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Sailing World Cup

HYÈRES SIGNS OFF WORLD CUP SERIES ROUNDS IN STYLE

29 Apr 2018

Hyères, France signed off round three of the 2018 World Cup Series in style with consistent wind conditions allowing the final five Olympic disciplines to conclude their competition.


France's Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz locked horns with Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) in the Women's 470.

The French needed to keep the British team within touching distance to win gold and straight from the start they matched the Brits every move to ensure they did not get away to pose a title threat.

This played out throughout the race and although Mills and McIntyre got slightly ahead, a penalty turn on the final downwind all but ended their gold medal hopes. They finished eighth to the French teams tenth resulting in a fourth and final French flag on the top of the podium.

China's Mengxi Wei and Haiyan Gao needed to put one boat between them and Japan's Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka to take the final podium spot. The Chinese did what they had to do by taking the Medal Race win.

Germany's Frederike Loewe and Anna Markfort put the pressure on the Japanese on the final downwind but the experience of Kondo and Yoshioka shone through as they kept a slender advantage to finish second to the Chinese to win bronze.

Sweden's Dahlberg and Bergström had gold signed sealed and delivered ahead of the Men's 470 Medal Race after a consistent week of racing where they didn't finish outside of the top five once.

"It's been a difficult week but lucky for us, we've been sailing really well so before the last race yesterday we already knew that we've won," said Dahlberg. "We could just go out there today and enjoy a nice Medal Race with the top boats in the 470 fleet."

Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) delivered a 470 masterclass, sailing their way to a race win to confirm silver. A sixth in the Medal Race ensured Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Wilcox (NZL) remained in the final podium spot they had occupied overnight.

All of the Hyères gold medallists will automatically receive an invitation to the Marseille World Cup Final, set to be held 85km down the coast from Hyères.

The remaining places will be based on performance across the whole series. The Laser and Laser Radial fleets will welcome the top 25 sailors with the remaining fleets opening up to the top 20.

Racing will commence in Marseille on Tuesday 5 June and conclude on Sunday 10 June.

By Daniel Smith - World Sailing