An extract from the RYA’s report on Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta for all Olympic sailing classes in Weymouth and Portland, where Britain emerged with one gold, two silvers, and three bronzes…
There were bronze medals in the both the men’s and women’s RS:X windsurfing events at Sail for Gold, with Nick Dempsey losing ground after a risky starting strategy in his closely-fought medal race.
Four sailors were within easy reach of gold – Dempsey included – but it was Portugal’s Joao Rodrigues who came out on top, with Dutchman Dorian van Rijsselberge in silver and Dempsey in the bronze spot.
“It’s always going to be close, you’ve just got to give yourself the best chance and I’m just a little disappointed that I made an error at the start,” Dempsey admitted. “The rest of the race was fine and I did everything I needed to do to beat Julien [Bontemps] so that was good. That’s what I didn’t do in China,” Dempsey said, recalling his Beijing Olympic heartbreak where he finished fourth.
Shaw, the Beijing bronze medallist, went into the medal race in fourth place and fought back hard to claim her podium spot.
“Going into the medal race I had a couple of Italian girls who I had to beat and keep an eye on the French girl as well. She rounded first on the upwind mark and so my heart was beating fast as I really had to do something to stay in the race,” Shaw explained.
“I had a lot of pressure on me and a lot of doubt, but I’m really really happy that I’ve come out with a medal.
“We can take a lot of positives from this event and there’s also a lot of learners so hopefully we’ll be vying for a medal in 2012!”
