Get the lowdown on the 2009 Olympic Classes season
The 2009 RYA Olympic Classes Handbook and Fixtures Booklet is now available to download from the Skandia Team GBR website (www.skandiateamgbr.com).
As the definitive guide to the Skandia Team GBR World Class Development and Performance programmes, sailors, whether existing squad members or future hopefuls, have access to all the information they need to progress in the Olympic Classes arena.
The handbook includes fixture details on all Olympic and Paralympic Classes and grant eligibility for both squad and non-squad sailors and is a must read for aspiring and current sailors in those classes.
Squad selection criteria is also to hand as are all the Skandia Team GBR and class contact details a sailor could need if they have any questions or need advice.
Meanwhile the RYA Olympic Classes Spring Series returns in March with Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy hosting the first event on 14-15 March.
Hayling Island Sailing Club then welcomes the sailors on 16-17 May and the Notice of Race for the Spring Series, as well as all the key national and international regatta details for each class, can be found in the handbook.
Download the Handbook from www.skandiateamgbr.com/crew/Pages/olympicclasseshandbook.aspx
Sailors celebrated in New Year’s Honours
Britain’s history-making sailors have had their astonishing feats in 2008 recognised in the New Year’s Honours List.
All Britain’s gold medal winning sailors at Beijing 2008 have been honoured along with RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park.
Finn class star Ben Ainslie heads the honours being appointed a CBE after winning his third successive Olympic gold medal in China – his fourth Olympic medal in total having claimed Laser class silver at Atlanta 1996.
This year also saw the 31-year-old from Lymington take a record-breaking fifth Finn Gold Cup crown and he was named ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year for an unprecedented third time. He remains unbeaten in the Finn class since 2004.
Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, who struck gold for the second Games running in the Yngling class, receive OBEs having picked up MBEs following their success with Shirley Robertson at Athens 2004. Meanwhile the third member of the celebrated Yngling trio, Pippa Wilson, is awarded an MBE as the girls ended 2008 as Olympic, World and European champions.
Iain Percy also picks up an OBE after winning his second Olympic gold in the Star class with Andrew Simpson in China, Percy first tasting Olympic glory in the Finn at Sydney 2000. Simpson, like Pippa Wilson an Olympic debutant at the Beijing Games, receives an MBE.
Paul Goodison, who triumphed in emphatic style in the Laser class in Qingdao – four years after suffering the agonising heartbreak of Olympic Games fourth – caps an unforgettable year, in which he also won his fourth European Championship, with his first honour, an MBE.
Meanwhile, Park, who was at the team management helm for the second successive Games, has also been honoured for the first time, the 40-year-old Scot being awarded an OBE. Park oversaw Britain’s most successful ever Olympic sailing campaign in China with the sailors winning six medals in total – four golds, one silver and one bronze.
Largo Bay Sailing Club – Spring Series
Friday 2nd January. First gun 11.30hrs – briefing 11.00hrs. 3 races - £5 for all. Contact Alasdair Sneddon 01333 320222 alasdair.sneddon@virgin.net. www.largobaysc.org.uk
Royal Forth Yacht Club Spring Series
Spring Series for Dinghies – April 29/30 May first start 1900hrs. www.rycf.org.uk , 0131 552 8560
Ainslie in running for BBC Sports Personality of the Year
He has already become Britain’s most successful ever Olympic sailor and been named ISAF Male World Sailor of the Year.
Now you can help Ben Ainslie bring the curtain down on his history-making 2008 in perfect style by voting for him to be named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Ainslie, who claimed his third consecutive gold and fourth Olympic medal in total with emphatic Finn class victory at Beijing 2008, was last night revealed as being on the final shortlist of 10 in the running for this year’s award.
No sailor has ever received the prestigious BBC accolade, awarded annually since 1954.
But in a year that has seen Ainslie catapulted from true sailing great to genuine British sporting hero, the award would be fitting recognition of his decade-long domination of his sport.
