Mixed results for sailing duo
Published 15 Dec 2011 08:30
HELENSBURGH sailing sensation Luke Patience insists the sooner he is selected for next year's Olympics the better after he and 470 crewman Stuart Bithell claimed silver at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Australia.
The 25-year-old skipper got his and Bithell's campaign off to a near-perfect start winning four of their first five races for an early lead ahead of favourites Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page.
They failed to match such performances in the next five races as Australian pair Belcher and Page stormed in front but didn't drop below second overall and even had an outside chance of gold on Sunday. Patience and Bithell needed to win the top-10 medal race, which they did comfortably, and hope that Belcher and Page finished
last but the Aussies, as expected, didn't with fourth good enough for gold. However world silver in Fremantle should see them earn selection for the sole, and vacant, British 470 boat for London 2012 - and Patience admits the decision can't come quick enough.
He said: "It definitely hasn't done our Olympic hopes any harm, time will tell, but our campaign has been about the London Olympics.
"And more importantly it is about gold at the London Olympics, there is time yet, give it a few months time and we will be standing on that podium hopefully. The Australians have got a lot of experience, they have won the worlds before several times between them and they proved during the week how consistent they are in all conditions.
"And, that is where maybe we are very strong in the wind, but maybe we can step our game up in the medium and light stuff just to match their consistency.
"We are waiting for a decision and the sooner we find out if we are selected for the Olympics, the sooner we can focus on specific things leading up to them that will help on the waters of Weymouth and in particular those conditions."
Meanwhile there was no such joy for fellow Helensburgh sailor Charlotte Dobson who finished a disappointing 16th, and as the third best Brit, in the Laser Radial in Fremantle.
Like the men's 470, the sole British Laser Radial spot for next year's Olympics has yet to be filled, however Alison Young, who finished seventh overall, now appears in pole position and not Dobson.
It represents a complete turnaround with Dobson finishing fourth at Skandia Sail for Gold and then ninth as the only Brit at the Olympic test event - and she admits she doesn't know what will happen next.
Dobson said: "I'm massively disappointed. I felt well prepared for this event, I had made quite a lot of progress in the areas that I wanted to and it's a shame not to have brought my A game.
"We don't really know what our trials are - whether they are still ongoing or whether that is it finished - so I will reflect over the event and try and work out how to do well at the next worlds.
"And whether or not I get selected for London 2012 I am definitely going to continue on to the next worlds. I would like to finish on a better score than this one."
Investment specialist Skandia is the principal sponsor of the British sailing team. For more information go to www.skandiateamgbr.com.
This article appeared in Helensburgh Advertiser 15 Dec 11
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.
