470 medals decided at Delta Lloyd Regatta

Medemblik, Holland (May 29, 2015) – On the penultimate day of the Delta Lloyd Regatta, the men’s and women’s 470 events held their Medal races to determine the podium positions. The breeze was highly variable and gusty, ranging from 7 to 18 knots, with rain clouds sweeping across the course in front of the sailing centre at Medemblik.

Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre won gold in the 470 women’s class after heading off a strong challenge from their Great Britain team mates, Amy Seabright and Anna Carpenter.

The two British boats went into the Medal Race on equal points, with the Polish team Agnieszka Skrzypulec and Mrozek Gliszczynska not far behind. But Weguelin got an excellent start that enabled her to start covering her fellow Brits. These two team crossed the line in 1st and 2nd, taking gold and silver for Team GBR, with the Poles securing bronze.

In the 470 men’s Medal Race, it was a formality for the dominant Swedes, Johan Molund and Sebastian Ostling, who have been the class act in Medemblik this week. “It’s never easy,” said Molund, “but we got a good start and we just wanted to keep an eye on the Greek guys. We love the weather in Medemblik. It’s great to win here again.” Panagiotis Kampdouris and Papadopoulos Efstathios took silver, with the Russians in bronze.

Earlier in the day it had been much breezier, so much so that the 49er men were sent back in without holding a race. The windy weather always suits the Poles in the RS-X windsurfers, and they hold the top spot in both the men’s and women’s fleets.

The Laser men looks set to be a match race between Australia’s Matt Wearn and the Netherland’s Rutger van Schaardenburg. The same could be said of the Laser Radial women, with local favourite Marit Bouwmeester holding a 2 point advantage over Annalise Murphy, which in a double-points Medal Race means the Dutch and Irish rivals effectively go in all square.

In the Nacra 17, young Kiwis Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders put the hammer down again to score a 1,2 and now go into a three-way fight for the medals with two Danish teams, although two French crews also have an outside shot at the podium.

There was no change to the lead of the Finns, 2.4mRs or men’s and women’s skiff classes, with all the leaders going into their Medal Races with a reasonable points buffer.

With the breeze set to blow strongly once again for what has already been a typically windy week in Medemblik, the teams at the top of the leaderboard should be looking forward to a breezy finale. However in short course Medal Racing, anything can happen, and you can never take victory for granted – especially on the choppy, treacherous waters of the IJselmeer.

The rest of the medal races will take off on Saturday from 10.30hours onwards.

Seventy four nations are represented among the 10 Olympic and 3 Paralympic events competing on May 26-30. The event is a ISAF World Cup Qualifier and part of the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup 2015.

Event details – Videos

Report by event media. Photo by Sander van der Borch.