470 Girls, Weymouth and Portland International Regatta 2011

They picked up an eighth and second from their two races, which gives them a ten point margin over the second-placed Japanese crew of Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata.

“We’re really pleased with our day on the water today,” said the 31-year-old Clark.

“When me and Hannah teamed up in February, one of our areas of concern was how we’d perform in the big breeze so we’re definitely pleased to have come off the water with a second and an eighth. 

“A few people have got a better day than us, but not many, so we’re pleased.

“I feel pretty knackered!” she continued.  “We’re doing shorter courses with lots of laps so It does change the game a bit.  I’m a bit more exhausted with those extra few hoists and drops that we do and I think Hannah’s feeling pretty battered as well, but luckily we’re scheduled for a day off tomorrow so time to recover.”

After a difficult day on Saturday, the 470 men’s team of Nick Rogers and Chris Grube bounced back with 3,6 from their two races to move them into fifth place overall after six races.

“It was physical [today] because the chop was so on and off, especially down by the [harbour] wall it was a real mess,” said helmsman Rogers, who won 470 class silver with Joe Glanfield at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

“I feel like I’ve had a fire hose in my eyes all day!  But it was a really good, fun day and I’m glad to have got some good results out of it.”

Ben Ainslie, Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, Skandia Team GBR image

“I had to sort few things out – obviously it’s not great capsizing and I was right at the back of the fleet but I was glad to be able to catch up. 

“You have to be able to cope with all the conditions, so it’s a challenge,” said Ainslie of today’s racing.  “It wasn’t so fun for me today as I was making it hard for myself but it was a relatively good day.”

Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes also made some good recoveries in a tricky day of racing for the 49er fleet on the Nothe course. The Skandia Team GBR duo finished second in the first of their day’s three races, but a capsize in race two in the gusting conditions them finish 16^th

They capsized again while leading in race three, but recovered well to post a sixth and end the day in fifth overall on what Morrison described as a “missed opportunity day”.

“The windward mark was right in under the wall of the Nothe, so you can’t actually see the wind coming,” the Exmouth sailor explained.  “It looks like it’s glassy-flat.

“I imagine if you were a kite-surfer or a wakeboarder you’d think it was absolutely perfect, but in a 49er it just meant there were big lumps of wind coming at you that you couldn’t see – somewhat like sailing blindfolded I guess!”

“We’ll see at the end of the week how bad a day it is in terms of the score. It’s certainly not disastrous but very frustrating.”

Frustrating was also Iain Percy’s description of his day on the Star course, where he and Andrew Simpson picked up a fifth in the first race and were in a strong position in the second when a fault with the running backstay saw their mast come crashing down, forcing them to retire for the day.

“It’s a rope that’s good for two tonnes and it just clean snapped,” said the bemused double Olympic gold medallist Percy.

“You can imagine the speed that the mast comes down in that wind when it hasn’t got the boat holding it up any more. 

“It’s just a bit frustrating when we went back to re-start the race yesterday when we weren’t actually over.  With sailing you’ve got to avoid having more than one bad [race].  We were first or second in that race today and the rig came down, so it’s all a bit frustrating at the moment – I’m glad it’s this year and not next!

Percy and Simpson are in 11^th overall, with their discard still to take effect, while in the Laser and Laser Radial events, Paul Goodison and Charlotte Dobson will look to come out fighting after their rest day on Monday.  They’re placed eighth and 13^th respectively after six races.

The RS:X windsurfers will return to action on Monday (8 August) with Nick Dempsey poised in first and Bryony Shaw in fourth, while both 470 classes, the Lasers and Laser Radials will resume racing on Tuesday (9 August).

Skandia Team GBR squad for the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta:
Laser- Paul Goodison
Laser Radial - Charlotte Dobson
Finn - Ben Ainslie
RS:X Men - Nick Dempsey
RS:X Women - Bryony Shaw
470 Men - Nick Rogers & Chris Grube
470 Women - Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark
49er - Stevie Morrison & Ben Rhodes
Star - Iain Percy & Andrew Simpson
Women's Match Racing - Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush & Kate Macgregor

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