British board sailor Nick Dempsey medal quest kicks off an exciting day on the medal race course and the harbour
Dorian van Rijsselberge’s outstanding performance in the mens’ RSX meant that the Dutchman had won Gold with two races to spare. For Dempsey, Gold had gone.
But Britain’s male board sailor had promised his young son that he would bring back a medal and in a TV interview had finished by saying, ‘I don’t break promises.’
And there’s every reason to believe him, not least because he has built a reasonable buffer of 11 points over third placed Toni Wilhelm as he goes into the medal race that starts at 1300 today.
The breeze should provide plenty of action and blistering speeds with a forecast for 15-18 knots from the SW. Good conditions for spectators and sailors alike, apart that is from the rain!
The Women’s RSX follows at 1400 where Spain’s Marina Alabau is the favourite to take Gold with a 14 point lead over Israel’s Lee Korsiz and Finland’s Tuuli Petaja who are on equal points. The German sailor Moana Delle is just one point behind them and the charismatic Polish sailor Zofia Noceti-Klepacka who is just two points further back.
Britain’s Bryony Shaw has a tough mountain to climb today. Currently lying in 7th she is 11 points behind third, but as we saw in China in 2008, and her score line this week has demonstrated, Shaw can surprise.
The boards in a breeze can create some fast paced racing so get ready to watch closely. Also watch out for the slalom at the end.
Later in the day it’s crunch time for the 470 men in their last two races before the medal race. The Brits and Australians are just one point apart. This could well turn into a superb battle, not just between the sailors themselves but between the top two sailing nations as Australia threatens to beat Great Britain the Gold stakes. They already have two, Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell’s performance could be pivotal.
The 470 women are also out but have an addition day to play out. Britain’s Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark currently lead the points table by just one point over the Kiwi sailors Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie.
LINKS
YW Goes Live
To stay in touch with every move of every day as the sailing Olympics gets under way, check in with our new YW/Livestream site where we will keep you updated with a daily stream of pictures and words from front of house to backstage at the 2012 Olympics.
YW Olympic Microsite
Make sure you bookmark our dedicated Olympic website
www.yachtingworld.com/olympics-2012
What when and where?
Download the race schedule showing which classes are sailing on which course areas as well as details of the courses themselves
www.yachtingworld.com/olympicschedule