Young focused on positives as rest day looms
by Imogen Stanley 10 Aug 2016 23:28 BST
8-18 August 2016
Alison Young insisted she is staying positive after the best day of her Rio 2016 sailing regatta today (Wednesday 10 August).
After two days contending with tricky unpredictable wind inside Guanabara Bay, the Laser Radials moved on to the Copacabana ocean course today, with consistent breeze over 20+ knots giving the sailors a chance to really stretch their sea legs.
And it was conditions that clearly better suited Young who picked up two scores in the top 10 – a sixth and a ninth – to move into 13th overall at the midway point.
The Laser Radials now have a rest day tomorrow and 29-year-old Young admits she and her coach, Hugh Styles, will take advantage of the chance to see what can be learned from the first half of the regatta with four opening series races to come.
She said: "I was lacking a little bit of speed upwind today, but we've got a reserve day tomorrow so we can assess the last three days and see what we can do over the next four races.
"The conditions were different to what we expected. Normally we would expect a lighter breeze, but we know you can get anything here.
"Everyone in the team is staying positive and working hard on their processes. I hope to reflect on the last few days and see how we can move forward from here."
The Laser Radial leaderboard is now headed by Annalise Murphy (IRL), who was fourth at the last Olympics, with 2015 World Champion, Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN), sitting in second and London 2012 silver medallist Marit Bouwmeester (NED) in third.
The Laser Radial class is scheduled to contest an 11 race series, with two races per day on 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13 August before the final one off medal race on Monday 15 August.
To follow Young'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