Tiffany Brien and Saskia Tidey are currently battling for a spot on the Irish 49erfx slot for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

The 49er FX is a double handed women's skiff which has recently been selected as a new class to compete at the Olympic Games.

Name: Tiffany Brien
Height: 5'8"
DOB: 10th August 1990
Home Location: Holywood, Co. Down, Northern Ireland
Position on boat: Helm

Club: Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club

Olympic Experience:
Previously campaigned for 2012 in a Laser Radial

General Outline of Sailing Career to Date:
Started sailing aged 7, began racing aged 14 in an Optimist and represented Ireland aged 15. I moved into the Laser 4.7 aged 16 followed by the Radial aged 17, I was ranked number 1 in Ireland in the Laser Radial in 2010 and 2011. I also race RS Elites, and finished 2nd at the British Championships last year the day after coming home from Miss World.

First Sailing Experience:
Crewing in a Mirror dinghy at the World Championships. I was allowed to lie in then delivered to the boat on the slip because I was so young and useless, I couldn't do my own hair in a ponytail either. But we seemed to do ok and finished as Girl World Champions.

Hobbies/Other Sports:
I've been playing club netball for 11 years and captain my team in NI Premier League at the moment. Apart from that I have dabbled in most sports and give anything a go. But end up spending most of my time training in the gym.

Favourite Food:
Coco Pops, Granola, Jelly Snakes

What is Your Life Long Ambition:
To win an Olympic Medal

Name: Saskia Tidey
Height: 6'1"
DOB: 11th June 1993
Home Location: Dun Laoghaire, Co.Dublin, Ireland
Position on boat: Crew
Club: The Royal Irish Yacht Club

Olympic Experience:
First time Olympic Campaigner

General Outline of Sailing Career to Date:
Started Sailing at the age of 11. Represented Ireland for 5 years in the Laser Radial and 470 class. Sailed a season on board an all female 18ft skiff crew which competed in the 2013 18ft Skiff World Championship, Sydney, Australia.

First Sailing Experience:
Being terrified of capsizing in Dublin bay because of the seals!

Hobbies/Other Sports:
I like any sport. Skiing, netball, tennis, any form of sailing, and in my spare time going to the gym.

Favourite Food:
Cereal, manuka honey

What is Your Life Long Ambition:
To win a Olympic Medal

#DRAGON – Dublin's Martin Byrne is taking on a double Olympic gold medal winner and former world champion to defend his Dragon Edinburgh Cup title in the first week of July. Byrne, the Commodore of the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, leads a strong international field of sailors travelling to Belfast to take part in what is set to be one of the largest Dragon Class yachting events of its kind. Sponsored by Belfast Harbour, Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club is hosting the 2012 Edinburgh Cup, the UK Dragon Championships, which will take place on Belfast Lough from 4th July-7th July.

Forty-six boats from 10 different countries, including Australia, Japan and Monaco, will compete in what is the largest field in 25 years as the international race returns to Northern Ireland for the first time since 2000. The event will see Denmark's Poul Ricard Hoj Jensen, who struck sailing gold in the Soling class at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics, pit his wits against Byrne and a strong Irish fleet including current Miss Northern Ireland Tiffany Brien, an experienced sailor who was ranked number one in Ireland in the single handed Laser Radial Class last year. Tiffany is crewing for Julian Sowry, one of the top UK competitors.

A former Edinburgh Cup winner, in addition to his world and Olympic successes, Jensen is excited about returning to a race course he rates very highly, saying:

"I am very much looking forward to taking part in the Edinburgh Cup in Belfast, I have sailed there numerous times before and the sailing area and race course are outstanding – in fact, it would be difficult to find a better race track anywhere in the UK.

"I have not yet seen the new marina constructed by Belfast Harbour and look forward to seeing the facility. I am also very well acquainted with the hospitality of the Royal North of Ireland Yacht club and I am excited about meeting up with 'old friends' and enjoying the social activities during the event."

