldn't put it massively high on my priority list as long as I can put in a good show here and as long as I'm still moving forwards towards the end goal which is Rio then I'm happy. But for sure a win here would be nice!"
Women's windsurfer Izzy Hamilton claimed that Wednesday was 'not her favourite day', as she opened her regatta with 28,8 yesterday. But today the Bude sailor could certainly smile as she moved into overall second place thanks to 5,7,2 on the race course keeping her well in the mix.
Luke Patience and Elliot Willis bounced back after their difficult first day, claiming the best scores of their fleet of 4,1 on Thursday to boost them into overall third place.
Patience was pleased with their improvement: "We had quite a big day yesterday – Elliot and I haven't had a day like that in quite a few regattas.
"It's good for us though, I think. You do have days where you're not at your best. The important thing is that last night we regrouped, understood why and came in today and won the day, convincingly."
"We simplified our day today," the Olympic silver medallist continued. "We were just absolutely clear about where it was we wanted to start and why, and then we absolutely executed that which is something you'd think or hope we'd do every time.
"But it's amazing when you start to try and predict the future and look further up the race course, sometimes you forget the most immediate thing that's most important.
"That was something that hindered us yesterday, and something that we dominated today."
In the Paralympic Classes, Megan Pascoe improved to third overall, with Helena Lucas in fourth in the 2.4mR event. Podium Potential sailor Will Street was leading the first race of the day before sailing to the wrong finish, denying him his first World Cup race win. He's in overall sixth.
John Robertson-Hannah Stodel-Steve Thomas fought back from a penalty at the start of their first race today and a big wind shift in the second to score two fifths and sit fifth overall in the Sonar event, with Craig Wood-Steve Palmer-Liam Cattermole seventh.
Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves are poised in sixth place in the Nacra 17 multihull class, Nick Thompson and Alison Young are seventh in their respective Laser and Laser Radial events, while James Peters-Fynn Sterritt are also in seventh in the 49er class. Dylan Fletcher-Alain Sign improved from their first day to join their compatriots inside the top ten, while Nick Dempsey is poised just outside of the top ten spots in the RS:X Men's event in 11th.
Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth ended their tough second day on a brighter note, adding an 11th to two 30th places in their three races.
Racing continues on Friday 24 April, with Paralympic Classes competition running until 25 April, and the Olympic Classes medal races, which will be streamed live online, on Sunday 26 April.
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