49er World Championships at Moscow, Russia

Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks secure a silver medal

RYA Team GBR sailors, Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks, will stand on the podium, this time with a silver medal. After 24 intense races, Draper and Hiscocks once again show that they are able to hold their own in a 67 boat fleet against some of the best Olympic athletes and new sailing talent.

After the semi-finals the fleet was divided into three; gold, silver and bronze. It was at this point that the gold fleet really started to heat up. Draper and Hiscocks struggled on the first day of the finals and lost their lead. The penultimate day of racing was also a tough one for Draper and Hiscocks who had two capsizes and a disqualification for tacking too close to another boat, yet they still gained ground on the fleet and finished the day back in the top three. Draper and Hiscocks sailed consistently on the final day, kept their ranking and secured a second place overall.

Draper explained, “We made some really simple mistakes on the last few days of racing, so we are happy to have finished in second. We had a good run this season with a win at the Europeans and at Kiel Week so it’s nice to do well again here. Simon and I have taken a relaxed approach to this season and have just enjoyed being out on the water. We go back to full time training in October and from here on we will be focusing on the Beijing Olympics.”

Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes finished up the Worlds in fifth overall. Morrison and Rhodes continue to make their mark at world class events and are now consistently finishing in the top ten. Other RYA Development Squad members John Pink and Alex Hopson finished the regatta in ninth place overall.

Three Team GBR boats finished in the top ten at the 49er World Championships proving that British sailors continue to dominate out on the water.

Overall Results:

Gold Fleet
1, Rodion Luka/George Leonchuk, UKR (3,1,8,9,1,4,12,3,7,(13),(13),2) 104 pts
2, Chris Draper/Simon Hiscocks, GBR (20,9,21,1,(24),1,6,(dsq),9,2,10,7) 117 pts
3, Piero Sibello/Gianfranco Sibello, ITA (2,7,10,5,2,3,10,19,10,(24),(24),8) 140 pts
GBR
5, Stevie Morrison/Ben Rhodes (5,(21),4,2,8,11,11,7,2,21,6,(25)) 146 pts
9, John Pink/Alex Hopson (11,(20),2,(15),4,6,13,8,13,3,4,3) 164 pts
17, Ian Martin/Ben McGrane (12,rdg,(ocs),11,6,12,22,13,(24),16,14,10) 211.1 pts
24, Dave Evans/Rick Peacock ((23),6,17,21,16,10,(23),16,22,23,9,21,) 271 pts

Silver Fleet
1, Roger Gilbert/ Olivier Vidal (1,1,3,3,(ocs),(20),10,14,3,12,11,2) 181 pts
14, Paul Campbell-James/Jonathan Clegg (10,16,12,6,8,14,(17),16,5,10,(20),4) 259 pts
18, Tom Smedley/Phil Kennard, (16,14,(dnf),12,15,11,8,6,6,(17),15,3) 265 pts
21, John Reekie/Ryan Visser (14,13,17,18,13,16,(bfd),15,18,16,(19),5) 328 pts

Bronze Fleet
6, John Wilson/James Barker (8,6,8,1,3,6,1,3,(14),6,11,(15)) 261 pts