FAMILIAR FIGHT IN THE MEN'S 470 AT HEMPEL WORLD CUP SERIES ENOSHIMA

The Men's and Women's 470 fleet are sailing their third consecutive regatta in Enoshima, Japan. Their World Championships concluded on 9 August before Ready Steady Tokyo, the Olympic test event, followed and now the first regatta of the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series.

Australia's Mat Belcher and Will Ryan won gold at both events and were followed by Spain's Jordi Xammar and Nico Rodriguez and Sweden's Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström on both occasions.

They resumed their battle on Friday 30 August as big winds gusting in excess of 25 knots from the south west and pounding waves hit Enoshima once again.

As per the last two events, the advantage is with Belcher and Ryan who recorded a pair of seconds. They lead on nine points. The Spaniards finished fourth and first from the two races today and are second on 23 points. Dahlberg and Bergström sailed their way to their third and fourth consecutive third place finish to sit third on 27 points.

Across Belcher and Ryan's five week trip the pair have found their rhythm and are enjoying the competitiveness their closest rivals have brought.

"Both teams have always been up there to be honest," commented Belcher. "We've had some really close battles in the past, notably with the Swedish a couple of years ago at the World and European Championships. They are extremely talented and always in the mix. They are great all-round sailors. The same for Jordi and Nico. They've really picked it up recently in strong breeze but might have gone down a bit in lighter wind.

"It's a great battle. That's why we do it. It's not interesting if it's not difficult and we're really all enjoying racing against each other."

Belcher and Ryan consistently raise the bar in the Men's 470. Together they have won five World Championship titles and an Olympic silver medal. Belcher has an additional three world titles and a London 2012 Olympic gold medallist.

Belcher acknowledges that because of their success, teams will often draw comparisons and look to imitate, "It's quite a big difference psychologically between our programme and their programme," he continued, "but I am sure they are using us as the benchmark.

"For us, we know where we need to get to. What's really nice about this campaign is that we're focusing on the Games. We have got all our things sorted now and we're long-term focused. That's going to put us in a good position so we know where we've got to get to.

"We're working hard to keep redefining, keep improving, staying focused on us and hopefully that will be enough."

Three Men's 470 races are scheduled for Saturday ahead of their Medal Race on Sunday.

Italy's Elena Berta and Bianca Caruso dislodged Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries (AUS) at the top of the Women's 470 following a first and a fifth from their two races.

However, the Italians are just one point ahead and the top five are all close by after they all posted single digit scores.

Benedetta di Salle and Alessandra Dubbini (ITA) were the standout performers in the Women's 470. They recorded a second and a race win and are just a single point off Silvia Mas and Patricia Cantero Reina (ESP) who occupy the final podium spot.

How to follow:

EVENT WEBSITE

Click here for further information on Enoshima and the Hempel World Cup Series -

https://wcs-enoshima.org/

ENTRIES / RESULTS / SCHEDULE
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Results will be available here -

http://sailing.org/worldcup/results/index.php 

To view the full schedule click here. 

WATCH

Daily highlights and live streamed Medal Races on Saturday and Sunday will be available across the World Sailing Network.

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Sunday Medal Races - 470 -

https://youtu.be/DwMBD476ybI

SAP SAILING ANALYTICS

Live tracking, sailor analytics, live weather data and racing status will be available on the SAP Sailing Analytics here -

https://hwcs2020-round1.sapsailing.com 

SOCIAL MEDIA

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Source: World Sailing