SAILING: Sailing has secured its first medal in this Olympic regatta but Laser sailor Tom Burton will have to sail the race of his life in the medal race on Monday to determine the colour.
Burton, who had a shaky start to his Olympic regatta, has sailed consistently over recent days and has built a significant enough point-score to assure himself of a medal. However, the colour of the medal will come down to the double-point medal race, which will be held on Guanabara Bay on Monday.
“I made some big mistakes on the first day,” said Burton as he came off the water today.
“Each day has been a different story. I thought I had some bad days and after the third day I thought I was nearly out of it, so it’s good to have kept fighting and come out near the front.”
Sydney’s sailing cousins Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin continue to lead the Nacra 17 fleet, despite an average day on the water. The cousins crossed the finish line in 15th, 11th and 11th in today’s three races.
However, their closest competitors also scored high results today, which means the Aussies hang on to the lead by three points ahead of the teams from Argentina and Great Britain who are tied in second place.
“It was a strange day out there,” said Waterhouse at the conclusion of racing.
“We really didn’t manage the environment as well as we should have. I didn’t anticipate that it was going to be that shifty.
“We’re surprised that we’re still in the lead but that’s exactly where we want to be and we’re going to continue to work towards that.”
Meanwhile in the Finn class, Jake Lilley has sailed consistently well to move up to third place overall. Lilley has two races remaining in the preliminary series, and is sitting in the box seat ahead of Tuesday’s medal race.
“There’s still two races remaining and everyone’s got a big score, so no-one can afford to put another big score on the board,” said Lilley at the conclusion of racing today.
“You’ve just got to take it one race at a time.”
In another impressive performance, Laser Radial sailor Ashley Stoddart has secured a place in Monday’s medal race. Stoddart finished the preliminary series with a seventh and an eighth in today’s two races and is currently lying ninth overall. Only the top 10 boats go through to the medal race.
London 2012 gold medallists Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen have also had a better day in the 49er class. The Aussies have moved up in sixth overall after today’s racing, but still have six races remaining in their preliminary series.
Racing continues tomorrow in the 470 Men and Women, Finn and Nacra classes from 1pm Rio time (2am Monday August 15 AEST).
Megan McKay
olympics.com.au