The Edinburgh Cup will be preceded by the British Northern Area Championships from 1st July-3rd July, also hosted by Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club. A parade of sail involving over 30 competing Dragon class yachts will take place from Belfast Harbour's new marina facility at Abercorn Basin to the finish line at Royal North on Saturday evening (6pm) to launch both sailing competitions.

Simon Brien, of Royal North of Ireland and father of Tiffany Brien, commented:

"The calibre of entries for the Edinburgh Cup is truly exceptional and, given that we will have up to 10 different nationalities represented, I don't think there has ever been a sailing event in Northern Ireland with such a high quality international fleet. Challenging Poul Ricard Hoj Jensen for the title is a real who's who from the international yachting elite, with current world champion, Lawrie Smith, and Edinburgh Cup holder, Martin Byrne, also coming to take part.

"It's a real coup for Royal North to have such a stellar line-up and we would like to thank principal sponsor Belfast Harbour, whose support has been invaluable in ensuring we are able to host an event befitting the high calibre of participants. As ever, there is a varied programme of entertaining social events to accompany the competitive action and I would encourage people to come along and watch some world-class international Dragon class yacht racing."

In 2010, Royal North hosted the Irish Dragon Championships, also sponsored by Belfast Harbour, which attracted boats from throughout the UK and Europe. Looking forward to the Edinburgh Cup and British Northern Area Championships, Roy Adair, CEO of Belfast Harbour, commented:

"Belfast Harbour has strong historical links with the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club and, following the great success of the Irish Dragon Boat Championships both on and off the water in 2010, we are delighted to once again form a partnership in hosting one of the most prestigious Dragon yacht racing events in the world.

"Just last month over 60 yachts from across Ireland enjoyed the new marina facilities at Belfast Harbour during our Lough to Lagan Floatilla and we are looking forward to welcoming international competitors and their families to Belfast once again. Tourism has been a major driver of the Northern Ireland economy – sailing, and the Edinburgh Cup in particular, adds another layer to Northern Ireland's tourism offering."

#MISS NORTHERN IRELAND – Royal North of Ireland YC dinghy sailor Tiffany Brien is on her way to the Miss World Competition in China having won the 2012 Miss Northern Ireland competition in Belfast this week. One of Ireland's top Laser Radial sailors, Tiffany was crowned at a 'glittering' ceremony at the Europa Hotel in Belfast on Monday night.

Tiffany jets off to the Miss World final in China on Saturday August 18, more or less the same time as she had been planning to represent Ireland at the Olympics until Dublin's Annalise Murphy took the top Irish slot. The Belfast Telegraph has more on the story here. But Tiffany is still sailing though and as well as national Laser Radial honours Miss Northern Ireland will be sailing across the Irish sea to help fellow sailor, blind adventurer Mark Pollock who is recovering from a fall. The pair are to sail across the Irish sea together for a number of charities.

Tiffany, daughter of well know Belfast lough sailor Simon Brien, will compete against over 100 girls from round the world, including, Miss Ireland, Rebecca Maguire, who is also from Belfast.

More photos of Tiffany's Miss Northern Ireland success here.

 

#LASER - A pair of British sailors are set to embark on an intrepid crossing of the Irish Sea using just two single-handed Laser dingies.

David Summerville and Steve Cockerill had originally planned to make the crossing in September last year, but those plans were scuppered by 50-knot gale force winds and a 12-foot tidal swell, according to Incentive Travel.

But the duo is now planning to try again, with the backing of the Ramada Plaza Southport.

“David and Steve will be covering 115 nautical miles during the challenge," said Ramada Plaza general manager Enda Rylands. "They will set off from my own home town of Dublin and finish in Southport, aiming to raise £50,000 for mental health charity Mind and the John Merricks Sailing Trust."

Summerville, a 53-year-old grandfather of two who runs a boat repair business, said the date of the challenge would again depend on weather and tidal conditions, and that the pair is ready to depart any time from mid-April to mid-September.

