Marit Bouwmeester (NED) has sealed the gold medal in the Laser Radial with the Medal Race still to go at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, the Olympic Test Event.
The Dutch sailor has dominated the Laser Radial fleet almost from the outset with a tremendous display and she heads into the Medal Race with an unassailable 32 point lead.
On her day Bouwmeester said, “I am very happy that I could finish everything today. It was really windy and quite shifty today but it’s always pretty tricky so I was happy with a four and two."
After her superb performance in Weymouth Bouwmeester is eyeing up Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship Laser Radial glory, “Hopefully at the Perth 2011 ISAF Worlds I can get a world title behind me. Everything went well this week but Perth is a different venue and I am definitely going to train hard to do my best there.”
Paige Railey (USA) was the standout sailor of the day as the American recorded two stylish race wins in winds of 20-25 knots on the Weymouth Bay West course. Railey trailed Charlotte Dobson (GBR) round mark one and two in Race 9 but she powered ahead and won convincingly by 56 seconds. Her victory was not as emphatic in Race 10 but she held the lead from the start to finish 28 seconds ahead of Bouwmeester.
Railey is now hot on the heels of Evi Van Acker after the Belgian went 8-6 on the fifth day of Laser Radial sailing. Van Acker has 49 points and Railey is on 58 points ahead of the double points Medal Race on Friday.
Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata (JPN) reduced the gap on Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR) to just one point ahead of the Medal Race. Mills and Clark have led the Women’s 470 fleet from the start, but the Japanese sailors have slowly chipped away at their lead. With the Medal Race taking place on Friday at the Nothe the Brits are on 37 points and the Japanese girls are on 38 points. Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout (NED) are in third on 47 bullets after their bullet in Race 10. The days other race win went to Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (NZL) who are down in seventh place on 69 points.
The Women’s Match Racing 5-8 place sail-off was scheduled today on the Portland Harbour course but racing was cancelled meaning Olivia Price (AUS) finishes in fifth followed by Mandy Mulder (NED), Lucy Macgregor (GBR) and Anna Kjellberg (SWE).
Tomorrow also sees the Women’s Match Racing Final and the Men’s and Women’s RS:X Medal Races. The Finns will also continue with racing scheduled to start at 12:00 local time.
