Volvo

Britain’s sailors continued their confident start on the second day of the Miami World Cup regatta (24 January), with Team Volvo's Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark, Paul Goodison, and Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell all leading their respective fleets.

Mills and Clark, the World Championship silver medallists in the 470 women’s event, shrugged off an unfavoured early scheduled start time to make the best of a three-race day and extend their lead at the top of the leaderboard at the Rolex Miami OCR.

The duo, whose rapid rise to success after teaming up just last February earned them their Olympic call-up, picked up two out of three race wins to keep them in pole position.

“It was a pretty long day – we did three races today and had to get up pretty early for a 1015 start, which is not ideal for me and Sas to be honest!”  Mills explained.

The 470 Girls at the Perth International Regatta 2011

“But we got through it and got two bullets in the first two races and unfortunately got a bit stuck in the middle on the last race.”

They finished their day with a seventh on the scoresheet marring an otherwise flawless run at a regatta which, although shy on numbers, remains a priority for the 2012-bound pair.

“It’s definitely an outcome regatta for us – we want to do as well as possible to start the year on a high and get the momentum going for the rest of the year,” said Mills.  “We think that’s pretty important, so we’re definitely looking to do well here, but we’ve also got a few equipment goals that we’re testing out as well.

“There are maybe five of the top boats here, and then there’s not the sort of depth that you’d expect at most Grade 1’s but it still makes for interesting racing – there are only 16 boats so it’s quite similar to the Olympics in that respect so it’s definitely good practice.”

Mills and Clark’s Skandia Team GBR teammates Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth are currently third overall.

Olympic Champion Paul Goodison picked up the perfect scoreline, with two race wins in the Laser blue fleet sitting him at the top of the leaderboard after two days, while the four-time World Champions Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell hold on to the lead in the Paralympic SKUD class for the second day, with two second places in Tuesday’s races.

RS:X windsurfer Nick Dempsey blotted an otherwise perfect scoresheet with a premature start in his first race of the day, but bounced straight back with a race win in the second to ensure he’s the man to beat when the discard comes in after the first race tomorrow.  Skandia Team GBR teammate Elliot Carney was also too quick out of the blocks in the first race, but picked up a third in the second race and is currently fifth overall.

Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Kate Macgregor started their women’s match racing campaign on Tuesday, with four wins and two losses to start their opening round-robin stage, while Charlotte Dobson and Alison Young both enjoyed solid days in the Laser Radial fleet.  Dobson is in second overall, with 11,4 to show for her efforts on Tuesday, while Young picked up 4,8 to sit her in 19^th but is currently carrying a black flag penalty from her second race on Monday, which she will look to discard after Wednesday’s fifth race.

Development squad duo Ben Saxton and Richard Mason are fourth overall in the 470 men’s division, with Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell currently 11^th, while in Paralympic classes, the Sonar trio of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas are third – the same position occupied by Megan Pascoe in the 2.4mR event after four races, with teammate Helena Lucas in sixth.

The Rolex Miami OCR – the second leg of the 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup series – runs until Saturday 28 January. Follw the event here  http://rmocr.ussailing.org/ 

Check out Team Volvo's Miami video diary from the 2011 Rolex Miami OCR

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