Trofeo Princesa Sofia Iberostar - Day 5: Gold for Fletcher and Bithell
by British Sailing Team 5 Apr 2019 19:59 BST
1-6 April 2019
Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell - Trofeo Princesa Sofia Iberostar - Day 5 © Sailing Energy / Trofeo Princesa Sofia IBEROSTAR
The headlines:
- Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell win 49er gold with a day to spare
- Rio 2016 Olympian Fletcher and London 2012 silver medallist Bithell build up unassailable lead ahead of Saturday's medal race
- Pair dominated regatta, only finishing outside top five in three of 12 races
- Fleet contains world's best sailors including Rio 2016 gold medallists Blair Tuke and Peter Burling (NZL)
- Result of double-points medal race tomorrow will not affect overall result
- First time either sailor has won at Princess Sofia Regatta
- See below for quotes
- For a selection of images of Fletcher and Bithell click here
- To download broadcast footage / interview click here
- Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre win both women's 470 races on peniltimate day of regatta
- They go into medal race 13 points ahead of French rivals
- Duo guaranteed at least a bronze medal, can't finish outside top three
- See below for quotes
- Two race wins for Giles Scott moves him within 6 points of top spot in Finn class with just medal race to go
- Rio 2016 gold medallist is the defending regatta champion
- Points gap to fourth place is big enough to guarantee silverware
- Luke Patience and Chris Grube to start men's 470 medal race in 2nd
- Leaders Dahlberg and Bergstrom (SWE) can't be beaten
- Brits will face battle for remaining two podium spots
- Three Brits in Laser medal race: Elliot Hanson will start 2nd with Nick Thompson 3rd and Lorenzo Chiavarini in 7th
- Two British teams in medal contention in Nacra 17 fleet: Gimson / Burnet start medal race in 3rd, Saxton / Boniface in fourth
- Charlotte Dobson / Saskia Tidey third going into 49er FX medal race; Sophie Weguelin / Sophie Ainsworth will start in 8th
- Brits to miss Laser Radial medal race: Ali Young highest ranked in 15th, Hannah Snellgrove 16th, Georgina Povall 17th
- Racing starts 11am local time (10am UK) tomorrow - follow through our social channels, see below for details
What they said:
Dylan Fletcher, 31, Thames Ditton, Surrey (49er): "We've never done a regatta and accumulated so few points going into a medal race. To win with a day to spare and beat the Olympic champions Pete (Burling) and Blair (Tuke) is amazing. It hasn't really sunk in just how much that means. It's a testament to how well we've been working together and all the people who have worked with us behind the scenes. We had a tricky year last year and we worked hard over the winter, so to come back here and have everything firing like we want it feels pretty good. We're stoked."
Stuart Bithell, 32, Rochdale, Greater Manchester (49er): "We've had a great week here in Palma, having spent a fair amount of time here training over winter. I've been coming here since I was 18 so to win is brilliant. This week went well - we started strongly and continued through the week. We're stoked to be delivering consistent results against the world's best sailors."
Hannah Mills, 31, Cardiff, Wales (470): "We were quite punchy on our starts today, but really all week it's felt like getting to the edges of the race course has been the key to success because the fleet size is so big."
Eilidh McIntyre, 24, Hayling Island, Hants (470): "It was really nice to finish the week with two wins. I've been feeling a bit poorly this week but Hannah has carried me through! We were fast today. If we stay in the top five tomorrow, we'll win - and that would be incredible."
Find complete results here.