The 49erFX partner of Dun Laoghaire’s Saskia Tidey at Tokyo 2020 has spoken of her fond memories of competing at the highest level as she called time on her Olympic career.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Charlotte Dobson was among a host of top names in British sailing who announced their retirement from Olympic campaigning this week.

Originally contesting in the Laser Radial (now ILCA 6), the Scottish sailor switched to the 49erFX skiff when it was introduced in 2014, teaming up with Sophie Ainsworth. The pair won their spot with Team GB for Rio 2016, finishing ninth.

Dobson then joined forces with Ireland’s Saskia Tidey following the Royal Irish Yacht Club sailor’s decision to move to Team GBR in 2017, citing a lack of opportunities for her to pursue her career at home.

The duo quickly established themselves as a powerhouse of the 49erFX fleet, backed up by string of podium results silvers at the Olympic test event and the 2020 World Championships.

Dobson and Tidey led the Tokyo 2020 regatta in the windy early stages before being overhauled later on as the breeze turned light, eventually finishing sixth.

Dobson, who married Dylan Fletcher a few weeks after returning from Tokyo, is now looking to work in banking.

“We gave it a really good crack but it wasn’t enough at the end. I think you have to know when it’s time to say that we did our best but it wasn’t really good enough”

On retirement, the 35-year-old from Rhu, near Glasgow, says: “The latest news for me is that I’m going to hang up my sailing boots and trapeze harness and say goodbye to the Olympic world. It’s been an amazing period of time, and now I’m going on to work out what the next thing is.

“It was a pretty easy decision to be honest. I genuinely felt in the couple of years before Tokyo that Saskia [Tidey] and I had given ourselves the best chance of winning a medal in Tokyo. We’d worked with some incredible coaches and support staff, and had some amazing sailors in our training groups. When you’re proud of the campaign you put together you have to accept the result at the end.

“We gave it a really good crack but it wasn’t enough at the end. I think you have to know when it’s time to say that we did our best but it wasn’t really good enough.”

Asked for her fondest memories of the Games, Dobson says: “It’s probably more of feeling than a memory. Regardless of the result not turning out the way we wanted, I wholeheartedly feel hugely proud to be part of that Tokyo team.

“We were surrounded by excellent people doing pretty incredible things. The atmosphere was one of elevating yourself. It was a huge honour to see some of the sailing greats that we had do their thing, and try to emulate that.”

As for her future plans? “I’m dipping my toes into the real world slowly, and I’m hopefully going to find a job in banking,” she says. “I’m definitely not going very far from Portland, I love it here. Sailing has brought me all the way from the west coast of Scotland to this little island and I love it. I won’t be completely disappearing.”

Dobson also had the following advice for sailing’s next generation: “I’d say just stay in love with our sport. It’s the most incredible sport, and so wide-ranging. You can sail fast boats, slow boats, complicated boats, simple boats, with people, on your own… Never lose the love for the sport.

“Do as much sailing across a variety of boats. And if you decide you want to go to the Olympics it’s totally possible. Anything is possible when you set a goal, put your mind to it and crack on.”

British Sailing Team boss Mark Robinson has heaped praise on a host of sailing stars after they announced their retirement from Olympic campaigning.

Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Hannah Mills, Giles Scott and Stuart Bithell are among those calling time on their Olympic careers.

London 2012 silver medallist Luke Patience, three-time Olympian Ali Young, two-timers Charlotte Dobson (who sailed with Dun Laoghaire's Saski Tidey in Tokyo) and Chris Grube and Rio 2016 Team GB athlete Ben Saxton have taken the decision to move on.

It follows a stellar performance from Team GB’s sailors at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, at which the team secured the top spot on the sailing medal table for the fifth time in six Games with three golds, a silver and a bronze.

“All good things must come to an end, and as such these incredible athletes have taken the decision to step back from Olympic campaigning,” said Robinson, the RYA’s Olympic Performance Manager.

“These individuals have made such a huge impact on our sport, their achievements speak for themselves, and they’ve inspired countless youngsters to follow in their footsteps. I feel very proud to have led a team full of such great athletes, and those retiring will be sorely missed.

“However as a team we are well-prepared. Lots of our Tokyo team are going again, plus there are a whole host of talented sailors who’ve been waiting patiently in the wings to get their time to shine.

“With Paris 2024 less than three years away the British Sailing Team is full-steam ahead, with the number one goal of defending our title of the world’s most successful Olympic sailing team.”

Onwards to Paris

Despite the loss of so many big names, the British Sailing Team says it remains in great shape with Paris 2024 less than three years away.

Gold medal winners Dylan Fletcher (49er) and Eilidh McIntyre (women’s 470) will both continue campaigning for the next Olympics with new crews, yet to be decided.

Nacra 17 runners up John Gimson and Anna Burnet are also continuing their bid for gold alongside Emma Wilson, bronze medallist in the women’s RS:X, windsurfer Tom Squires and 49erFX crew Saskia Tidey.

A whole host of new faces will also be looking to make their mark in a bid to win selection for Team GB.

Meanwhile, Nick Dempsey, Britain’s greatest ever Olympic windsurfer with two silvers and a bronze to his name, is back in the British Sailing Team as coach to the men’s iQFOiL, the new foiling windsurfer class that will debut in Paris.

Dempsey retired from competition after scooping silver at Rio 2016, and went on to coach Japan’s Makoto Tomizawa for the Tokyo 2020 cycle.

“I’m hugely excited to be back with the British Sailing Team,” said Dempsey. “This is my dream job, and it’s a real honour to lead this men’s iQFOiL squad. I truly believe we have all the right ingredients to be the world’s best team.

“The individual members are young, talented and busting to learn. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do in the run-up to Paris 2024 and beyond.”

Hannah Mills

Mills became the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time this summer when she defended her Rio 2016 gold medal alongside Eilidh McIntyre.

The pair were among the favourites for the top spot but faced stiff competition from crews from Japan, France, Poland and Switzerland.

Fifth in the medal race sealed glory in style, with a huge 16 point-gap separating them from the second-placed Polish team.

Victory for Mills rounded off an incredible Olympic career in which she won silver at London 2012 then golds at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Not only does that make her the greatest female Olympic sailor ever but also Wales’ most successful female Olympian.

In recognition of their achievements, Mills and McIntyre were voted female World Sailors of the Year last week.