The 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year takes place at the Liverpool Echo Arena on Sunday, 14 December and voting will take place by phone only during the live show. The number to call to vote for Ainslie will be revealed on the programme after 7pm, so make sure you tune in on the night!
There is no voting via the BBC Sport website or by text – calls on the night will cost 15p from a BT landline. Calls from mobile phones and other networks will cost more.
Photo: Richard Langdon/Skandia Team GBR
Ainslie named World Sailor of the Year
Triple Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie has made history once again by becoming the first sailor ever to be awarded the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award three times.
The 31-year-old Finn star received his award last night (11 November) at a glittering ceremony at the Quinta de Jarama, Madrid, with Italy’s veteran Olympic windsurfer Alessandra Sensini named as the female world sailor of the year after clinching her fourth straight Olympic medal in China this summer.
The Skandia Team GBR trio of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson were in the running for the female award after their dominant display in the Yngling class over the past year in which they won the World and European titles before claiming Olympic gold for Team GB in Beijing.
Great Britain’s World Match Racing Champion Ian Williams was also shortlisted for the men’s prize.
Five male and five female crews were shortlisted for the ISAF Rolex World Sail of the Year award – Ainslie was up against record-breaking round-the-world sailor Francis Joyon (FRA), Olympic gold medal-winning windsurfer Tom Ashley (NZL), and Farr40 world and European Champion Vincenzo Onorato (ITA) as well as Williams (GBR).
Alessandra Sensini won the award over Ayton, Webb and Wilson, 470 Olympic Champions Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson (AUS), match racing World Champion Claire Leroy of France and Laser Radial Olympic Champion Anna Tunnicliffe (USA).
Victory for Swede but Brits book Series Finals spots
Viktor Ogeman made the most of some frustrating conditions as the young Swede won the fourth and final RYA National Match Racing Series qualifier at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) this weekend (4-5 October).
With limited racing completed over the two days as heavy winds and torrential rain swept through Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay, 20-year-old Ogeman clinched six race wins out of seven to win the qualifier with an 85% success rate.
Britain’s Matt Greenfield was second with five out of six wins (83%) while defending and two-time RYA National Match Racing champion Nick Cherry finished third with three wins out of four (75%).
2007-08 Volvo RYA Keelboat Squad sailor Greenfield, 23, now progresses through to the RYA National Match Racing Series Grand Final at WPNSA on 10-12 October as Ogeman’s Swedish team are not eligible to contest the National title.
Cherry will also be invited to defend the title he has won for the past two years at the three-day Finals showdown, which gets underway on Friday.
Ogeman beat both Greenfield and Cherry during this weekend’s event but the two Brits did not go head-to-head themselves. Crawley-born Greenfield was seventh overall at last year’s Series Final.
RYA National Ranking Series set for exciting finale
Hannah Mills and Katrina Hughes are poised to end their season on a high with the 2008 RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series 470 women’s crown.
Mills and Hughes, who this summer claimed the World Junior 470 title and followed that up with silver at the European Juniors, enjoyed a three-race clean sweep at this weekend’s National Ranker, the second of the three-event Series, to sit in pole position in the women’s double-handed dinghy class.
The young Skandia Team GBR duo travelled to Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) with their noses already in front in the 470 Women’s class having finished fifth overall, and the top British pair, at the first National Ranker staged concurrently with the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta last month.
And their success this weekend, winning all three of Sunday’s races after Saturday’s schedule was canned due to heavy winds, consolidated their lead going into the third and final event at WPNSA on 18-19 October, when the overall 2008 RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series winners will be decided.
Ali Masters also sits in a strong position to claim the RS:X 8.5 title (for women and Youth sailors) having romped to three straight bullets on Sunday. The 16-year-old Masters’ top Brit finish at Sail for Gold combined with his latest event victory makes him hot favourite for the 8.5 National Ranking Series crown.
Also claiming three straight wins this weekend was Andrew Mills in the Finn, setting up a tense showdown with Giles Scott for the National Ranker class title in a fortnight.
