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19 Sep 2009

Sail For Gold - 4 Different Nations Claim Medals

Image: The Women's 470 podium (l-r): Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (NZL); Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout (NED); Pippa Wilson and Saskia Clark (GBR) © onEdition

Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta reached its grand finale in front of 1000-plus spectators at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy this afternoon (Saturday).

Across the men’s and women’s 470 fleets, 4 different nations claimed podium places, from the total of 10 nations from 4 continents qualifying to the respective medal races.

There was a one-two for Great Britain in the 470 men. Nic Asher and Elliot Willis (GBR) won gold, with Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (GBR) taking silver.

Asher and Willis went into today’s medal race neck and neck with Australia’s Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page – who had led the fleet from the start of the regatta.

The Brits knew finishing ahead of the Australians would give them a strong change of winning gold. The Australian pair got away from the start line well, but were then called back for making an early start.and a huge tumble with the OCS infringement forcing them to add twenty points to their total score. This dumped Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page out of the number one slot and into fourth overall – a cruel blow by anyone’s standards.

Asher and Willis went on to finish eighth – which was enough for them to take the gold medal.

Asher said, “We were pretty confident and it turned out well for us in the end. We’ve sailed really well together and the conditions have been great all week.

“Everything has been great and it couldn’t really have been any better.”

Willis added, “We’re very happy. It’s good to win at your home venue.

“We didn’t sail well at the World Championships, we just made some bad decisions. We made this a bit of a target for ourselves after that.”

 

"A bit" of action from the 470 Men Medal Race. Source: www.offshorerules.com

 

Patience and Bithell were also pleased with their silver medal, which came hot on the heels of their silver at the 470 World Championships in Denmark. The pair have only been sailing together for a month. In Denmark, the pair were runners-up to the Dutch crew of Steven Le Fevre and Steven Krol in the medal race.

Patience said, “We just kept our nose clear around the course. We just tried to be conservative and consolidate our position. We didn’t really make any mistakes, we let the others do that.”

Bithell added, “It was a tense race. We had quite a lot to lose going into it.”

Bronze went to the Spanish crew of Onan Barreiros and Aaron Sarmiento, who came third in the medal race to keep Belcher and Page off the podium by a single point.

Image: The Mens 470 Podium (l-r): Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (GBR), Nick Asher and Eliot Willis (GBR), and Onan Barrieros and Aaron Sarmiento (ESP)© onEdition

Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout of the Netherlands finished fourth in the women’s 470 class medal race to ensure they took the regatta gold. The pair, who have only been sailing together since May, have now won all three regattas they have contested, including the World Championships.

Berkhout said, “We had a really bad first day, but then we got the hang of the wind and we got some pretty good results. It was nice to finish like this.”

Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie of New Zealand took silver and there was further success for Great Britain, with Pippa Wilson and Saskia Clark winning bronze.

Clark said, “It’s been a fantastic week, we’ve really, really enjoyed sailing here. Every day we’ve sailed we’ve got better and better.”

To view the ISAF World Cup standings after the 7 events, click on the links below:
470 Men World Cup Standings
470 Women World Cup Standings

More Information
Skandia Sail For Gold event website
470 Men Results
470 Women Results

Source – www.offshorerules.com and Skandia Sail For Gold