It's not the first time that an Irish Sea crossing has been done in a Laser as Tiffany Brien achieved the feat in 2010, sailing single-handedly the 30 miles from Portpatrick in Scotland to Belfast Lough.

But Summerville and Cockerill's ambitious undertaking, at more than three times that distance, would surely get them a place in the record books - provided the weather goes their way!

National Yacht Club Olympic campaigner Annalise Murphy won the UK Laser Radial Qualifiers in North Wales at the weekend. It was a short, sharp affair with no wind in Pwhelli on Saturday. She scored a 1,1,6 in the three races on Sunday sailing in a southerly 15-knot breeze and in a mixed fleet of 79 entrants.

There was no doubt that race two of the series was owned by Murphy who had finished 55th in the first race according to a UK Laser report. Murphy's upwind speed put the rest of the fleet to shame and she pulled well clear leaving the rest of the fleet to scrap over the minor places. Brewster who has been training with Murphy in Ireland obviously had some of the strong wind technique rubbed off on her to take second with Phil McCoy coming in third.

Race three and Hannah Snellgrove had the best start but Murphy footed off underneath and with the first shift tacked and was never seen again. Harvey showed that he can not only perform in the light but also the wind, putting in a convincing second, with Olly Porter taking third.

Race four and Murphy was unable to clear the pin at start time and had to tack duck the whole fleet, leaving her to claw her way back through the fleet which was being initially led by Harvey. The battle at the final windward mark was between Porter and Harvey who were well clear of the chasing pack, with Emmett holding off Murphy for third. This time downwind Porter got the better of Harvey, securing the bullet with Harvey second. This was more than enough for Harvey to take the event with Porter's bullet putting him into second. Murphy had a disappointing downwind to finish seventh and a drop to third overall.

However upon returning ashore it transpired that Harvey had been black flagged, promoting Emmett to second in the race. This dropped Harvey to fifth overall and promoted Murphy to take the event on tie breaker!

Overall results:

1st Annalise Murphy 8pts
2nd Olly Porter 8pts
3rd Andrea Brewster 11pts
4th Cameron Douglas 12pts
5th Ross Harvey 13pts
6th Hannah Snellgrove 17pts

Murphy (21) is in Weymouth today at a two week training camp before Ireland's first Olympic qualification event at the Delta Lloyd regatta in Holland. It's a process however that has got easier for the Dun Laoghaire sailor following the withdrawal of the Belfast lough campaigner Tiffany Brien.

Far from hanging up her boots though Brien was back on home waters winning the Laser Radial Ulster Championships at Royal North Ireland YC, Cultra last weekend.

 

 

Annalise Murphy goes in to today's final round of Miami Olympic Classes Regatta in Florida as a medal contender in the Laser Radial class after a string of top results gave her fourth overall last night.

The strong Dun Laoghaire girl relished the prospects of the big winds that blew at times on Biscayne Bay this week. Consistent results of 5, 15, 2, 2, 5, 6 11,9, (21) and 5 never saw her out of the top five.

Tuesday saw her bag two second places in a fleet of 58.  It was a turning point in a regatta that she crashed out of last year only to return wth grit to be Ireland's only medal hope today.

Last night's move up to fourth overall on the scoreboard is another confidence boost, heightening the prospect of a place on this evening's podium. Conditions in Miami today are forcast to be light, probably not the conditions the National Yacht club girl would have hoped for.

In the Star Peter O'Leary and his crew for his London 2012 bid David Burrows finished with a strong fifth place yesterday but it was not enough to make today's final. They finished 13th overall after counting a black flag disqualification on day two of the event. See all results HERE.

Rival to Annalise, Tiffany Brien from Belfast Lough finished 21st overall.

Her club mate Jame Espey was 49th out of 52 after 7 races in the Laser gold fleet.

