Competition took place in three classes in Rio this morning with Jake Lilley making his Olympic debut in the Finns, while Tom Burton (Laser) and Ashley Stoddart (Laser Radial) were back for day two of racing.
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| Laser Radial Fleet Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing |
On Guanabara Bay, the conditions for day two had variable winds between the different race courses. Jake Lilley in the Finn class began his regatta in light and shifty conditions underneath Sugarloaf Mountain. Meanwhile, Tom Burton and Ashley Stoddart raced in more consistent, yet light, wind on Ponte course further up the bay.
Tom Burton - Laser
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| Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing |
After a couple of errors on day one, Tom Burton was looking to make amends on day two, which is exactly what he did by scoring a second in the first race and a 10th in the second race. The racing was on the Ponte course, further upstream where the breeze was more consistent than yesterday’s course. Tom is now sitting in 4th place overall, six points behind third place.
“I had a better day today, we had a more consistent breeze and I got two good results which I’m happy with. The second race was a little different and a late south westerly breeze kicked in so there were some gains to be made”, Tom said.
“There were not too many tides today and I had two good starts. The first one I was one of the first boats to tack right, and I found good speed going that way. The second start was probably better. I was able to tack and cross all the boats to the right of me and just wound up left. It was a bit tricky but I caught a few boats.
“I’m currently sitting fourth overall. I felt more comfortable today, having got the first races out of the way. I made a few major errors yesterday, it couldn’t have got much worse. I didn’t feel I was sailing that well yesterday and today I did, so I’m pretty happy”, added Tom.
Ashley Stoddart - Laser Radial
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| Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing |
Day two of racing for the Laser Radial fleet didn’t go Ashley Stoddart’s way. Light winds and tight racing made for some very challenging conditions in the 37-boat fleet. Ashley scored a 17th in the first race and a 28th in the second race of the day putting her in 14th overall. The points are quite tight in the Laser Radial fleet, with Ashley sitting only 4 points behind 10th place.
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| Photo: Getty Images / Clive Mason |
“It was really tight racing today, the lighter winds meant everyone was a lot closer. It was really tricky and there were a few subtle shifts that I just missed out on”, Ashley said.
Jake Lilley - Finn
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| Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing |
Meanwhile in the Finn class, Australia’s Jake Lilley had a tough first day. Lilley finished the first race in 16th, and then received a start line U-flag penalty in the second race. He is currently lying 19th overall, but is still optimistic with eight races remaining in the preliminary series.
“I’m absolutely still in the mix,” said Jake after racing today. “A lot of people picked up some big scores and we probably had the trickiest day at the start of the regatta. There’s plenty of racing left and we’re pretty optimistic about what we can do here”, said Jake.
Tomorrow, gusty south-west winds are on the menu and Guanabara Bay will play host to three more classes. Jason Waterhouse & Lisa Darmanin (Nacra 17), Mat Belcher & Will Ryan (470M), and Carrie Smith & Jaime Ryan (470W) will hit the water for their first day of racing.
Australian Sailing Team Media
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