With Scott having edged an advantage at Sail for Gold, winning the regatta with Mills in second, the tables were turned in round two with World Under 21 champion Scott settling for second spot behind his Skandia Team GBR teammate putting them neck and neck going into the Series decider.
Paul Campbell-James and Mark Asquith were also triple winners in the 49er class at WPNSA, winning Ranker 2 from Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign with Dave Evans and Simon Hiscocks in third.
Richard Hamilton finished at the head of the RS:X 9.5 fleet courtesy of two races wins and a second with Elliott Carney trailing just a point behind.
Meanwhile, James Rusden and Daniel Schieber also won the 470 Men’s event by a sole point from Chris Grube and Luke Patience, Rusden and Schieber claiming two seconds and a first to Grube and Patience’s two bullets and a fourth.
The RYA National Ranking Series is designed to provide opportunities for aspiring Olympians and all UK Olympic Classes sailors to race against world class performers.
Scottish Sailing August Newsletter - Olympic Special
With such a huge success at the Beijing Olympics now is the perfect time to take yo
ur sailing to the next level (maybe even in preparation for London 2012!)
As the curtain comes down on a highly successful Games for Team GB it is a chance to reflect particularly on the successes of the sailing contingent. Britain topped the sailing medal table with four golds, a silver and a bronze above Australia and Spain in second and third respectively.
Ben Ainslie won his third gold medal in the Finn Class, hailed by Olympics chief Jacques Rogge as the equal of Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt's heroics. Ainslie launched the Ben Ainslie Junior Marine Range prior to the Olympics, why not check out these fantastic Henri Lloyd products at ScottishSailing.com.
R. Young from Argyll is the lucky winner of the Scottish Sailing Ben Ainslie Competition and receives the fantastic Henri Lloyd Ben Ainslie Shore Jacket. Congratulations!!
The Yngling Girls, Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson kept ahead of their Dutch rivals to take Gold in their class. The final day of racing saw the Yngling crews take to the water in rough conditions. The Yngling Girls wore Queensport Hikers throughout their Olympic campaign (as did Ben Ainslie) so why not see the advantages these excellent hikers have on the water. Scottish Sailing is the sole UK importer of Queensport and is happy to help advise on any product queries you might have.
Paul Goodison won Britain’s 13th Gold of the Games in sailing's laser class. Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson won Britain's fourth sailing gold the Star class event in Qingdao. In a thrilling climax to the event Percy and Simpson who started the medal race in second place beat Sweden at the finish line. Check out our shop for all the accessories and clothing that will set you on course for your own exciting races.
New Rope Section The Scottish Sailing Shop now stocks a huge range of top-quality rope including the very rare Maffioli Swiftcord, high quality Italian-made rope as used by Olympic Sailors on numerous 49ers. Available in Red, Blue, Black and White.
Scottish Sailing Ben Ainslie Competition Winner Announced 
R. Young from Argyll is the lucky winner of the Scottish Sailing Ben Ainslie Competition.
By correctly answering our question - How many Olympic Gold Medals has Ben Ainslie won? - Answer TWO Gold Medals, the winner receives a fantastic Henri Lloyd Ben Ainslie Shore Jacket.
The Ainslie Shore Jacket is constructed from Henri Lloyd’s own fabric, TP1, which is 100% water and wind proof and is breathable. The jacket, also features a quick drying rentex mesh collar lining for increased comfort, a secure zip fastening internal pocket and two Side Pocket which also benefit from non corrosive zips.
Keep checking ScottishSailing.com for more fantastic competitions or contact stephen@scottishsailing.com to receive our newsletters and get a first look at all our competition announcements.
East Lothian Yacht Club
RYA Scotland: Singlehanded Championship at North Berwick 23rd/24th August 2008
Open to all Single Handed Dinghies
Registration from 10am Saturday
Briefing 12 noon
Entry Fee £20 per boat*
First Race 1pm/11am Sunday
All day Café Saturday & Sunday
See www.elyc.org.uk or contact racing@elyc.org.uk for more information.