More from Miami organisers below:

Waking to a brisk northwesterly breeze, sailors at US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR yesterday made up for races lost to light air Wednesday. The conditions, though chilly by Florida standards, played out perfectly for medals to be determined in three Paralympic classes, while 10 Olympic classes fought their final battles for the right to compete in tomorrow’s medal races, which are comprised of top-ten “sail-offs” for Finn, 49er, Men’s 470, Women’s 470, Laser, Laser Radial, Men’s RS:X, Women’s RS:X and Star classes, and Finals and Petit Finals for Elliott 6m (women’s match racing).  The regatta, which began Monday for 716 sailors from 53 nations, prepares Olympic and Paralympic sailing aspirants for the 2012 Games and is the second of seven stops on the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup circuit.

For France’s Damien Seguin, a two-time 2.4mR IFDS World Champion who is currently ranked  #1 in the world, winning gold in the Paralympic 2.4mR class was looking good from day two when he assumed the lead over his 30-boat fleet.  Clinching today, however, was not as straightforward as today’s scores seemed to reflect.  Following seven boat lengths behind leader USA’s John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wis.) at the finish in race one, Seguin was determined the actual winner when Ruf was disqualified for starting the race prematurely and neglecting to exonerate himself.  “After that, for my next two races, my score was such that I needed only to loosely cover Thierry Schmitter (NED),” said Seguin, further explaining that only if he finished worse than sixth would he foil his own plot. Schmitter, another IFDS World Champion, took the Silver Medal, finishing fourth in the first race and winning the next two, each time with Seguin behind in second.  

“There were many different winds here,” said Damien about the practice this provides for his run for a spot on the French national team.  “We started in strong wind, then there was light wind and today medium-strong.  I am very happy for that and for the competition.”

Taking bronze was Canada’s Allan Leibel, who is able-bodied and allowed to compete here, since the class is declared “open” for this event.

The Gold Medal taking in the Paralympic Sonar class by GBR’s John Robertson/Hannah Stodel/Steve Thomas came with an intriguing twist today. With two races completed, the Dutch team of Udo Hessels/Mischa Rossen/Marcel van de Veen were in the lead, and surprisingly, they did not sail the third and final race. 

“There were two points between us and the Dutch, so no one will ever know how it would have played out on the water,” said Robertson, explaining that he understands Hessel’s middle crew Rossen, a single-arm amputee, had been having problems with his opposite shoulder and the team had decided beforehand to race no more than two races today.

Robertson’s team, which took the Silver here last year, posted a final score of 30 to the 36 points posted by silver medalists Bruon Jourdren/Eric Flageul/Nicolas Vimont Vicary (FRA). The Dutch team, with 37 points, is going home with the Bronze.

As for his team’s overall strategy here, Robertson said, “We tried to sail our own race and not get hung up with the other guys. Hanna did a fantastic job calling tactics, especially today, as the wind was up and down and all over the place, with 40-50 degree shifts.”

The Australian Paralympic SKUD 18 team of Daniel Fitzgibbon/Liesl Tesch has led their fleet since day one and boasted six victories in their nine-race score line to take the Gold medal.  Today they finished 1-1-2.

“We didn’t walk away with it, really, but we were comfortably ahead,” said Fitzgibbon, who won a Paralympic Silver Medal (with a different crew) in Qingdao. "We didn’t expect to have done so well with such a new combination,” he added, noting that he and Tesch, who gave up Paralympic basketball (she is a two-time medalist) for her new-found love of sailing, have only been together on the SKUD 18 for a few weeks. “It’s a new challenge for her and a breath of fresh air for everybody.”
Taking Silver was US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics’ Scott Whitman/Julia Dorsett (USA), with Alexandra Rickham/Niki Birrell (GBR) taking the Bronze.

Medal Races Tomorrow
Top-ten finishers from today in each of nine Olympic classes will get only one chance--a 30- to 40-minute race—to make or break their claim to a podium position.  Emulating the Olympic format, the medal race counts double points and cannot be counted as the one allowed discard race when it is added to a sailor’s score line from the rest of the series.

