11 Jun 2011
France and New Zealand Secure Gold at Sail for Gold
Medal race day and the tension could be felt throughout the boat park as the elite of each Olympic discipline prepared to be tested at the venue of the 2012 Olympic Games. The 470 men were off first, to the pit lane line-up, launch and then race. Followed by the women about an hour later.
470 Men
By the time the 470 men were off the wind was up and gusting to 15 knots. It was a race for silver and gold between the French and Australian teams, Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos (FRA) holding a five point advantage from the reigning Olympic and World Champions, Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page from Australia. The French pairing took hold of the race from the start gun, they led at the first mark and were never challenged. The Australians meanwhile were having a terrible time and eventually finished last – but they had still secured enough of a points margin in the previous 10 races to claim the silver. The bronze medal was a much closer affair and it was the Greek pairing of Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis that closed a four point gap to pass Gideon Kliger and Eran Sela from Israel – the latter only managing a ninth place.
Athens and Beijing Olympic silver medallist Nick Rogers and his new crew, Chris Grube stepped up into fourth.
Leboucher and Garos really stamped their authority over the fleet this week and demonstrated clear skills in the varied conditions that Weymouth offered.
On coming ashore after the medal race, an exhausted Leboucher said, “We have sailed together for 11 years and it is the second year running that we have won the Skandia Sail for Gold event so we are very happy. It has been a long week because of the weather conditions – partly because of the winds of 20 knots all day long – and we are very tired but that is normal! We are friends with lots of the sailors and it was a very open competition and everyone had the chance to sail well. Next we go back to France to have a ‘slow’ time followed by time at our training camp, and then we hope to come back in a month’s time for the Olympic Test event, but we have to wait for news from the selectors.”
So what does this mean for the ISAF Sailing World Cup standings – well all the medallists at Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta are reflected in the top three of the standings. With a second discard coming into play in the Standings, Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) have opened up a two point advantage over Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos in the standings after the Australians won the silver medal. Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis'bronze medal at Skandia Sail for Gold puts them in third position on the standings.
Relive the action and watch the tracking from the 470 Men Medal Race.
470 Men Top 10 Overall
| Pos | Nat | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | M | Pts |
| 1 | FRA | PIERRE Leboucher | VINCENT Garos | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 1 | -13 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 38 |
| 2 | AUS | BELCHER Mathew | PAGE Malcolm | -17 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 61 |
| 3 | GRE | MANTIS Panagiotis | KAGIALIS Pavlos | 5 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 6 | -22 | 8 | 72 |
| 4 | GBR | ROGERS Nicholas | GRUBE Chris | 10 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 2 | 6 | -21 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 75 |
| 5 | ISR | KLIGER Gideon | SELA Eran | 1 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 2 | -30 | 6 | 18 | 78 |
| 6 | GBR | PATIENCE Luke | BITHELL Stuart | 4 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 15 | -19 | 6 | 86 |
| 7 | ESP | BARREIROS Onan | SARMIENTO Aaron | 1 | 12 | 2 | -30 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 88 |
| 8 | POR | MARINHO Alvaro | NUNES Miguel | 3 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 16 | -39 | 13 | 12 | 90 |
| 9 | SWE | DAHLBERG Anton | OSTLING Sebastian | 9 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 5 | -36 | 30 | 16 | 98 |
| 10 | NZL | SNOW-HANSEN Paul | SAUNDERS Jason | 16 | 17 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 21 | -33 | 4 | 14 | 101 |
470 Women
In the 470 women, New Zealanders Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie had a 16 point lead that all but guaranteed them gold going into the Medal Race, but it easy for everything to be turned on its head. So, they sailed a safe race to finish fifth to secure the medal. Behind them there was a tough battle for the other podium positions, with Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron (FRA), Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR), and Gil Cohen and Vered Bouskila (ISR) within 11 points of each other at the outset. Mills and Clarke secured the silver with a third place, leaving Lecointre and Geron with bronze after they could only manage an eighth. Cohen and Bouskila had an even worse day, finishing last and slipping to fifth overall on the leaderboard.
Olivia Powrie commented, “We are really happy because we have had a bit of time off and this is our first regatta back so to pick up the win is great. The first time we topped the leaderboard was on the final day before the medal racing, so we seem to have timed it all pretty well really. We had a bit of a plan going into today but there are always a few nerves going into it, because you never know how it is going to go. But it is great to know that we can win here and with the Pre-Olympics back here in a few weeks’ time it is great to get some time in here ahead of that.”
And in the world standings, Penny Clark and Katrina Hughes maintain their lead, over Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol (ITA) by four points after the Italians finished sixth here in Weymouth. Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron (FRA) have moved from seventh to third in the Women’s 470 Standings with 59 points.
Relive the action and watch the tracking from the 470 Women Medal Race.
470 Women Top 10 Overall
| Pos | Nat | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | M | Pts |
| 1 | NZL | ALEH Jo | POWRIE Olivia | 6 | (47) | 2 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 52 |
| 2 | GBR | MILLS Hannah | CLARK Saskia | 1 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 8 | 1 | -34 | 6 | 70 |
| 3 | FRA | LECOINTRE Camille | GERON Mathilde | 7 | -23 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 74 |
| 4 | ESP | PACHECO Tara | BETANZOS Berta | (47) | 6 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 3 | 22 | 4 | 88 |
| 5 | ISR | COHEN Gil | BOUSKILA Vered | 11 | 11 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 5 | -24 | 20 | 89 |
| 6 | ITA | CONTI Giulia | MICOL Giovanna | 13 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 10 | -31 | 14 | 103 |
| 7 | DEN | KOCH Henriette | SOMMER Lene | 4 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 20 | -30 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 104 |
| 8 | USA | MAXWELL Erin | K. FARRAR Isabelle | 9 | 3 | 8 | -24 | 15 | 17 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 113 |
| 9 | GER | KADELBACH Kathrin | BELCHER Friederike | 2 | -31 | 21 | 2 | 18 | 18 | 3 | 23 | 6 | 14 | 8 | 115 |
| 10 | GBR | CLARK Penny | HUGHES Katrina | (47) | 17 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 26 | 4 | 32 | 6 | 12 | 117 |
The sailors now have a week off before the final event in the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup begins in Kiel on 19 June 2011. It is then onto the 2011 470 European Championships in Finland, before heading back to Weymouth for the 2011 Olympic Test Event.
Check out our 470 Photo Gallery on Facebook courtesy of Thom Touw.
More Information:
Event Website
Results
Top Image: Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos © OnEdition