Mills now turns her attention to the SailGP circuit which she joined earlier this year as part of Sir Ben Ainslie’s British outfit, as well as continuing her environmental campaigning with her charity the Big Plastic Pledge.

Giles Scott

Scott had his own challenge defending his Olympic title in the Finn, a class which will not feature in the Paris 2024 sailing competition.

Heading into the medal race in the lead with one hand already on gold, his hopes were dealt a huge blow when, fearing he was over the line at the start of the race, he turned round and headed back to start the race again, relegating him to the back of the fleet.

An incredible fightback saw him pick his way through the fleet to fourth, enough to snatch overall victory from race winner Zsombor Berecz of Hungary.

It seals Scott’s place in the history books as the final Finn Olympic champion, as the class is being retired for Paris 2024. It also maintained Britain’s winning legacy, having taken gold in every Olympics since Sydney 2000 thanks first to Iain Percy and then Sir Ben Ainslie.

Scott’s win was even more impressive for the fact that he spent much of the time in between Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 campaigning to win the America’s Cup alongside Ainslie, a project he will now return to.

Stuart Bithell

Bithell took gold in the 49er class with Dylan Fletcher, adding to the silver medal he won with Luke Patience in the men’s 470 at London 2012.

After missing out on selection for Rio 2016 at the hands of Fletcher and his then team-mate Alain Sign, Bithell and Fletcher teamed up in 2017 and have been a formidable force ever since.

After putting together an impressive series in Tokyo, the pair went into the medal race in second place with just a handful of points separating them from regatta leaders Blair Tuke and Peter Burling.

A thrilling photo finish in the medal race saw them overhaul Germans Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel to steal the top spot from Tuke and Burling, relegating the Kiwis to the silver medal position. It was the first ever gold medal for Britain in the 49er class.

Luke Patience and Chris Grube

Patience was just 25 when he won a silver medal alongside Stuart Bithell in the men’s 470 class at London 2012.

After winning a spot with Team GB at Rio 2016, his campaign was turned upside down when crew Elliot Willis was diagnosed with cancer, and they were deselected.

Chris ‘Twiggy’ Grube had been part of the British Sailing Team for almost a decade when he got the last-minute call-up to join Patience, with whom he had raced alongside in the mid 2000s.

The pair went on to finish an incredible fifth, and took that partnership into the Tokyo cycle – and all the way to Tokyo 2020 itself.

They enjoyed a strong start to the Olympic regatta, and despite slipping down the leaderboard slightly in the lighter winds through the week, only the Aussies bettered them for the lowest discard. A consistent series had them into the medal race as one of only five boats who could take home an Olympic medal.

Alison Young

With three Olympics under her belt, Young is Britain’s greatest ever ILCA 6 (formerly Laser Radial) sailor.

Young picked up the baton from Penny Clark, winning a call-up to Team GB for London 2012. She was the first Brit to win a world championship in the class in 2016, and was among the favourites for an Olympic medal. However she was dealt a blow when she broke her ankle just eight weeks before the Games.

An eighth in Rio fired her up for a tilt at Tokyo, where she finished 10th after a tricky week. Young now plans on using her knowledge and experience to coach young athletes to success.

Charlotte Dobson

After narrowly missing out on Olympic selection for two cycles running in the ILCA 6 (formerly the Laser Radial) Dobson switched to the 49erFX skiff when it was introduced in 2014, teaming up with Sophie Ainsworth. The pair won their spot with Team GB for Rio 2016, finishing ninth.

Dobson then joined forces with Saskia Tidey and the duo quickly established themselves as a powerhouse of the 49erFX fleet, backed up by string of podium results silvers at the Olympic test event and the 2020 world championships.

Dobson and Tidey led the Tokyo 2020 regatta in the windy early stages before being overhauled later on as the breeze turned light, eventually finishing sixth. Dobson, who married Dylan Fletcher a few weeks after returning from Tokyo, is now looking to work in banking.

Ben Saxton

After switching from the 470 class to the Nacra 17, multihull expert Saxton was picked for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympics alongside crew Nicola Groves.

The pair went on to finish ninth, a result that frustrated Saxton. He made amends the following year with victory at the 2017 world championships with Katie Dabson.

After teaming up with Nicola Boniface, Saxton went on to score numerous podium finishes including winning the 2019 European championships and placing third at Ready Steady Tokyo, the test event for Tokyo 2020.

Saxton stepped away from Olympic sailing after losing out on Olympic selection to Tokyo 2020 silver medallists John Gimson and Anna Burnet, and recently started a job working for North Sails.

Follow the British Sailing Team’s progress towards Paris 2024 at britishsailingteam.com and via the team’s social media channels.

What they say:

Hannah Mills, 34, Cardiff, Wales:

On retirement:

“Sadly my Olympic campaigning is coming to an end – the 470 is going mixed for Paris 2024 and for me, in terms of my career, this is the perfect time to step away and explore other options. I’ll be working on my sustainability campaign which I’m really passionate about while exploring some exciting opportunities in women’s sailing. It was a difficult decision and yet also an easy one. What made it hard was just how incredible the Olympic Games is – it’s like nothing else on Earth. As an athlete who’s dreamed of going to the Games my whole life it’s something that is quite difficult to walk away from. But in terms of where I’m at in life and what I want to do next it was a bit easier.”

On the Tokyo 2020 cycle:

“It was a mad cycle, that’s for sure. Things came at us that no-one could ever have imagined. The delay to a Games is something you never think will happen. You have this deadline of when the Games is and nothing will move that. Then something so much bigger than the Olympics came along and it did move that. I definitely look back and feel privileged to have had that extra year. At points when it was tough and emotional and mentally challenging and those things that go hand in hand with being an athlete striving towards a huge goal, I remember thinking to myself that actually none of it mattered because we were so lucky to still be competing and travelling and working towards this incredible goal while a lot of other people were not so fortunate.”

On becoming the greatest ever female Olympic sailor:

“It’s a strange one – you dream of winning an Olympic gold medal but I certainly never dreamed of winning multiple medals and becoming the most successful female Olympic sailor. It’s surreal when you add up the 15 years or so of Olympic campaigning and it leads to that accolade. It’s surreal but amazing. Records are there to be broken though, and that’s what inspires other female athletes to push harder. It will be exciting to see what comes next.”

