Olympics – RSX – Day 4

The previous word of the day was ‘tricky’. The word of the day for those that went out to sea on day four was ‘survival’.

The Olympic sailing competition again produced the extremes of flat water and shifty conditions on the inshore courses with the giant wind and size-of-a-house waves out on the seaward courses. This regatta is testing every extreme of a sailor’s ability, which some argue is exactly what the Olympic competition should be.

Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) turned the tables on Nick Dempsey (GBR) by finding a level of consistency in tricky, variable conditions that no one else could match. The defending Olympic Champion’s scores, 4,1,1, have lifted him eight points clear of the London 2012 silver medallist who still had a good day to hold second overall, now five points in front of the reigning World Champion Piotr Myszka (POL).

These three have broken away from the rest of the pack, with fourth-placed Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) now 16 points off the podium.

The reigning Olympic Champion Marina Alabau (ESP) had the best day from the Women’s Windsurfer fleet’s three races, and she moves to within striking distance of the podium. “It’s been a very hard and complicated day, because of the gusty winds,” said Alabau. “I nearly had a heart attack. But I’m super happy, it’s been my best day. For me this was a very important day. If I wanted to fight for the medals this was the day to do it well, otherwise I would have been out of the fight.” Her coach, Nico Beudou, added, “At last today I’ve seen the Marina I know.”

Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) holds the lead by a single point from Charline Picon (FRA) and Stefania Elfutina (RUS) who sit on equal points, although a protest against the Italian by Demita Vega (MEX) could see a change of leader overnight.

The RYA report on Team GB’s progress with mixed results for Nick and Bryony –

“Frustrated Nick Dempsey vowed to pile the pressure back on new RS:X Men’s windsurfing leader, the reigning Olympic champion Dorian Van Rijsselberge (NED), after admitting small mistakes cost him in Rio today (Thursday 11 August).

Dempsey, who resumed racing after a rest day yesterday with a one-point advantage in first place, looked in the mood to further tighten his grip on top spot as he sailed to second place in the day’s opening race to extend his overall lead to three points.

But with Van Rijsselberge firing in two bullets in the next two races and Dempsey’s speed not being reflected in his race results, the Dutchman edged ahead of the Brit.

The RS:X Men are scheduled to contest their final three races of their 12-race series tomorrow before Sunday’s final double points Medal Race showdown. And Dempsey knows what he has to do before that.

He said: “I was winning every race today and I didn’t win every race. I made mistakes, which is annoying because I was sailing brilliantly. I sailed really, really well and had opportunities to close it out but I didn’t I made a couple of mistakes. They were only small mistakes, but on a day like today you get punished hard.

“That last race was really costly, especially from the dominant position that I was in. I had a cover on Dorian and on the fleet, the wind stated to swing so I dug back into the left and I got hammered.

“Tomorrow I think I need much the same but to attack Dorian a bit more. It’s just frustrating when you’ve been a good solid potion to go backwards. It’s hard, it’s a game of snakes and ladders and sometimes you get caught out.”

The RS:Xs were again inside Guanabara Bay, on the Escola Naval course, today and the winds were typically wacky, with unpredictable puffs of up to 15 knots injecting otherwise light airs.

Van Rijsselberge heads the pack with 16 points, to Dempsey’s 24 in second and 2016 World Champion, Piotr Myszka (POL), in third on 29 points.

Bryony Shaw enjoyed her best day of Rio 2016 so far as she moved back into the RS:X Women’s top 10 today (Thursday 11 August).

Shaw posted all three results inside the top five, including an event best second in the final race of the day to go with a third and fifth.

The RS:X Women are scheduled to contest their final three races of their 12-race series tomorrow before Sunday’s final double points Medal Race showdown. And Shaw achieved her one goal of the day with that in mind.

“To take the momentum into tomorrow,” she explained. “I closed up on points and that was main goal. It was a solid day results wise.

“It was just important to keep my head up and know that I’ve still got my abilities. Backing myself was really important today because it was really about taking the opportunities, trying to stay in meaty gusts and making the right mode changes on my board, and I generally made all the right calls.

“I had a really good comeback in the second race and keeping those opportunities coming and my eyes open is really Important for me as is keeping that happy vibe and good communication between my coach Barrie (Edgington) and I.”

The top three positions in the RS:X Women’s class are separated by just one point, with leader Flavia Tartaglini (ITA), the 2014 Test Event bronze medallist, on 35 points and 2014 World Champion, Charline Picon (FRA) and double Youth Sailing World champion, Stefaniya Elfutina (RUS) both on 36. Picon lies in second based on the number of first places she has accrued so far – two to Elfutina’s zero.

The RS:X Men and Women are scheduled to contest a 13 race series, with three races per day on 8, 9, 11 and 12 August before the final one off medal race on Sunday 14 August.

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To follow the UK’s fortunes at Rio 2016 visit www.rya.org.uk/Rio2016, follow @BritishSailing on Twitter and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/britishsailingteam”

Find information below on how to follow the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Live Tracking via the Sailviewer-3D Tablet App will be available for devices with 7″ or greater screens.

COMPETITION STATUS
The Competition Status Screen feeds in straight from the Race Committee boats with the teams inputting data such as race times, course type, the status of each race and the plan moving forward. The competition status screen will be available when racing commences via –http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/multimedia/live_tracking.php

PRESS RELEASES
World Sailing will be releasing international press releases after racing throughout the duration of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. All the latest news and reports will be available to read here –http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/news/index.php