In women’s match racing, US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics members Anna Tunnicliffe(/Molly Vandemoer/Debbie Capozzi (Plantation, Fla., USA/Redwood City, Calif./Bayport, N.Y., USA) will meet Claire Leroy/ Elodie Bertrand/Marie Riou (FRA) in a first-to-three points Finals match tomorrow to determine Gold and Silver medalists.  Lucy Macgregor/Mary Rook/ Kate Macgregor (GBR) and Sally Barkow (Nashotah, WI., USA)/ Alana O’Reilly (Charleston SC, USA)/ Elizabeth Kratzig-Burnham (Miami Beach FL, USA) will be fighting for bronze in the Petit Finals.

Match racing starts on its own course at 9:30 tomorrow, with fleet racing starting at 11:00 am on two additional courses.  Fleet races are planned to be approximately 30 minutes in length and started 40 minutes apart. No racing will start after 1:40 p.m., so it will be an early day. 

US SAILING has partnered with the city of Miami to provide world-class venues for competition. Additional hosts for the event include Coral Reef Yacht Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Miami Rowing Club and Shake-a-Leg Miami. These sailing organizations host classes onshore, as well as help run the on-the-water racing. The Coral Reef Yacht Club also hosts the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

In addition to title sponsor Rolex Watch U.S.A., US SAILING’s 2011 Rolex Miami OCR is also sponsored by AlphaGraphics, Gowrie Group, Chubb Insurance, Sperry Top-Sider, Harken McLube, Trinity Yachts, University of Miami Hospital and Kattack.

A complete roster of competitors can be viewed at the event website, RMOCR.ussailing.org, where real-time racecourse blogging, commentary and fan interaction, regatta results, photos and news updates will be integrated into a live coverage platform once racing begins. Video highlights produced by Gary Jobson and presented by Rolex air daily and are available on-demand on the event website. Fans can also follow the event on Facebook/RolexMiamiOCR and Twitter/RolexMiamiOCR.

More in our Olympics 2012 category HERE

Twenty-year old sailor Tiffany Brien from Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club presented an £18,000 Paralympic sailing boat to local disabled charity Belfast Lough Sailability in Belfast Harbour today – the culmination of two years of fundraising by the 2012 Olympic hopeful.

The boat was officially launched today at Abercorn Basin, Titanic Quarter Belfast and was formally named 'Will Power' by Tiffany and Len O'Hagan, Chairman of Belfast Harbour. The significance of the name relates to a very close friend of Tiffany's, Will Doggart, who was paralysed last year following an accident. Will attended the launch today and has sailed in the new boat alongside Tiffany.

The 'Skud 18' sailing boat took two years to build in Australia and is the most high tech paralympic boat available. 'Will Power' is the first of its kind to arrive in Ireland and has already been committed to the goal of qualifying for the Irish Paralympic sailing team for the 2012 Paralympic Games - with local athlete Steve Frecknell hoping to compete for a medal. The boat will be the responsibility of Carrick based sailing charity Belfast Lough Sailability who will also use the boat to help disabled sailors to sail competitively in Northern Ireland.

Tiffany Brien began her fundraising campaign two years ago when she sailed 30 miles single-handedly across the Irish Sea from Portpatrick in Scotland to Belfast Lough raising a total of £18,400. Before launching the boat today she commented: "I am so excited to be sailing the new boat in Belfast Harbour today. It feels like I have been waiting for a long time for it to arrive. It is even more exciting that the Irish Paralympic sailing team has committed to using the new boat in their campaign for the 2012 Paralympic Games - fingers crossed it helps to bring a medal back."