On inspiring youngsters:

“To anyone who’s thinking of having a go at sailing I’d say just have a go. It changed my life, and whether you want to go to the Olympics, sail at your club or just with your family, sailing is the most amazing sport. To be outside, on the water, experiencing the elements, is like nothing else. It’s given me skills that I’ll take through my whole life.”

Fondest memories of the Games:

“There are so many. London will always be the most insane experience. Walking into the opening ceremony as part of Team GB at a home Olympics was just bonkers. I don’t think anything will compete with that. The noise walking into the stadium, people banging their feet, it was unbelievable to be a part of. Winning my first gold medal with Saskia Clark in Rio was a lifelong dream for both of us. It was so special to come back from silver in London and get the gold. With Tokyo I just look back on the British Sailing Team – we had the best team imaginable; every single person was amazing to be around and brought their best versions of themselves. I don’t think I’ve experienced a team quite like that one and that’s my strongest memory of those Games.”

On the future:

“I’ve got lots of plans in the sustainability world, trying to inspire and empower other athletes to use their platform to speak up about different challenges. We’re already seeing the positive impact it can have. In terms of sailing, I’m racing with the SailGP GBR team as a female athlete and will be looking to develop female pathways into high performance professional sailing. There’s also a new women’s competition in the America’s Cup. There’s so much going on in the world of professional sailing, it’s a pretty amazing time to a female in sailing right now.”

Giles Scott, 34, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire:

On retirement:

“I’m done, speaking simply. I’ve been in Olympic classes sailing now for nearly 14 years, done two Olympic Games, had a really good innings and now it’s time for me to move on to other things. It actually feels ok [to be retiring]. If I’m brutally honest it feels just fine. I’ve been doing it for so long and have put so much into it, and I’m lucky to have been successful, and it’s time to do other things. I’ve absolutely loved my Olympic sailing but I feel like it’s been a chapter in a bigger book. I’m sad to be leaving but for sure it’s time to go.”

Reflecting on the past couple of years:

“In honest I’m still processing it all. The last couple of years were probably the busiest of my life and I took on an awful lot with the America’s Cup while trying to defend my Olympic title. Somehow I managed to keep that gold medal. In honesty I’m not sure how, but I got there just about! I’ve enjoyed my time off, doing some Moth sailing and sailing some bigger boats. I’m getting back with INEOS and the America’s Cup. I’ve still got plenty going on but I am still slowly digesting what I’ve accomplished, not just at the last Olympics but over the past ten years of Olympic sailing.”

On the Tokyo 2020 medal race:

“I haven’t watched it back, and I don’t want to. I don’t think I ever will! I’d have rather have won gold in the style I did four years previously, it was way less stressful. The Tokyo medal race was very dramatic and certainly made a five-knot Finn race pretty exciting, which isn’t that easy to do. In the build-up to the medal race I’d put together a really solid week, it just so happens the two guys on my tail had also done a pretty good job as well and I still had a bit to do in the medal race. It didn’t go perfectly to plan but I just about got there.”

On being part of such a successful team in Tokyo:

“It was great. The vibe and the atmosphere out there among the sailors and support staff was really quite powerful, and for sure that bred performance. It really did feel like we were in it together, living in a camp environment, and it just so happened that each day we needed to leave the accommodation to go race in the Olympic Games. It was a really cool month, and certainly one I will hold close to my heart.”

On fondest memories of Olympic career:

“I’ve had so many amazing times. Those of us that get to travel the world doing a sport like sailing are incredibly fortunate. Even without success, being part of the Olympic circuit is an amazing thing to do. For me to be able to walk away having had success is very special. The results I’ve had are one thing, but the people I’ve met and friends I’ve made along the way have been amazing as well.”

On inspiring young sailors:

“I always say that you’ve got to enjoy what you do. My success has come from doing something that I love to do, and that was certainly the case when I was a kid. My message to young sailors would be to enjoy the sport, don’t get bogged down in results and if you love it you’ll become good at it.”

On life after the Olympics:

“The main focus is the America’s Cup. I’ve signed back up with INEOS and over the next year things will really start to ramp up. We’re beginning to build the team and put schedules in place. It’s early stages at the moment but it will start to get big quite quickly. In the meantime I’m learning to sail again, this time in a Moth which is good fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve sailed in Weymouth harbour in November with a big grin on my face!”

Stuart Bithell, 35, Rochdale, Greater Manchester:

On retirement:

“I guess I’ve hung my boots up for now. I’ve done three cycles and it’s time to move on to other areas of the sport. It’s nice to stop here at the top – it would take a lot of hard work to regroup and go again for Paris. I’ve done the Olympic thing now and I want to move my career on to other areas of the sport. It feels like the right time. And of course I’m getting old!”

On winning gold at Tokyo 2020:

“It feels pretty good. It’s been a long time coming and there’s been a lot of hard work that’s gone into it. A while back I knew this was going to be my last one and everything went into this campaign. It’s so cool coming away with a gold medal – I feel on top of the world.”

On a potential comeback:

“Not at the minute. There’s no part of me that is looking at Paris. That said we’re all athletes and we’ve seen it many times where athletes retire and then come back. Currently there’s no plan to do that, but who knows.”

On his crew Dylan Fletcher:

“I think Dylan is going on to do another cycle. We’ve sailed together for the past five years and it’ll be weird to not do another campaign with him, but we still sail together loads. We just did an event out in Italy and I’m sure we will do more, it just won’t be in an Olympic class.”

On memories of the Olympics:

“I think my best memories of my career are of the Olympic Games themselves, it’s such a pinnacle that you work so hard to get to and then when you’re there, because all the hard work has been done you can enjoy the moment. Certainly winning silver with Luke Patience in London at a home Olympics was incredible. I didn’t qualify for Rio 2016 and decided to put everything on the line one more time and that came off good with Tokyo. Actually being at Tokyo and performing to our best was just perfect.”

On future plans:

“I’m looking at getting into other areas of the sport. There’s plenty on with professional sailing, the America’s Cup, SailGP and lots of other professional circuits around the world. I’m aiming for the big circuits and we’ll see how we go.”

On inspiring the next generation:

“I come from a background where you wouldn’t expect to be on the top of an Olympic podium. I grew up sailing on a tiny lake in the north of England, and my message to kids is that you can do whatever you want if you put your heart and a bit of time into it. Nothing is impossible.”

