Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta - Great Britian tops Gold Medal count

11:22 PM Sat 19 Sep 2009 GMT

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Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) 49er class competitors' onEdition &copy

Britain's sailors collected nine medals at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, which reached its grand finale in front of 1000-plus spectators at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy this afternoon (Saturday).

Their performances also helped British sailors win five of the 13 overall World Cup series titles.

Olympic champions Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson secured the star class title at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, which was contested at the London 2012 sailing venue.

The second British gold was won by Nic Asher and Elliot Willis in a dramatic finish to the 470 class. Great Britain also won six silver medals and a bronze.

Overall ISAF World Cup series wins - the accumulation of seven regattas - went to Ed Wright in the Finn, Nick Thompson in the Laser and Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Ally Martin in the Match Racing. Yesterday (Friday) Megan Pascoe in the 2.4mR and John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas in the Sonar, wrapped up World Cup series titles in the Paralympic classes.

But it was Dutch crews that won the most gold medals at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, winning the women's 470, Match Racing and the Paralympic 2.4mR classe.

Britain's Percy and Simpson were the first sailors to have learned they had won gold when light winds forced the abandonment of their medal race today.

Simpson said he was delighted to come away from the 2012 sailing venue with gold. He said. 'It's great to win, but it's all about what happens at 2012. We didn't sail brilliantly this week, but we sailed on average better than the rest.

'We've had difficult conditions this week. It's been north easterly all week, which is rare this time of year,' he added.

Percy said: 'I wouldn't have missed competing here for the world. We've really enjoyed ourselves.

'We all wanted to get out there and race, but we wouldn't want to ruin a great week of racing with a bit of a charade,' he added. 'It's a shame we didn't sail today, but it's the right decision.'

The Swedish crew of Frederik Loof and Johnan Tillander took silver, with Flavio Marazzi and Enrico De Maria (SUI ) winning bronze.

Croatia's Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic was pleased with his victory in the Finn class. 'This has been a great week for me,' he said. 'I'm a lot lighter than the other guys, so it wasn't easy for me the conditions we had earlier in the week.

'I was struggling, it was quite hard,' he added. 'But I really did a great job and I'm so happy to be in top spot.'

Britain's Ed Wright had to settle for silver in the regatta, but he has the satisfaction of collecting gold in the overall series.

'I'm really happy to have won the series,' he said. 'I've learned quite a lot of things this week and I will hopefully take that away with me and get gold next time.

'I really lost the event on the second day they were really my conditions, but I had a couple of capsizes.

'The key to winning gold in 2012 will be to sail consistently well and be the best all round sailor.'

Bronze went to Zach Railey of the USA. 'I'm pretty happy with another podium finish this year, particularly after a bit of an up and down week,' he said. 'It's great. That's why we train hard, to win medals.'

Britain's Giles Scott finished sixth. Scott's sixth place was enough to keep him in third place in the World Cup series, earning the bronze medal.

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Giles Scott (GBR) racing in the finn class on day 5 of the 2009 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth and Portland. - onEdition &copy

Spain's Blanca Manchon celebrated a double victory - winning the RS:X class at both the regatta and in the World Cup series. She won four of the 10 races this week. The medal race today was abandoned because of the light winds.

She said: 'It's been a long, long year for me. I've done a lot of travelling for competitions and for training, but now I've won the World Cup so I'm really happy.'

Britain's Bryony Shaw, bronze medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games, had to settle for runners-up spot. 'It would have been nice to have a little battle out there today, but I'm happy with second. The Spanish girl has sailed really well this week.

'Getting confidence from the result is really important from me. Missing out on the medals at the World Championships was a big disappointment for me, but this week has shown I can bounce back from that in what was an equally competitive field.

'I can now focus on the winter season and I know I can go into next season in good shape. Things are really moving forward for me.'

Italy's Flavia Tartaglini took bronze in the regatta.

Ricardo Santos (BRA) and Joao Rodrigues (POR) - two great friends, shared the honours in the men's RS:X. Santos won the class in the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, with Rodrigues taking second. That result sealed victory in the overall World Cup series for the Portuguese windsurfer, with Santos coming second.

France's Julien Bontemps finished third in both the regatta and the series.

Santos said: 'I'm very, very happy. It's been hard work, but I survived. It was really nice to be on the podium with by best friend, Joao.'

There was a one-two for Great Britain in the 470 class. Nic Asher and Elliot Willis won gold, with Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell taking silver.

Asher and Willis went into today's medal race neck and neck with Australia's Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page - who had led the fleet from the start of the regatta.

The Brits knew finishing ahead of the Aussies would give them a strong change of winning gold. The Australian pair got away from the start line well, but were then called back for making an early start.

Asher and Willis went on to finish eighth - which was enough for them to take the gold medal.

Asher said: 'We were pretty confident and it turned out well for us in the end. We've sailed really well together and the conditions have been great all week.

'Everything has been great on sure and it couldn't really have been any better.'

Willis added: 'We're very happy. It's good to win at your home venue.

'We didn't sail well at the World Championships, we just made some bad decisions. We made this a bit of a target for ourselves after that.'

