Weymouth Sail For Gold Regatta
Last weekend the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy hosted the 2nd
Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta the only UK Olympic Classes International Regatta and an annual event in the calendar in the run up to 2012.
There are 11 Olympic classes in the programme for Beijing 2008 and Weymouth hosted 9 Olympic fleets over the weekend with the only absentees being the Star and Yngling Classes. Weymouth will be the venue for the sailing element of the 2012 Olympics and so every sailing nation will be visiting the Academy prior to the actual Olympic Regatta.
Local knowledge will be an advantage and the RYA is basing the GBR Olympic Squad at Weymouth for the next 5 years and most serious contenders for Olympic selection are moving to Hampshire to make use of the state of the art training facilities and RYA coaches on site.
Sadly it means that there is little opportunity for any of the UK Olympic fleets to hold events anywhere but Weymouth, which I believe is a great tragedy given that Lord Coe’s sales pitch to win London’s pitch for 2012 was legacy.
I do not think that the youth of the South West will be motivated by an event, which will solely take place in the South East of the country. Indeed unless some of the training camps or build up events take place south of Bristol I think there will be no lasting legacy for the benefit of the nation’s youth.
As regards Cornwall I believe Carrick District Council and Cornwall County Council should both be pilloried for failing to see that a Falmouth Sailing Academy was built when the funds were allocated by the RYA back in 2000.
Visiting Weymouth you cannot help but be impressed by the facilities on land and sea to realise what Falmouth has missed out on. Falmouth would have never been the Olympic venue for 2012 but it was noticeable that 3 other RYA academies were sponsoring the Sail for Gold Regatta no doubt in anticipation of future spin off events.
This was my first visit to an Olympic Classes Regatta and it noticeable just how professional the GBR Team conducts itself and where the Lottery funds have been spent. After watching the efforts of the English Rugby, Cricket and to a lesser extend Football teams prepare it is refreshing to report on the Sailing Squad.
Watching the England v Samoan Rugby Match were around 30 of the RYA Elite Squads and despite sailing having concluded for the day I was the only spectator drinking alcohol.
The fitness levels are amazing, the sailing equipment immaculate and all members of the Squads looked like professional sailors, which of course they are but ones that are likely to win medals.
It is no fluke that GBR is currently the World’s top sailing nation and judging by results this weekend the team can approach Beijing next year with the expectation of at least 4 if not 5 or 6 medals.
The RYA had already announced 8 crew selections for Beijing just prior to the start of the Weymouth regatta and 5 of those selected went on to win over the weekend.
In the RS:X windsurfer classes there were wins for Bryony Shaw and Nick Dempsey both underlining their medal potential.
Likewise the 470 fleets confirmed the selectors choice with Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield winning the men’s event and Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark the women’s event. I should mention Nic Asher and Elliot Willis in the Men’s 470 fleet who led after 2 days of the regatta and pushed Rogers and Glanfield all the way.
Competition is tough in every fleet and it is one of the reasons why our top sailors are so good. The pressure is always on and comes not just from foreign competitors but also from the home team.
This no more clearly demonstrated than in the Laser and 49’er fleets. In the Laser Class Paul Goodison has been nominated for Beijing but he was beaten into 2nd place by Nick Thompson at 21 a definite challenger for 2012 and some 8 years Goodison’s junior.
Lose form or lack commitment and the next generation of GBR sailors will pass you by and take over your place in RYA Elite Performance Squad. It really is that ruthless.
Suffering a similar embarrassment were Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes in the 49’er class having recently won the 49’er Worlds in Cascais and the Olympic Test Event last month they were also relegated into 2nd place by youngsters John Pink and Simon Wheeler. To be fair to Stevie and Ben the 49’er fleet along with the Tornado fleet lost 2 days racing due to high winds.
It is tough and expensive at the top end of the 49’er fleet and sadly for Restronguet’s Ed Powys and Will Morgan having finished in the top 10 to qualify for the medal race the pair had a catastrophic mast failure and the whole rig came down. Carbon fibre spars do not come cheap.
In the Tornado fleet Andy Walsh and Ed Barney had a great opportunity to beat the Beijing bound crew of Leigh McMillan and Rob Howden qualifying for the Medal race in 2nd position just 3 points in arrears. The Medal race incurs double points and cannot be discarded so Andy and Ed just needed to finish 2 places in front of McMillan and Howden to take the Gold Medal.
Sadly McMillan and Howden got a fabulous start and covered Andy and Ed throughout the 2-lap race. Even worse Rob Wilson and Mark Bulkeley slipped past the duel and won the Medal race to demote Walsh and Barney down to 3rd place and the Bronze medal.
Showing good form were Tom Phipps and new crewman Marcus Lynch who won 1of the 4 qualifying races and also qualified for the Medal race. The pair tried an ambitious port hand start and were forced to duck the rest of the fleet and finished 8th to end up 6th overall.
In the Laser Radial fleet the RYA have not made a final decision as to who will go to Beijing and have indicated that the choice will be made out of Penny Clark, Lizzie Vickers, Andrea Brewster and Charlotte Dobson.
At Weymouth the girls had a tremendous tussle with Penny Clark coming out on top by 1 point from Laura Baldwin with Lizzie Vickers 3rd, Charlotte Dobson 8th and Andrea Brewster 13th. Our own Rosie Chapman finished 20th overall but just failed to post enough top 20 results to make the Medal race and challenge the leading UK female sailors.
Finally Ben Ainslie did not compete in the Finn class, which was won by his main rival for Beijing selection Ed Wright and although I can’t see Wright getting the nod over Ainslie, Ben will need a good result at the Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne next January to be sure of selection.
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