Luke Patience, 35, Rhu, Scotland:

On retirement:

“It’s the end of a long, wonderful 17-year journey. It’s hard to definitively say it, but for me this is the end of my Olympic athlete career. After many long weeks thinking about it and talking to many different people I feel like I’ve made peace with that decision and that it’s the right one for me now. It’s been so hard to come to the decision because there’s so much passion for what I do. We embark on this madness not as a job but to try to represent yourself and your country at the highest level and come home as Olympic champions. Not only is that a really honourable thing to do with your life, it’s incredibly addictive. Success is a wee drug and so to walk away from a lifelong journey feels a bit weird. It won’t stop overnight and my heart still longs to continue, but my head is winning the battle.”

On his Olympics career:

“Three Olympics and an Olympic silver medal means so much to me. I dreamed about winning an Olympic medal as a wee boy and I did it. But in the same breath I can think back to a time when I never thought I’d go this far. Although I won a silver medal in some regards it’s not enough and I’d like to say I was Olympic champion three times, and I’m not. However time is a wonderful healer and the further I get from it all I do look back and go ‘wow’. What an honour and achievement to have represented my country at the highest level for such a long time. I am very proud but I think I’ll be more proud in a year’s time and even more proud in ten years’ time. I think it will take a bit of distance from the sport to really look back on what I achieved.”

On representing Scotland:

“I’m very proud to be British and Scottish, but I like the identity of being from a wee small nation as well. It means a lot to represent Scotland. We’re not a massive country with five million people and the Scottish athletes who come out of the woodwork are a really small bunch of people. I take a lot of pride in being part of that group. There must be something in the water on the west coast of Scotland because we’ve produced some phenomenally good sailors today and in years gone by. I feel really attached to my Scottish heritage. My dad has been great at showing me our family’s lineage and where our ancestors came from. They were all fishermen and lifeboatmen and things like that. I’m just happy I could carry on that journey on the sea.”

Fondest memories of the Games:

“I could answer that one for hours. London 2012 was incredible. To be out racing as a 25-year-old with my best mate and all the crowds on the shore, folks screaming, and everything those Games brought, I can’t see that anything in my life will ever feel like that felt. That’s above and beyond my fondest memory. It was so unique. The most emotional bit was walking out into the opening ceremony to 80,000 people screaming Team GB, chanting in the stadium. The confetti, the music, walking out behind Chris Hoy waving the flag… I just remember looking at Stuart [Bithell], Hannah [Mills] and Saskia [Clark] and saying “we’re here, we’re Olympians”. We’d been dreaming about it for so long. That memory is etched in me.”

On future plans:

“What’s next will probably change every month! In a nice way, I don’t really know. I’m giving my mind and body a bit of time to wind down. I’m excited about many things, about trying new things and being in different worlds. I’d love to lead a team in the Ocean Race when the time’s right, I’d like to start a whiskey brand and do bits like that. I’m looking forward to spending a bit more time with family and enjoy the things in life that I’ve had to put on the sidelines for a very long time. I’m a sailor in my heart and I doubt I’ll ever be that far from the British Sailing Team in some shape or form.”

On inspiring the next generation:

“If I was to say anything to kids who’ve been inspired by Tokyo it would be to hold tight to that inspiration. Nobody on Team GB is from some immensely privileged background where it was all laid out on a plate for them. The vast majority of us Olympians were kids who watched the Olympics and were inspired by them. I was curious about what it would feel like to represent my country and I became obsessed with finding out. That’s all I’ve been for 25 years: curious. If you think it’s out of reach it isn’t. Hold onto that inspiration and just keep chipping away.”

Alison Young, 34, Bewdley, Worcestershire:

“My latest news from the Olympic world is that I’ve retired, and now I’m figuring out what life is. I actually decided to retire while I was in Tokyo. I was watching Emma Wilson win her bronze medal in the RS:X and I realised that it wasn’t something I wanted or needed anymore. It was quite an easy decision in the end. When I reflect back on my time with the British Sailing Team I just feel really fortunate to have had the chance to work with the teams of people that I have, people who are world class at what they do and who are more importantly just fantastic individuals. For that I’m very grateful. I’m now stepping out into the rest of the world and seeing what that’s like. My fondest memories from the Games centre around the spirit and energy the sailing team has, especially out in Tokyo. I finished tenth in Tokyo and I just felt really content with my performance. It was a really nice place to end on. What’s next? Well, with my sailing it’s always been about trying to get the best out of myself and so I’m now trying to do that in a different domain. I’m exploring coaching to see if I can help others get the best out of themselves.”

Charlotte Dobson, 35, Rhu, Scotland:

On retirement:

“The latest news for me is that I’m going to hang up my sailing boots and trapeze harness and say goodbye to the Olympic world. It’s been an amazing period of time, and now I’m going on to work out what the next thing is. It was a pretty easy decision to be honest. I genuinely felt in the couple of years before Tokyo that Saskia [Tidey] and I had given ourselves the best chance of winning a medal in Tokyo. We’d worked with some incredible coaches and support staff, and had some amazing sailors in our training groups. When you’re proud of the campaign you put together you have to accept the result at the end. We gave it a really good crack but it wasn’t enough at the end. I think you have to know when it’s time to say that we did our best but it wasn’t really good enough.”

On representing Scotland and Great Britain:

“It’s a huge honour to wear the Team GB top – it’s something I’ve thought about since I was tiny. The first time I got to pull it on in Rio was quite a shock. I wasn’t expecting it to hit home quite so much with Tokyo, but it totally did. Representing your Queen, country and everyone who sails is a huge honour and something I’ll be really proud of for the rest of my life.”

Fondest memories of the Games:

“It’s probably more of feeling than a memory. Regardless of the result not turning out the way we wanted, I wholeheartedly feel hugely proud to be part of that Tokyo team. We were surrounded by excellent people doing pretty incredible things. The atmosphere was one of elevating yourself. It was a huge honour to see some of the sailing greats that we had do their thing, and try to emulate that.”

On future plans:

“I’m dipping my toes into the real world slowly, and I’m hopefully going to find a job in banking. I’m definitely not going very far from Portland, I love it here. Sailing has brought me all the way from the west coast of Scotland to this little island and I love it. I won’t be completely disappearing.”

