British Sailing Team at ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères - Day 3
by Lindsey Bell, RYA 24 Apr 2015 21:15 BST
22-26 April 2015
In the medal mix after a tricky third day in Hyeres
Giles Scott extended his lead at the top of the Finn class, while Helena Lucas and Megan Pascoe remain in the mix for Paralympic classes silverware after a light and shifty sea breeze-dominated third day at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres (24 April).
Competition for the Paralympic classes is set to reach its conclusion on Saturday, with two races for both the 2.4mR and Sonar classes still to decide the podium finishers.
Lucas amassed scores of second and sixth from her two races in the one person 2.4mR class on Friday, with Pascoe posting a sixth and a tenth – her discard – amid the fickle light wind conditions.
The Paralympic champion Lucas currently sits in overall third place, three points from silver and with Pascoe just two points behind her, and admits that it has been a tough regatta so far.
"Everyone's got a race at some point that is rather 'up there' so everyone, every now and then, has a bit of a difficult race," Lucas explained.
"Today was a hard day but I got a second in the first race and a sixth in the second which was actually quite a good result considering what was going on on the race course. I was certainly down the pan on the first beat [in the second race] but managed to recover up to sixth. It's been quite a learning experience."
"It would be nice to try and pop in a couple of scores inside the top three tomorrow," added the Southampton sailor.
"That's what I've been lacking a little bit this week, so if I could finish on a high with two results in the top three that would definitely secure me a medal and move me up the leaderboard with a bit of luck!"
The Paralympic Sonar crew of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas picked up a starting penalty in their first race today to dent their hopes of defending their 2014 title, but will look to end their regatta on a high in their final two races tomorrow.
In the Olympic classes, Giles Scott and Ed Wright continue to occupy the top two spots in the Finn standings, with Scott extending his lead to 14 points over his British Sailing Team stablemate with the help of an eighth and a fourth from his two races on Friday.
Bryony Shaw, who's been battling with illness in Hyeres, hit back from a tough start to her World Cup regatta with three scores inside the top five in the RS:X women's windsurfing fleet today to boost her into the top ten spots for the first time this week, in sixth place overall.
Shaw has been suffering from a virus which has hampered both her event preparation and her racing, and although at one point she'd considered withdrawing from the regatta, she's dug deep to make the startline.
"It has been really tough," the Olympic bronze medallist admitted. "I've had moments of 'Bryony on form' but the endurance has been a bit of a downfall for me having a bit of a virus right now."
"But I'm out there racing, getting the experience and getting the body firing again. I'm not going to make myself any worse so it's worth doing and it's such a high quality event.
"Today the body felt better – it was always on the edge, aching more than normal, but I was able to race and tactically be in there amongst it. My techniques, especially on the downwinds, were my strength today.
"I didn't know if I'd necessarily be racing here and so it's great that I am," continued Shaw, who won this event in 2013. "It's all really good experience in preparation for the next few big events. I really didn't want to miss out on this event and so I'm pleased to be in the mix."
British Sailing Team crews are well placed in the 470 Men, 470 Women and Nacra 17 events with Luke Patience-Elliot Willis, Hannah Mills-Saskia Clark and Ben Saxton-Nicola Groves all poised in fourth place with one important day of fleet racing left to decide the top ten medal racers on Sunday.
James Peters-Fynn Sterritt are currently seventh in the 49er event with teammates Dylan Fletcher-Alain Sign in tenth, while Nick Thompson is seventh in the Laser event with results 6,13 on another day of see-saw scores for the men's single-handed contenders.
Alison Young is currently tenth in the women's Laser Radial event, Nick Dempsey is 15th in the men's RS:X and Charlotte Dobson-Sophie Ainsworth are the best placed British crew in the 49erFX, in 25th overall.
Racing concludes for the Paralympic classes on Saturday 25 April with the Olympic Classes medal races, which will be streamed live online, on Sunday 26 April.
For all the latest news from the British Sailing Team, follow us at www.britishsailingteam.com, on Facebook or on Twitter.