Patience and Bithell were also pleased with their silver medal, which came hot on the heels of their silver at the World Championships. The pair have only been sailing together for a month. The pair were runners-up to the Dutch crew of Steven Le Fevre and Steven Krol in the medal race.

Patience said: 'We just kept our nose clear around the course. We just tried to be conservative and consolidate our position. We didn't really make any mistakes, we let the others do that.'

Bithell added: 'It was a tense race. We had quite a lot to lose going into it.'

Bronze went to he Spanish crew of Onan Barreiros and Aaron Sarmiento, who came third in the medal race to keep Belcher and Page off the podium by a single point.

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Matthew Belcher and Malcom Page (AUS) racing in the 470 Men class on day 5 of the 2009 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth and Portland. - onEdition &copy

Another Australian crew did have something to celebrate today though, when Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen collected gold in the 49er class. The pair, who won the World Championships in July, dominated the regatta and had built up such a substantial lead that they had won before the medal race.

Italian brothers Pietro and Gianfranco Sibello came third in the medal race to take silver in the regatta, while fourth was good enough to ensure France's Manu Dyer and Stephane Christidis won bronze. Iker Martinez de Lizarduy and Xabier Fernandez won the medal race.

Outteridge said: 'It's the first time we've sailed here and we've had a really good week here. The conditions have been quite good for us. We'll be back here plenty more times before the Games. Hopefully we'll be back to get some more medals next year.'

Britain's Chris Draper and Peter Greenhalgh finished just outside the medals in fourth, with Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith fifth and Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes seventh.

The last four events of the 2009 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta saw the Netherlands win two golds, Finland take one and Australia win one.

Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout of the Netherlands finished fourth in the women's 470 class medal race to ensure they took the regatta gold. The pair, who have only been sailing together since May, have now won all three regattas they have contested, including the World Championships.

Berkhout said: 'We had a really bad first day, but then we got the hang of the wind and we got some pretty good results. It was nice to finish like this.'

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Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout (NED) Tara Pacheco and Berta Betanzos (ESP) racing in the 470 Women class on day 5 of the 2009 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth and Portland. - onEdition &copy

Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie of New Zealand took silver and there was further success for Great Britain, with Pippa Wilson and Saskia Clark winning bronze.

Clark said: 'It's been a fantastic week, we've really, really enjoyed sailing here. Every day we've sailed we've got better and better.'

There was another gold medal for the Dutch in the Match Racing, when Renee Groeneveld, Annemieke Bes and Brechtje van der Werf beat the Skandia Team GBR crew of Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Ally Martin by two races to won to take gold.

Groeneveld said: 'This is a new team, so we didn't really know what to expect, but we've done a good job in training and we've been learning fast this summer.

'We're very happy,' she added. 'This is the last World Cup of the year and it's a nice way to go into the winter.'

Macgregor said: 'We're delighted with the result, but we were a bit frustrated with our racing, although we pulled together well as a team.

'Today the wind was lighter and we weren't quite as strong in those conditions.'

Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandermoer and Alice Manard of the USA beat Claire Leroy's French crew 2-1 in the battle for bronze.

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(R-L)Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Ally Martin (GBR) Women's Match Race class competitors - onEdition &copy

Finland's Sari Multala came second in the Laser Radial medal race to ensure she added gold at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta to the gold she won at the World Championships in Japan last month. She said: 'It was pretty steady for me this week. I had one bad race, but I knew that would be my discard.

'Three years is a long time, but I'm hoping to be back in 2012,' she added.

The final gold medal of the regatta went to Australia's Tom Slingsby, who dominated the Laser class, winning five of the eight races to ensure he had already secured gold going into the medal race. In the event, the medal race was abandoned just before the start when the wind dropped.

'It definitely wasn't easy,' he said. 'The conditions here suit my style of sailing. In Australia you grow up to live with strong winds. It's natural and you feel comfortable.

'It's such a great venue with big winds and big waves, but it's very challenging,' he said.

Pavlos Kontides of Cyprus finished second. He said: 'I really liked Weymouth, but it just didn't happen for me.'

Austria's Andreas Geritzer won bronze. However, it was Britain's Nick Thompson who won the overall World Cup series title. He had already done enough to win the gold by securing a place in today's medal race.

2009 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta medallists & ISAF World Cup series final positions

(Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta results format: Name (country) - total points - nett points/ World Cup final series standings format: Name (country) - series score)

Olympic Classes

49er
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen (AUS) - 67 - 40
Silver: Pietro Sibello & Gianfranco Sibello (ITA) - 129 - 66
Bronze: Manu Dyen & Stephane Christidis (FRA) - 135 - 67

World Cup final series standings
Gold: Federico Alonso Tellechea & Arturo Nestor Alonso (ESP) - 92
Silver: Paul Campbell-James & Mark Asquith (GBR) - 89
Bronze: Pietro Sibello & Gianfranco Sibello (ITA) - 78

470 men
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Nic Asher & Elliot Willis (GBR) - 58 - 36
Silver: Luke Patience & Stuart Bithell - 50 - 38
Bronze: Onan Barreiros & Aaron Sarmiento (ESP) - 57 - 41

