Windsurfer Izzy Hamilton aided the British Sailing Team’s solid opening day of World Cup racing in Weymouth and Portland on Wednesday (10 June), taking an early lead in the women’s RS:X event.
Olympic silver medallists Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark did enjoy a consistent day, picking up two second places in the 470 Women’s fleet to see them end their opening day in overall second.
“We had a really good day today. It was really tricky, so to come off the water with two seconds is a really solid day and we will take that any day,” Clark reflected.
“The wind was right off the cliffs,” Mills continued. “Our windward mark was right up under the cliffs. So the top of the beat was very shifty – there were people capsizing upwind just on a shift that hit their boat.”
Mills and Clark are hoping their strong start will continue this week, so they can add to their podium finishes at the Miami World Cup and the Princess Sofia Trophy earlier this year.
“This is the first big event in Weymouth since the Olympics, which is cool in itself,” said Mills.
“Every event is important but to perform on home waters is a biggie. We have come here to try and up our game and get on the top of the podium.”
Alison Young is fourth after two races in the Laser Radial event, John Gimson-Hannah Diamond are fourth in the Nacra 17 with Lucy Macgregor-Dave Evans ninth, and Podium Potential sailors Vicky Payne-Steph Orton are 16th in the 49erFX event.
Helena Lucas and the Sonar trio of John Robertson lead their respective 2.4mR and Sonar Paralympic classes after two races apiece on day one, while Alexandra Rickham-Niki Birrell are in second, on equal points with the Italian series leaders, after two races in the SKUD.
The ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland is part of UK Sport’s #EveryRoadtoRio events series, which will feature over 30 world class sports events the length and breadth of the UK, with over 900,000 tickets available to the British public to support their athletes.
Racing continues on Thursday 11 June, with the Paralympic Classes concluding on Saturday 13 June and the final ten boat medal races for the Olympic Classes on Sunday 14 June.