‘No stone unturned’ for Team GB sailors
After three days of rest and relaxation at their holding camp in Shanghai, Team GB’s sailors are fighting fit and will be raring to go when they head back to Qingdao on Tuesday (5 August) ready for the start of the Olympic sailing competition on Saturday (9 August).
Team Manager Stephen Park, who’s described his charges as the ‘best ever’ sailing line-up for GBR at an Olympic Games, says the team’s preparations have been absolute, and they’re confident of being able to handle the varying, challenging conditions which they’ve come to expect at the coastal city of Qingdao.
Team GB’s sailors are targeting four medals from the 11 events to be contested in sailing, with Ben Ainslie look for a third straight gold in the Finn class, and Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb eying up a second consecutive Olympic title in the Yngling class, to share with third crew member Pippa Wilson – the youngest of the British sailors to be competing at the Beijing Games.
“We’re confident going forward to the Games – very confident that we have got a fantastic team, we’ve got a group of sailors who have really left no stone unturned in their quest for success.
“They are prepared, physically, technically and mentally, and so that gives us confidence that we should hopefully have a good Games,” Park explained.
“The four medal target is realistic for us. We could easily win more than that, but equally we could easily win less than that. The margins between winning a medal and not winning a medal are so small,” he continued.
“I don’t think at all that [four medals] is a conservative option – we recently increased our target from three medals to four medals and I think that if we win four medals at this Games I’ll be very happy.”
After outstanding displays at the last two Games, with sailors contributing five medals to the Team GB tally in Sydney and again in Athens, Park is mindful that rival teams will be looking to overtake GBR’s status as the top sailing nation: “Lots of the other teams have been working very, very hard – everyone’s looking to knock us off the podium and there’s no doubt that we’re the team to beat at the moment, so we’re not resting on our laurels at all.”
“It’s going to variable, it’s going to be changeable, it’s certainly going to be interesting – but the way that we look at it is that it’s the same for everyone.
“We’re focussed on the task, our athletes are not about to get distracted and they’re looking forward to some great racing.”
The 2008 Olympic Sailing competition runs from 9-21 August.
NEW ROPE Section added to the Scottish Sailing online shop.
The Scottish Sailing Shop now stocks A huge range of top-quality rope including the very rare Maffioli Swiftcord, high quality Italian-made rope as used by Olympic Sailors on numerous 49ers. Available in Red, Blue, Black and White.
Goodison and Clark seek perfect China send off
Beijing-bound duo Paul Goodison and Penny Clark will be putting the final touches to their Olympic preparations at the 2008 European Laser Standard and Radial Championships in Belgium next week (12-19 July).
Weymouth-based Goodison, 30, goes into the event in Nieuwpoort as not only the defending European Standard champion but also the winner of the past three European Championship titles.
Meanwhile, 33-year-old Clark, who lives in Lee-on-Solent, will be looking to better or match her career best Radial Europeans result of bronze in 2006 before making her Olympic debut in Qingdao next month.
Sheffield-born Goodison heads a strong RYA Team GBR contingent in Belgium with no fewer than 14 Laser sailors either from Skandia Team GBR or the RYA Youth Squad entered for the Standard Championships.
In the Women’s Radial event, 2008 World bronze medalist Andrea Brewster, who finished Britain’s top performer with eighth at the 2007 Radial Europeans, will be hoping to replicate her Worlds podium success in Nieuwpoort while she and Clark will race alongside four more of their Skandia Team GBR teammates.
With the Men’s Radial Europeans also being staged concurrently in Nieuwpoort, 2008 World Radial Youth silver medalist Martin Evans is one of five RYA Youth Squad sailors set to compete in that event.
Racing for all three Championships is scheduled to commence on Monday 14 July. No medal races will be sailed rather the sailor with the lowest points score, including discards, at the end of the series will be declared the winner in each class.
