EVENT: Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition
VENUE: Enoshima, Japan
HEADLINES:
• Increase in wind – 14-16 knots NE – and bigger swell as result of tropical storm Nepartak in the morning but dropped to 10 knots SW later in the day
• Sailors’ nerves settled following opening day successes
• Emma Wilson (Women’s RS:X), Team GB’s
• Scores fourth in second race then follows up with second to sit second overall level on points at the top with France’s Picon. Currently counting sixth as her worst score in six races at halfway mark of fleet racing
• Despite strong race starts from Elliot Hanson (Laser), he got caught up midfleet in tricky conditions. Finished in 12th and followed up with 17th to sit tenth overall
• Up and down wind range for Men’s RS:X fleet meant a second-place race finish in Tom Squires’ favourable strong winds but steady 11-4 in less favourable light. Squires moves up to seventh overall
• Self-confessed ‘crushing’ day for Ali Young (Radial) although she remains in touching distance of the top ten sitting 15th overall with 9-20 race results
• Windsurfers on rest day tomorrow. Laser and Radial continue joined on the water by Finn, 49er and 49erFX
• Bigger breeze forecast to move in to Enoshima in the coming days as tropical storm continues to affect winds on the race areas
WHAT THEY SAID:
RS:X Women
Emma Wilson, 22, from Christchurch, Dorset, said:
“It was a really good day, really happy. It was a lot more fun and a bit more like what we are used to back home but I have prepared for everything.
“The start was really important. I had some good starts and that really helped me and I just kept going fast.
“It’s my first Olympics and I am doing really well. I’m happy. We last raced in April and then I went back home to train in Weymouth with my friend, the Danish girl, and we are doing pretty well. We have a bit of a laugh and a joke before the races and it’s really nice.
“It was pretty shifty the wind from the land so that was always going to be tricky. I had good starts and I just had to try and do what I do best and trust myself.”
Laser Standard
Elliot Hanson, 27, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, said:
“I’m disappointed with my performance today as I had every opportunity to get some good results and feel I let some points slip. It was a really tricky race course with unstable winds and I played it a little too conservative at times when my rivals backed themselves.
“I’m still in the hunt and with three races tomorrow. I’m looking forward to leaving it all out there in what promises to be a very physically demanding day.”
RS:X Men
Tom Squires, 27, from Kingston Bagpuize, Oxfordshire, said:
“It was really good fun today. Broke into the regatta yesterday a bit nervous and then to come through today I feel I am racing well, more relaxed, got a lot of energy from watching Emma’s racing and how well she did. I didn’t want to have the worst day so tried to do as well as I could.
“The wind was crazy. First race was my jam. I love it when it’s windier and then a bit of postponement just sitting there watching the wind die which wasn’t best for my motivation. I just tried to stay calm to see what the breeze was and try to sail fast in the right direction. Simple.
“There’s a massive range of guys size wise. There’s a huge weight range, like 16-17kgs, and depending on the conditions it depends who’s game it is. Especially when the wind is onshore and it’s a speed race in the lighter stuff the lighter guys do well. When it’s a speed race in the breeze it’s obviously the bigger guys, but when it’s that offshore shifty stuff it’s anybody’s.
“It’s a shame about my 11th but after a pretty shoddy start I did the best I could. My super strength is kicking up the dagger board in the breeze so I was basically sailing twice the distance of the lighter guys trying to catch them up and hoping for a bit of a shift. An eleventh was alright after a pretty rubbish start.”
Laser Radial
Ali Young, 34, from Bewdley, Worcestershire, said:
“Yeah, pretty crushed, pretty disappointed at the moment. Made some errors in the last race and haemorrhaged quite a few boats.
“We had pretty big pressure differences, like 20-30 degrees of shift, but there were gains, opportunities for gains and losses all around the track.
“We are presented with a different set of conditions for tomorrow, so I kind of need to get settled into what they are.”
For full results and the competition schedule, please click here.
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