Advice for the next generation:

“I’d say just stay in love with our sport. It’s the most incredible sport, and so wide-ranging. You can sail fast boats, slow boats, complicated boats, simple boats, with people, on your own… Never lose the love for the sport. Do as much sailing across a variety of boats. And if you decide you want to go to the Olympics it’s totally possible. Anything is possible when you set a goal, put your mind to it and crack on.”

Ben Saxton, 31, Cambridge:

“Thanks to the team who’ve supported me to compete at the Olympics and to win a few major championships. Thanks in particular to the unsung heroes working hard in the background. I’m really excited about the future, but I will remember my time with the British team fondly.”

It was a home win for Olympian Kate Macgregor and her team at the RYA Summer Match Racing Qualifier 3 over a breeze-on weekend at Poole Yacht Club.

Organisers had thought the event might be in jeopardy due to the high wind forecast for 2-3 October 2021 which saw a number of regattas canned along the south coast.

But in anticipation of a couple of weather-windows, a decision was made to go ahead and the sell-out event saw 10 teams match racing RS21 sportsboats and revelling in the conditions.

Day one saw four flights being run, with spinnakers making a brief appearance before the breeze rapidly built and forced a return to shore just as a 42 knot gust was recorded.

Poole YC’s Kate Macgregor and her team of Nicky Walsh, Bethan Carden, Saskia Tidey and Sophie Pearson, won all three of their races and then continued their winning ways on day two.

Breeze and sunshine kicked off the Sunday with more great match racing and busy pre-starts. The wind then started to build, with exciting conditions and smiley sailors loving the downwind blasts with spinnakers mostly up, occasionally away, and boat handling at a premium.

Despite a few big broaches, teams managed the conditions well for some tight racing throughout the fleet, resulting in a tie for second place and a tie for fifth overall as well.

With Macgregor’s team continuing undefeated – winning all of their matches for an emphatic victory – Ali Morrish sailing with Emily Robertson, Richard Moxey and Sarah Jarman took second overall, as in 2020, to add to her second place at this year’s Marlow Ropes Women’s Match Racing Championships.

George Haynes with Lily Reece, Josh Dawson and Huw Edwards took third place in a very tight battle with Ted Blowers’ team of Tom Hough, Bobby Hewitt, Anna Watkins, who in their deciding match had been in the lead but took a penalty early on downwind, enabling Haynes to get past for the win.

Macgregor - helming for this event rather than on bow as for her Olympic match racing and Women’s World Match Racing Champion title - said: “Driving was a little bit different but I had a really good crew with Sophie, Sas, Nicky and Bethan. They did a really good job so it took a lot of distractions away meaning I could focus more on the steering, so it was a little bit different but it was good fun, I enjoyed it.”

Kate has coached many of the sailors she was competing against and found it rewarding to see their progression in action, explaining: “The racing was actually a lot closer than I thought it was going to be, there were a few pre-starts where I did feel a bit nervous! But it was really cool to see how far everyone has come and that all their training that they’ve been doing has been worthwhile.”

Commenting on the secret to her own team’s success over the weekend, she added: “I think we just didn’t over complicate it. We made sure we got off the start cleanly and on time and when we didn’t we definitely paid for it. There was one race in particular where we were late and also had a penalty and luckily we managed to pull back but I think it was just keeping it simple, and in my team there’s a few other experienced match racers so it was useful having them on board as well.”

Another stand-out performance of the weekend came from Lymington’s Nik Froud and his team - Sam De La Feuillade, Connie Stock, Hannah Froud and Robby Boyd - who won an impressive four of their nine matches at Nik’s first ever match racing event and claimed fifth overall.

Nik, who sails a Moth and is also a team racer, said: “I wanted to come to match racing because a lot of my friends do it and they have a really good time, so I wanted to get involved. I absolutely loved it. I was a bit worried the forecast was for it to be really windy and I didn’t think there’d be much match racing going on - like in team racing if it’s 30 knots it’s just a fleet race - but we were match racing all the time and learning about the rules as well, and all the different boat-on-boat scenarios that I just haven’t encountered before, so for me, comparing the second-to-last race we did with the first, we learnt loads and I really enjoyed it.”

Asked whether he’d recommend match racing, Nik says he ‘100 per cent’ will be back for more and has this advice for anyone who thinks they might like to try match racing: “Just come and do it, if you can fleet race competitively, read up on the rules beforehand, watch a few videos, make sure you’re aware of the differences but just come and give it a go because it’s great fun!”

Next up is the RYA Summer Match Racing 4 Qualifier for the Ceilidh Cup in Sonars at Royal Northern & Clyde YC, Helensburgh, this weekend (9-10 October 2021). The series then concludes with the invitational National Match Racing Championship Grand Finals at Queen Mary SC in RS21s, 29-31 October 2021.

Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) have won gold in the 49erFX Women with Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke (GER) taking silver and Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED) bronze.

The remaining Irish interest in the Tokyo sailing regatta focussed on one-time regatta leader Saskia Tidey of the Royal Irish Yacht Club who sailed with Charlotte Dobson into sixth overall after finishing seventh in the medal race.

Brazil was struggling for a lane out of the start but found a gap at the committee boat in the last 10 seconds and tacked out to the right on a lonely path while the other nine boats carried on towards the left.

First around the first mark was Argentina, Norway in second with Brazil in third and the Netherlands in fifth - advantage Brazil.

On the first downwind leg, the Netherlands were fighting with Germany and Spain for the silver and bronze but Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED) got stuck on the outside of a slow mark rounding at the leeward gate, held up the French team. The Dutch were now at the back, in 10th and out of the medals.

However, up the final windward leg, the Dutch pulled back two critical places, enough to get them ahead of Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barcelo (ESP) for the bronze medal.

Victoria Travasco and Maria Sol (ARG) won the Medal Race by a long distance from Norway. But a third across the finish was sufficient for Brazil to win the gold medal. Grael and Kunze have successfully defended the Olympic title they won in Rio 2016.

Results here

Charlotte Dobson, 35, from Rhu, Scotland, said:

“That was some morning I think I’ve had. The end of our campaign and our medal hopes, but amazing to watch Dylan and Stu win their gold medal.

“They’ve been amazing supporters of ours the whole way through this cycle and this morning optimises to me the ying and yang of sport - with amazing results someone has to lose. That’s kind of what we know when you get into this world. You risk feeling terrible for the moment to be able to feel how Dylan and Stu feel right now.