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Onan Barreiros & Aaron Sarmiento (ESP) - 76
Silver: Stuart McNay & Graham Biehl (USA) - 76
Bronze: Nic Asher & Elliot Willis (GBR) - 70

470 women
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Lisa Westerhof & Lobke Berkhout (NED) - 70 - 37
Silver: Jo Aleh & Olivia Powrie (NZL) - 54 - 40
Bronze: Pippa Wilson & Saskia Clark (GBR) 53 - 43

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Henriette Koch & Lena Sommer (DEN) - 84
Silver: Ingrid Petitjean & Nagege Douroux (FRA) - 64
Bronze: Tara Pacheco & Berta Betanzos (ESP) - 63

Finn
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) - 41 - 25
Silver: Ed Wright (GBR) - 44- 34
Bronze: Zach Railey (USA) - 64 - 38

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Ed Wright (GBR) - 112
Silver: Ivan Kljakoiv Gaspic (CRO) - 89
Bronze: Giles Scott (GBR) - 71

Laser
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Tom Slingsby (AUS) - 15 - 10
Silver: Pavlos Kontides (CYP) - 47 - 35
Bronze: Andreas Geritzer (AUT) - 53 - 36

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Nick Thompson (GBR) - 100
Silver: Daniel Mihelic (CRO) - 83
Bronze: Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) - 81

Laser Radial
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Sari Multala (FIN) - 53 - 28
Silver: Sarah Steyaert (FRA) - 52 - 36
Bronze: Marit Bouwmeester - 104 - 45

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) - 109
Silver: Tina Mihelic (CRO) - 93
Bronze: Alberte Lindberg (DEN) - 78

Match Racing
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Renee Groeneveld, Brechtje van der Werf, Bes Annemieke (NED)
Silver: Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush & Ally Martin (GBR)
Bronze: Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandermoer & Alice Manard (USA)

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush & Ally Martin (GBR) - 73
Silver: Renee Groeneveld, Brechtje van der Werf, Bes Annemieke (NED) - 49
Bronze: Mary Rook, Bethan Carden & Kate Macgregor (GBR) - 43

RS:X
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Ricardo Santos (BRA) - 20 - 16
Silver: Joao Rodrigues (POR) - 34 -28
Bronze: Julien Bontemps (FRA) - 47 - 35

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Joao Rodrigues (POR) - 81
Silver: Ricardo Santos (BRA) - 73
Bronze: Julien Bontemps (FRA) - 71

RS:X Women
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Blanca Manchon (ESP) - 47 - 19
Silver: Bryony Shaw (GBR) - 34 - 27
Bronze: Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) - 36 - 30

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Blanca Manchon (ESP) - 116
Silver: Laura Linares (ITA) - 77
Bronze: Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) - 68

Star
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Iain Percy & Andrew Simpson (GBR) - 45 - 25
Silver: Frederik Loof & Johan Tillander (SWE) - 54 - 38
Bronze: Flavio Marazzi & Enrico De Maria (SUI) - 60 - 41

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Xavier Rohart & Pierre-Alexis Ponsot (FRA) - 66
Silver: Emilios Papathanasiou & Pachos Papastefanou (GRE) - 62
Bronze: Flavio Marazzi & Enrico De Maria (SUI) - 62

Paralympic Classes

2.4mR
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Thierry Schmitter (NED) - 16 - 9
Silver: Damien Seguin (FRA) - 15 - 10
Bronze: Andre Rademarker (NED) - 40.5 - 22.5
4th: Megan Pascoe (GBR) - 37 - 27

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Megan Pascoe (GBR) - 101
Silver: Thierry Schmitter (NED) - 99
Bronze: Andre Rademarker (NED) - 90

Skud-18
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Scott Whittman & Julia Dorsett (USA) - 9 - 7
Silver: Alex Rickham & Niki Birrell (GBR) - 12 - 10
Bronze: John McRoberts & Brenda Hopkin (CAN) - 25 - 18

World Cup series final standings
Gold: Scott Whittman & Julia Dorsett (USA) - 40
Silver: Alex Rickham & Niki Birrell (GBR) - 37
Bronze: John McRoberts & Brenda Hopkin (CAN) - 37

Sonar
Skandia Sail for Gold medallists
Gold: Rikk Doerr, Hugh Freund & Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (USA) - 19 - 12
Silver: John Robertson, Hannah Stodel & Steve Thomas (GBR) - 24 - 14
Bronze: Bruno Jourden, Eric Flageul & Nicolas Vimont-Vicary - 33 - 23

World Cup series final standings
Gold: John Robertson, Hannah Stodel & Steve Thomas (GBR) - 39
Silver: Rikk Doerr, Hugh Freund & Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (USA) - 38
Bronze: John Twomey, Anthony Hegarty & Ian Costello (IRL) - 31

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The Mens 470 Podium:

1st Nick Asher and Elliiot Willis(GBR)

2nd: Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (GBR)

3rd: Onan Barrieros and Aaron Sarmiento (ESP) - onEdition &copy