Scottish Open Race Training Laser Weekend at East Lothian Yacht Club 21st/22nd June 2008
Scottish Open Race Training held its first summer and pre Nationals Laser training weekend at East Lothian Yacht Club on the 21st/22nd June. With 20 sailors taking part from all over Scotland the event was well supported and fully booked.
The coaching team comprised of Campbell Davidson, Mark Powell, Anna Dobson and Michael Gorzkowski who worked with small groups of sailors over the two days. The format also allowed for a high degree of individual on the water coaching and a variety of topics were covered including big fleet starts, transits, mark rounding and general boat handling.
The weekend culminated in a mini 3 race regatta for all the sailors with on water coaching and shore based feedback on the various aspects covered over the weekend.
The event was supported by RYA Scotland and thanks to East Lothian Yacht Club for allowing use of its superb facilities together with their safety crews.
Tony Gorzkowski Scottish Open Race Training
Loch Venechar Traveller - by Mark Powell.
Set amid hills and forest the delightful scenery around Loch Venechar, Scotland’s answer to Lake Garda, was the setting for the dramatic events of the first Scottish Laser traveller of 2008.
With 15-25 knots coming down the lake and the clouds sporadic, the first day was almost champagne; just another 15 degrees Kelvin required. In Race one I only just realised in time that the sequence was the well known 3-2-1 (and it didn’t say in the SIs.); thankfully Calum Calder left me a nice gap at the favoured pin end so I managed to get of the line, and headed out left, with Calum and Pete Malcom to windward. We really should have tacked earlier, as the leaders came in from the right, John Wilcox leading at the buoy. Actually it was a good job that I wasn’t leading as it was only from following the others that I realised we had a starboard hand course. A nice gust appeared at the end of the reach, and the gybe mark was quite interesting, especially as it was going from a tight reach to a broad one. People were more or less pointing in every possible direction other than at the next mark.
Anyway, having picked the first beat so well, John was still leading at the bottom. As he started to display a penchant for covering, I noticed that he had a unique tacking technique, putting the and over his head at some point. I decided to throw in a few extra tacks and see what happened… Anyway Pete pulled back to 2nd and I think Calum got 3rd but if he didn’t it was because his back was hurting probably. In any case he retired from the rest of the day for this reason.
In the second race I was determined not to repeat the same mistake, and with the wind again left of the line I tacked and ducked, almost crashing into (Umpire) Bob Yeamans in the process. That turned out to be decisive.
In the third race I mistimed my run to the line and had to return. I fared slightly better than the guy to windward of me at the gun, who capsized on the way back. This allowed Pete to build up a decent lead which took quite a while to claw back, luckily for me he was getting tired by now. Some of the gusts had really started to freshen by now, making it quite fun to watch the tail enders of us and the radials going downwind. Kept me amused in between races. Sail by the lee… I also amused myself by imploring struggling radial sailors to pull their cunninghams and kickers on upwind. Can’t help myself.
All in all a jolly nice day’s sailing, but there was no wind on Sunday.
Dalgety Bay
Same again really, the sun shone and the wind blew. Not quite such good scenery, less shifts, and more tide. Nice day for sailing apart from dodging fireballs, that’s right Umpire Bob again. He knows the rules when he’s actually sailing! Too much wind on the Sunday, well not actually but there was no racing anyway. Again Pete was 2nd in all three races and Sam Room got back in his laser after a winter of not going to team racing events to come 3rd.
Laser Radial Scottish Grand Prix
The Laser Radial Scottish Grand Prix Circuit kicked off at Loch Venachar Sailing Club on the 26/27 April. The event saw just under twenty radials take to the water which was a significant improvement from last year perhaps a result of the interest generated by the newly founded Scottish Open Laser Training which had taken place over the winter.. Reasonable winds but significant shifts dominated the racing on the Saturday, where as the wind did not fill in on the Sunday which caused all racing to be cancelled. This meant Andy Mckeown who had dominated the racing on the Saturday won clearly with a score of 2, 1, 1. The fleet was a more spread out after Andy’s with Ben Wilcox scoring a 1, 3, 6 and Euan Lyall with a 4, 4, 2.