“I’m sure this gold medal [Dylan Fletcher’s] is going to follow me around. It will be on our dining table I’m sure for the foreseeable future, but I’m just really, really, really proud of him and the team that has been around both Dylan and Stu, and Sas and I. The support we’ve got, the help we’ve had from the National Lottery to even be here, is just second to none.

“Sometimes this campaign when it got difficult, certainly with covid, you look around at the support around you, you think if you can’t do it with these guys around you, you probably don’t deserve to. And I mean the support we’ve had has been incredible.

“We had another light wind and choppy medal race. Just as the breeze was starting to pick up, we were on first. We didn’t have the best start and lane hold, and then we got a bit dictated to by that time, so really the race was kind of out of hands in that light wind stuff and it’s really important to be in control of your race.

“We kind of did come back into it right at the end, so that was really nice to do that last little bit with the kite up past the rest of our team. To be honest a large part of the damage was done in the last two days in the lighter winds.

“At this level you can’t expect to win medals with holes in your performance and unfortunately we kind of got found out this week in these lighter winds, which is frustrating because in the past we’ve dealt with that weakness. But yeah, really disappointing.

“We fought for every place we could around the medal race, the spirit was really good all the way up to the end so we have that to be proud of.

“It’s been amazing [to watch Dylan win gold]. Very, very stressful, I feel really bad for what we have done to our parents and friends and family over the last couple of weeks, but really, really proud. This morning he just seemed so on it and so ready. When I saw the split from the kiwis, I was really proud of him, like he was backing himself and he was really confident. And he and Stu are such an incredible team together, they bring the best out in each other. I can’t really be more happy for him to be honest.

“[The wedding is planned for] 26th August, so not too long to even out the tan lines! No [the preparations aren’t done] in the slightest, but time and pressure will make us organised. I’m sure we’ll just be decisive. The wedding is in Portland which is where we live.

“Quite often it does happen like that [a close finish], but not usually for gold and silver, that will probably be one of the moments of the sailing games I would have thought. It’s just amazing for that to be broadcast to our friends and family at home and all the people who have really put us here, buying lottery tickets, supporting sports, so thank you National Lottery we hope we gave you a good show this summer.”

Saskia Tidey, 28, from Sandycove on Dublin Bay, said:

“It was a week of two halves. We started off with some pretty glamour conditions here in Japan, a lot more what of what we were expecting, real skiff conditions and we started off on the right foot. And the second half of the week we lost wind which is pretty challenging in our boats. But you know we fought through it and we pushed hard and tried to fight for every inch and it hasn’t gone our way.

“But in saying all that, we’ve put together a campaign over five years and it’s been an honour to sail with Charlotte and to be part of this team. Now it’s about cheering on everyone else and being part of the rest of the experience.”

Royal Irish Yacht Club skiff crew Saskia Tidey from Dun Laoghaire Harbour faces another 24-hour wait for her medal race at Tokyo 2020. 

The 49er and 49erFX medal races are each postponed until tomorrow. They will be added to the programme that includes the Nacra 17 Medal race.

As Afloat previously reported, Tidey sailing with Charlotte Dobson for Team GB are eight points off the 49erFX Podium and 11 points off the lead. 

One time fleet leaders, the Scottish-Irish duo excelled in this week's stronger conditions but had a torrid couple of days in Enoshima's light stuff.  The pair are silver medal winners from the 2017 World Sailing Cup

Going into the 49erFX Women Medal Race two high-class teams share the top spot on equal points – the double World Champions Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED) who will wear the yellow bibs, and Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) looking to defend their Olympic title from five years ago.

Only three points off the lead are Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke (GER) who are promising to race aggressively for the gold, while just back from them are the reigning World Champions from Spain, Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barcelo.

It was an up and down day for Charlotte Dobson and Dun Laoghaire's Saskia Tidey to complete 49erFX fleet racing.

One time fleet leader, the Scottish-Irish duo excelled in this week's stronger conditions but have had a torrid couple of days in Enoshima's light stuff. 

They have seen their overall lead eroded and scoring 15-4-18 today means they go into the medal race in fifth, 11 points off the top spot, eight points off the podium. 

Royal Irish's Tidey, although sailing for Team GB in Tokyo, sailed for Ireland in Rio in 2016 then left the Irish team because of a lack of opportunities for her to pursue her career at home. As such, she is the last Irish sailing interest in Tokyo for Monday's medal race.

Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke (GER) sailed around all the potholes and landmines on the 49erFX course to come through with scores of 7,3,3. This lifts the Germans to third overall, three points off the lead shared by two high-class teams.

Holding top spot is the double World Champions Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED) who sit on equal points with reigning Olympic Champions Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA).

The reigning World Champions from Spain, Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barcelo, had a difficult day in the lighter breeze and have dropped to fourth overall, but still only seven points off the lead.

Like the 49er, this is going to be a tense Medal Race on Monday afternoon, as Beucke acknowledged today. “I think we went a bit too conservative into the regatta and kind of realised we have got to be very aggressive until the end. That's what we did today. And I think that's what we're going to do in the Medal Race as well, because it's all about coming home with the medal or nothing. It's going to be exciting.”

Racing kicks off at 6.33am BST on Monday

Unstoppable and steadier through high-speed manoeuvres in the stronger winds, Charlotte Dobson and her Dun Laoghaire Harbour crew Saskia Tidey have ruled the waves of Sagami Bay this week for Team GB but light winds on Friday dropped the pair back to fourth overall after counting (16), 14 and 15 in their 21-boat fleet.

Others in the fleet took the softer breeze as an opportunity to attack for the lead in the Women’s Skiff fleet on the Kamakura Course.

The Royal Irish Yacht Club's Tidey, who represented Ireland at Rio and switched to Team GB because of lack of opportunity at home, remains an odds on favourite for medal success come Saturday though and is currently just seven points off the overall lead and one point off third place.

Results and overall standings are here

Dun Laoghaire's Saskia Tidey and Scotland's Charlotte Dobson consolidated their top position in the 49er FX with three top-five finishes in today's racing at the Olympic Regatta in Tokyo.

There was sun, plenty of breeze and waves with 14 knots of northerly building to 19kts through the day.

Dobson and Tidey (GBR) may not have won a race in the big waves today, but 4,2,5 scores keeps the British in the lead by five points from the Dutch, who had the best results from the outing.