Tiffany will also be hoping to bring an Olympic medal back to Northern Ireland as she is currently competing to represent Ireland in the Laser Radial Class at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Nigel Thompson, Chairman of Belfast Lough Sailability comments: "Everyone at Sailability is totally overcome with the sheer determination and generosity Tiffany has shown in her fundraising campaign. The arrival of the boat today is the culmination of the dedication and resolve demonstrated by this young lady when she sailed singled handedly across the Irish Sea. Not only will our Paralympic hopefuls benefit from this but many other disabled sailors in Northern Ireland will get to enjoy this exceptional boat - including Tiffany's friend Will, who hopes to become an active member of Sailability and a keen sailor. We would like to thank Tiffany sincerely and wish her the best of luck in her own Olympic campaign."

Belfast Lough Sailability is a "not for profit", volunteer-based charity which, through the activity of sailing, enriches the lives of people with any type of disability, the elderly, the financially and socially disadvantaged.

Belfast Harbour has been the principal sponsor of Tiffany's Sailability campaign. BTWCairns, Airtricity, Stena Line, Belfast Telegraph and Ulster Bank and Brook House Art & Design are associate sponsors.

The Laser National Championships run by Ballyholme YC on Belfast Lough over the last four days (Thursday 26th - Sunday 29th August) saw a mix of wind conditions with the final day, like the Feva Nationals on Dublin Bay, being blown out for the 120 competitors.

In the Standard Rig, Ronan Wallace (Wexford B & TC) took the title from Robert Espey (Ballyholme YC) and Stpehen Mc Lernon (Cushedall SC).

Annalise Murphy (National YC) won the Radial Championships from Philip Doran (Courtown SC) and Tiffany Brien (Ballyholme YC).

Annalise won 4 of the 8 races sailed including all three in the 16-20 knot breeze on Saturday. The National YC sailor becomes the first female sailor to take the Laser Radial Irish National title.

The 4.7 rig was won by John Flynn (Dungarvan SC) from Colm O Regan (Kinsale YC) and Stephen Duke (Courtown SC). The first girl in the 4.7 was Georgina Corbett (LDYC/NYC).

Royal Cork's Peter O'Leary and his stand in German crew Frithjof Kleen are 13th overall after two races in the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta at Weymouth. O'Leary's rival for the Irish Star nomination at the Olympic regatta in two years time fared less well in the opening breezy rounds; Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks lie 33rd in the 36-boat fleet. There is a three way battle for Irish honours in the 91-boat Women's Laser Radial. In the qualifying rounds Annalise Murphy is racing in the blue fleet. Tiffany Brien and Saskia Tidey are both in the yellow flight. Northern Irleland's James Espey and Chris Penney are coming to terms with a full on Olympic Laser fleet of 180 boats. Full results HERE. Video at the end of this post.

It cannot have been an easy decision for the triple Olympic gold medalist, Ben Ainslie, to return to the Finn class at Skandia Sail for Gold 2010. Ainslie completely dominated the Finn, unbeaten between 2004 and 2008, winning gold medals at both the bookending Olympic regattas. Ainslie was the man who put the bite into Dennis Connor's book title, 'No Excuse to Lose'.

But right now, Ainslie has every excuse to lose; preoccupied with Team Origin campaigns in the TP52, the Louis Vuitton Trophy and the World Match Racing Tour, not to mention the little matter of being eight kilograms under his fighting weight. But an ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta at home, at the venue of the 2012 Games? How could he not compete? How could he not win? But how could he win, after so long out of the boat? Dilemma...

But Ainslie was taking it all in his stride this afternoon, "It's funny because this morning I was talking to my coach about my goals for the week, and we laughed because normally we wouldn't worry, I just want to be at the top! It is a very different week for me, because it's not about where I place, it's about rejoining the Finn fleet, seeing how it has progressed and learning about the conditions in Weymouth." And perhaps unsurprisingly, after a shaky first race, Ainslie was right back in the hunt for the second, and finished fourth for the day. Watch this space.

