Mixed day as Brits stay in medal hunt at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Sailing
by Imogen Stanley 16 Sep 2016 07:38 BST
12-17 September 2016
Britain's sailors remain in the Paralympic medal hunt with three races remaining after a topsy turvy day on Guanabara Bay on Thursday.
Defending 2.4mR champion Helena Lucas is still firmly in contention for gold with just a point separating her and Matt Bugg (AUS) at the top of the standings while Niki Birrell and Alexandra Rickham have silver on their minds in the SKUD18.
A medal remains a possibility for the British Sonar team of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas too, although a disqualification from today's opening race dented their hopes and dropped them down the leaderboard to eighth.
Lucas was involved in arguably the regatta's most exciting moment so far as, in the 2.4mRs' third and final race today, she and Bugg couldn't be split down the final run to the finish, crossing the line in exactly the same time of 47 minutes 54 seconds. But it was the Aussie who took the honours once the photo of the finish had been reviewed.
The London 2012 champion, who scored 1, 4 and 2 today, suspects that race has set the tone for the final three encounters as no one gives an inch in the medal battle.
She said: "The last race it was all going pretty well and I was feeling quite chilled and playing the shifts. Then next thing I know I looked over and Matt's on this massive lift and had caught up. We went round the top mark neck and neck and then down the run. Then across the finish line I caught a wave just as we got there, and I surged forwards so I thought I'd got it, it was that close.
"There are still three races to go and I just have to keep going, chipping away and fighting for every point and just see what happens at the end of the week. It's so tight that anything could happen."
Birrell and Rickham are still desperate to better the SKUD18 bronze they won at London 2012 by winning Rio silver after admitting that gold was probably no longer within their reaches following what Birrell called a "bad day" of a 5th and 4th.
The reigning champions, Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS), extended their overall lead to 15 points with just three races to come.
But, with only six points covering second to fourth, Birrell insists they cannot afford to bring anything less than their A-game for the next two days if they are going to leave Rio on a silver medal high.
He said: "We put on a lot of points today unfortunately and the Australians got two firsts. They already had an eight-point lead so, I'm a positive person, but I think that's gone. Our biggest concern is trying to sail well tomorrow and Saturday, that's all we can do, and hope that is enough for the silver.
"We didn't get the boat going fast at all at any point and we didn't start well either. We need to bounce back for the next three races, which are really important now because it's incredibly close and no one wants to finish to fourth."
There was disappointment for Robertson, Stodel and Thomas, however, as their disqualification knocked them back from third to eighth overall, after yesterday's three-race win heroics had put them firmly into podium contention.
The Brits now sit on 43 points and are eight points behind Canada's Paul Tingley, Logan Campbell and Scott Lutes who currently occupy the final podium spot.
Stodel said: "All we can do is go and pull another day like yesterday and climb back up the leaderboard as much as we can and salvage the rest of the regatta.
"It wasn't the best outcome to our day unfortunately, adding a DSQ to our series score, which is going to hurt. It could have gone either way in the room but unfortunately it didn't go in our favour."
The Brits were sixth in the day's other race and skipper Robertson added: "Mentally you have just got to keep plugging away, keep your mind open and keep looking because you will see it and be able to get something from it, keep punching and never give up. We have just got to maintain our solid team ethic."
All classes are set to resume their 11 race series with two more races scheduled tomorrow from 5pm (BST). The final series races, after which the medals will be awarded, are on Saturday 17 September.
To follow the team's fortunes at Rio 2016 visit www.rya.org.uk/Rio2016, follow @BritishSailing on Twitter and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/britishsailingteam.