Double World Champions Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED) notched up two races wins and a sixth, looking very comfortable in the difficult conditions. Two points behind them are the reigning World Champions from Spain, Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barcelo.

Bekkering admitted sailing the skiff in those waves is constant stress, "You can’t push the boat to 100%, otherwise you capsize, so it’s quite stressful concentrating so hard, but the stress is enjoyable too. It’s part of what makes sailing these boats so fun."

After racing Dobson, 35, from Rhu, Scotland, said: “These boats are just epic to sail in those big waves and when you delete from your brain the fact that it’s the Olympics and these are big waves and capsizes are expensive, they’re just the most phenomenal boats to sail. I think what we did quite well today was just focussing on doing all of our little processes.

“We call Sas the air hostess as we’re going down the massive waves because she’s in charge of the kite control. So it was quite a good day on Tidey Airlines today.

Dun Laoghaire's Saskia Tidey (right) and Scotland's Charlotte Dobson - three top-five finishes in today's racing at the Olympic Regatta in Tokyo

“There were times where it was definitely not boring, but I think we managed to keep doing our basics pretty well. And on a day like that with the big sea state, having three good counters is a really good day so we’re pretty happy.

“We’re feeling good. I think what’s really played out over the last couple of days for us is we’ve put so much work in the previous years to this of being really pernickety with the processes. Sometimes at the time they felt a bit over the top and a bit noisy, but what we’re feeling now is that we are ourselves on the water. We’re sailing the same boat that we’ve sailed for the last four years, we’re the same team, the same processes so it does feel really comfy. We’re leaning and playing on that a little bit at the moment.

“Looking forward to a rest tomorrow and then we’ll be back at it the next day.”

Saskia Tidey, 28, from Sandycove in Dun Laoghaire on Dublin Bay and a member of the Royal Irish Yacht Club, said: “Today was a big day for everyone on the racecourse. It feels really really long and the conditions here are really challenging, so every race you have to regroup, start from scratch and figure out what you’re about to get into. So it’s a good day, but right now we’re pretty knackered so we’ll need a few hours to settle into relaxing.”

There has been a dream start for Scottish-Irish skiff pair Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey from the Royal Irish Yacht Club in the 49erFX taking the first race of their campaign by a clear margin on the rest of the fleet.

The pair backed it up with another race win and a sixth-place to consolidate top spot on the leaderboard. 

As regular Afloat readers will know, Tidey was forced to quit Team Ireland after Rio 2016 because she could find no further means of progressing her Olympic ambitions and has since risen to the top of women's world skiff sailing.

It's a remarkable start to the Tokyo Olympics where Irish skiff sailors are at the front of both the men's and women's 49er fleets. 

The 49erFX opened with a dramatic race that fully showcased just how challenging and unpredictable these skiffs can be. Early on it was the gold and silver medallist teams from Rio 2016 who took the lead.

Rio silver medallists Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) led around the first mark. The reigning Olympic Champions from Brazil, Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze also had a go in the lead, but they couldn’t keep the British behind them.

After a slow start, Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey (GBR) put the hammer down, moved into the lead and were unstoppable. Behind them all kinds of unforced errors were striking other teams. The Kiwis capsized, the Brazilians were lying in second down the final run to the finish but their gennaker sheet got jammed and they couldn’t clear the problem, watching almost the whole fleet sail past as they finished in 15th.

That whacky race set the tone for an afternoon of highly entertaining FX competition. After three weeks of training in light winds, the strong, gusty breeze blowing off the shore created chaos and unpredictability for pretty much everyone. The British have taken the lead with scores of 1,1,6 ahead of Steph Roble & Maggie Shea (USA) who scored 3,2,14. After the disaster of the first race, the Brazilians recovered their composure to win the last race of the session, scoring 15,5,1 for third overall.

Dobson was thankful to have come through the day unscathed, downplaying any excitement about winning her two opening races. "I think if someone had told us a week ago that we’d get these results on day one, we’d have bitten their arm off." She said it was about keeping things simple, or "boring" as she described it. "We just wanted to be boring and then be brave when we saw the opportunity. And I think that's kind of what we did a little bit today."

WHAT THEY SAID:

49erFX
Charlotte Dobson, 35, from Rhu, Scotland, said:

“It was a great day. I think if someone had told us we would have those results on day one yesterday we would have grabbed their hand off. Today was about being a bit boring but brave if we saw an opportunity, and that’s what we did a little bit today.

“It is really tricky sailing these boats in shifty conditions were there is such differences in pressure. You’re in the middle of a manoeuvre and you get a massive wind shift it doesn’t make you look great when you capsize in an event like this but it’s so easy to do. I’m grateful that we avoided it today and I hope it’s not our turn tomorrow.

“There’s a range of results and I think that is the nature of puffy, windy racing, certainly in Japan. We have seen this in preparations over the last couple of years so I think, you know, the boring things, it’s going to be a long series and just try and stay out of trouble. We will try and put together a series, it’s not very exciting, it’s boring, but if we can have as many boring days as possible then that is great.

“The lead up to this regatta has been less than seven knots, and then you have these conditions. I don’t think everyone is dialled in to the conditions yet but we have been racing these types of conditions here for the last four years. You just have to get the notebook out and try to remember the tempo of those days and how those days feel.

“Sometimes it was fast and sometimes it was slow today. I don’t think it was much of a boat speed day. I think it was the type of day that Sas does really well which is make the boat quiet and she’s all over making the boat go well so I can get my head out of the boat and look around so we have on maximum focus on where we should be.”

Saskia Tidey, 28, from Sandycove, Dun Laoghaire on Dublin Bay, said:

“It was a super tricky day and a day where you have to have teamwork involved. My job as crew is keep the boat fast in the water and not create any noise or distraction and Charlotte is head out of the boat and see where the next gains are coming from. It was up and down with wind strength today so super, super hard, but we had a good one.

“What’s important for us is not to do anything that surprises us or anyone else, with the conditions out there we just need to keep it consistent and back each other to deliver what we already know.”

The 49erFX made its first Olympic appearance at Rio five years ago, when the battle for gold and silver remained in the balance until the final stages of the Medal Race.