Overall a fantastic event hosted by a fantastic club providing unbeatable catering with a welcoming atmosphere as always and hopefully we will be allowed to return next year!
The radials then met again for the second time at Dalgety Bay Sailing club on the Firth of Forth on the 24/25 May. Again, fantastic winds greeted the laser fleet on the Saturday which saw the three races scheduled take place without any delay. Race 1 saw Andy Mckeown dominate once again as he had done at Venachar, with Ben Wilcox in second and Euan Lyall in third. The second race presented a much closer finish, with Kenneth Laing and Ben Wilcox just beating Ian Fitzgerald at the line after a substantial lead. Race three then saw Ben Wilcox and Andy Mckeown pull way from the fleet throughout the race. Ben held the lead all the way round but Andy managed to close the gap, but a small mistake allowed a win for Ben. Andy finished second, Euan Lyall third and Sam Hall fourth.
However Sunday saw the weather pick up and the race officer cancelled all races. This saw the results as Ben Wilcox with a score of 2, 2, 1 in first, Andy Mckeown with a 1, 4, 2 in second, Kenneth Laing with 5, 1, 5 finishing third and Sam Hall with a consistent 4, 5, 4 in fourth.
Again a great event for the Laser Radials hopefully showing what the year has in store!
Written by Ben Wilcox
Asher and Willis crowned European Champions
British sailors Nic Asher and Elliot Willis have become the third British team to claim both World and European Championship victories this year, thanks to their win at the 470 European Championships in Riva del Garda, Italy, on Saturday (14 June).
The Skandia Team GBR duo finished second overall at the Open event – incorporating male, female and mixed crews from across the globe – behind Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page who, as Australian competitors, were ineligible for the European title.
Two days of torrential rain saw a slow start to the six day event, but when racing finally got underway, 23-year-old Asher and Willis, who turns 25 tomorrow (Monday) were left fighting back after picking up a black flag penalty in race four. But consistency paid for the rest of the 13 race series, with the British pair recording just one additional race result outside of the top seven to boost them into Saturday’s medal race within two points of the leading Australian crew.
Asher and Willis couldn’t quite do enough to overcome Wilmot and Page and claim the overall victory in the final 10-boat showdown, but their fifth place in the medal race was enough to hand them the European crown for the first time.
But while fellow World and European titleholders Ben Ainslie and the Yngling trio of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson will have the chance to make it an all-conquering hat-trick of major event golds when they compete at the Beijing Games in August, Asher and Willis have to wait until 2012 for their chance to shine on the Olympic stage, having missed out to Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield in the earlier battle for selection to the one British 470 spot for Beijing.
The Athens silver medallists Rogers and Glanfield finished the event as the fourth European boat, and in sixth place overall, and will head to the Beijing Games – their third Olympics – fortunate to have Asher and Willis as one of the world’s best crews to train alongside them in their quest for gold in Qingdao this year, after claiming gold and silver at the 2006 and 2007 Pre-Olympic events.
“This is a fantastic result for Nic and Elliot, and proves what a wealth of talent we have in the 470 class in Great Britain right now, and as we head toward our home Games in 2012,” commented RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park.
“Nic and Elliot didn’t have the best of times during the Olympic selection process last year, suffering some unfortunate injuries, however they have shown great strength of character to be continuing to support Nick and Joe in their preparations for Beijing, while at the same time also making such an impact during what’s effectively the first year of their campaign to be Team GB Olympic Team members in four years’ time.”
Laser SB3 Nationals - Final Day - '3 Sad Old Blokes’ take Laser SB3 national title in Largs
The final day of the Laser SB3 National Championship dawned windless and it looked like overnight leaders Jerry Hill and his crew of Joe Llewellyn and Sam Minns on ‘3 Sad Old Blokes’ would be announced National Champions without leaving the dock. However the wind had other ideas and by midday a small breeze had developed in the channel off Largs Sailing