The gold and silver medallists from Rio 2016 - respectively Brazil’s Martine Grael & Kahena Kunze and New Zealand’s Alex Maloney and Molly Meech - will again be in contention for the podium. They’re not the stand-out favourites, however. No one is. This field appears to be wide open to a number of contenders.

This includes Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Saskia Tidey from the Royal Irish Yacht Club who has every right to expect a medal from Tokyo as she represents Team GB with Charlotte Dobson.

Spain’s Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barcelo sailed a really smart series to win the 2020 World Championship in Australia. Echegoyen knows how to win at the Olympics, having taken gold as helm of the Spanish entry in the women’s match racing event at London 2012. She also went to Rio 2016 as the reigning 49erFX World Champion, but just missed out on the Olympic podium, finishing in the dreaded fourth place.

Arguably the most consistent performers over the past five years since Rio are the ever-smiling Dutch duo of Annemiek Bekkering & Annette Duetz, who won back to back World Championships in 2018 and 2019.

Duetz recalls when they first came across each other as keen youth sailors in the 29er skiff, the junior go-kart version of the bigger 49erFX, "There was this superstar, we met at training sessions, we sailed a few times together, but not knowing we would one day sail together all the time!"

Bekkering can’t speak highly enough of her tall crew, "Annette, she can do anything. She’s amazing. We really like the windy conditions, we still keep on racing, pushing through the big waves. It doesn’t matter what happens, Annette is always the same emotions, - keep going, keep fighting - that’s a really good strength to have in the boat."

Duetz returns the compliment, "You’re really on it, if there are any gains to be made on the race course, you find them!"

The team needed all of their composure to bounce back from a difficult start to their qualification trials after being outsailed by their Dutch rivals, Odile van Aanholt and Marieke Jongens, at a really light and fluky Hempel World Cup Genoa regatta in early 2019.

Bekkering and Duetz pretty much needed to win the next qualifying event, the 49erFX European Championships in Weymouth a month later. When the pressure was on, they executed the plan and won the event and with it, selection for Tokyo 2020.

They will be leaning on that experience when they start racing at their second Games together. "There was a lot of pressure on us to sail those European Championships well, and we did," says Bekkering, looking to do much better than their seventh in Rio five years ago.

"It was a good experience to compete at the Games, but we struggled with the whole Olympics. In some ways it was not the nicest Games, didn’t enjoy it as much as we hoped, but it was super useful to do Rio. We’re super keen to do a great event this time and make the most of it, to get the best out of ourselves."

Of course, every Olympic athlete believes that competing at the Games is a dream come true, but no team will appreciate that feeling of arriving at the venue and getting that buzz than the German 49erFX crew. Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke have dreamt of this moment for most of their lives, and have been sailing together as a team since 2007. After narrowly missing out on selection for London 2012 and Rio 2016, when they finally earned selection for Tokyo 2020 it was a huge release of emotions for the two friends. It happened at the European Championships in Austria, one of the few events that actually managed to take place in late 2020. The German team found they had boat speed to burn, and if they can carry that speed edge from the smooth fresh waters of Lake Attersee to the salty swell of Enoshima, then they will be right up there in the fight for gold. It was Lutz and Beucke’s first major regatta win having finished fifth and ninth in the two most recent World Championships.

A few short years ago, Stephanie Roble was an incredible match racer in keelboats but when she stepped aboard the 49erFX she discovered that it was a much more wobbly platform than she was used to. Hundreds of capsizes and nosedives later, Roble and her crew Maggie Shea have emerged stronger from the all the bruises and moulded themselves into serious skiff contenders who seem to be able to come out on top in marginal situations. They had a battle on their hands to beat USA rivals Paris Henken and 2008 Radial Olympic Champion Anna Tobias (née Tunnicliffe), but Roble and Shea passed the test with flying colours, taking bronze at the 2020 World Championships.

The crew that finished just ahead of the Americans at those Worlds in Geelong is Great Britain’s Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey who competed at Rio 2016 as rivals in separate boats. Dobson, crewed by Sophie Ainsworth, finished eighth in Rio while Tidey, sailing for Ireland with Andrea Brewster, were 12th. Born to an Irish mother and English father, Tidey took a lot of heat from some Irish quarters for switching flags to Great Britain ("the hardest and probably one of the most controversial things I’ll ever do in my life"), but as a sailing partnership Dobson and Tidey worked almost straight away. They have always been strong in the breeze, Tidey standing 1.88m tall helps, but they’ve worked hard over the past two years to iron out any weaknesses at the lighter end of the wind spectrum. Now Dobson and Tidey look like the full package and have every right to expect a medal from Tokyo.

The Scandinavian nations have a strong history in the 49erFX and Denmark, Sweden and Norway are all ones to watch. Ida Marie Nielsen and Marie Olsen (DEN) have been at or near to the top end of the FX fleet since competition in the women’s skiff began back in 2013 when they won the first European Championship. A third place at the 2019 World Championship is the high point of more recent years for this tight-knit crew.

The daughter of five-time Olympic medallist Torben Grael, can Martine Grael along with Kahena Kunze repeat their gold from Rio 2016? The Brazilians continue to reach the podium on a regular basis, most recently at two winter regattas in Lanzarote. Grael and Kunze seem to thrive on the big occasion, and they won on Olympic waters at the Test Event two years ago.

Having been beaten by the Brazilians by the tightest of margins five years ago at Rio 2016, perhaps this time it will be the Kiwis’ opportunity to turn the tables on their long-term rivals. Alex Maloney and Molly Meech have been sailing together now for nine years, experience which should count on their favour at such a unique event. "I think as a team we can feel pretty confident that we’re in good shape," says Maloney. "It will be a case of who executes on the day."

The fact that the Games is going ahead at all is something to celebrate, says Meech. "I think that with everything that has been happening over the last year and coming to an Olympics that was postponed, it feels quite special," she says. "It feels quite different to Rio. You were racing and seeing your competitors quite a lot in the build-up to Rio. This feels quite fresh. It’s exciting.

"It's also really cool to finally be back in Japan. Getting the bus across the bridge [to the yacht club] the other day actually felt like coming back to somewhere really familiar."

Racing in the Women’s Skiff – 49erFX starts on Tuesday 27 July. The 21-boat fleet will start the first of 12 fleet races on the Enoshima course area at 1200 JST. They will finish racing on Monday 2 August with their Medal Race.

A full list of competitors is available here.

-Andy Rice