Things went less smoothly for his barely-less-gilded tactician at Team Origin, the double Olympic gold medalist, Iain Percy, and his crew, Andrew Simpson. They were also returning to the boat after a lay-off due to duties with Team Origin – although not such a long one, they are the reigning Star World Champions. But they broke a forestay before the first race, and had to come ashore to fix it, returning to the line two minutes after everyone else had started the second race - eventually finishing 21st. Simpson said afterwards, "Realistically you can't predict a forestay break like we had today, there is just an element of bad luck involved in these things but it's part of the game. But we went out there afterwards, we fought back and managed to take back 17 places."

The Star fleet was dominated by two more America's Cup sailors, Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk – the Kiwi duo won both races, an awesome performance in a fleet of this class. But elsewhere, things went better for Skandia Team GBR, with Nic Asher and Elliot Willis sharing the lead in the 470 Men with French duo Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos.

Other stand-out performances belong to Udo Hessels and Mischa Rossen in the Sonar class with two bullets. While in the 49er, Frenchmen Manu Dyen and Stephane Christidis scored two seconds. Jonathan Lobert (FRA)  scored a first and a second in the Finn class, while both Marit Bouwmeester (NED) and Veronika Fenclova (CZE) won their two races in their respective Laser Radial fleets to be joint top.

More from those Quotes

Ben Ainslie

"I really enjoyed it today, we had some great racing even though the conditions were pretty tough for me at my current weight. But I am pleased with how it went and pleased to be racing in the Finn again and to be back at Weymouth.

"It's funny because this morning I was talking to my coach about my goals for the week, and we laughed because normally we wouldn't worry, I just want to be at the top! It is a very different week for me, because it's not about where I place, it's about rejoining the Finn fleet, seeing how it has progressed and learning about the conditions in Weymouth.

"I don't feel any pressure this week. I haven't raced for two years. And I think that having been through so much at the Olympics it's a different feeling. Of course, you want to do well for everyone who supports you, but the biggest pressure always comes from your own desire to succeed.

"There is a lot of good talent in the UK, and it will be tough to qualify. But hopefully that will make us push each other that much harder, so that if I do qualify I am in a much stronger place."

Andrew Simpson

"Realistically you can't predict a forestay break like we had today, there is just an element of bad luck involved in these things but it's part of the game. But we went out there afterwards, we fought back and managed to take back 17 places overall".

"We haven't sailed together that much since Beijing, so we are holding back slightly at the moment. We have competed here before, and we are just enjoying the event, but we will have to ramp it up at the end of the week".

"I think because we have sailed together a lot before, the communication on the boat is good, sailing the boat again is like putting on an old pair of shoes, they still fit - we just have to readjust them a bit. It looks like for this event we will have to work on the breezier stuff".

"All of the foreign competitors here are trying to learn as much as they can about the venue before 2012, just as much as we are. Obviously we're based here, so we will spend the next 18 months working out the wind and getting the boat just right. A medal at 2012 is definitely possible for us, we wouldn't compete if it wasn't. But we will have to work hard and put in the hours on the water."

More from those QuotesBen Ainslie"I really enjoyed it today, we had some great racing even though the conditions were pretty tough for me at my current weight. But I am pleased with how it went and pleased to be racing in the Finn again and to be back at Weymouth.
"It's funny because this morning I was talking to my coach about my goals for the week, and we laughed because normally we wouldn't worry, I just want to be at the top! It is a very different week for me, because it's not about where I place, it's about rejoining the Finn fleet, seeing how it has progressed and learning about the conditions in Weymouth.
"I don't feel any pressure this week. I haven't raced for two years. And I think that having been through so much at the Olympics it's a different feeling. Of course, you want to do well for everyone who supports you, but the biggest pressure always comes from your own desire to succeed.
"There is a lot of good talent in the UK, and it will be tough to qualify. But hopefully that will make us push each other that much harder, so that if I do qualify I am in a much stronger place."
Andrew Simpson"Realistically you can't predict a forestay break like we had today, there is just an element of bad luck involved in these things but it's part of the game. But we went out there afterwards, we fought back and managed to take back 17 places overall".
"We haven't sailed together that much since Beijing, so we are holding back slightly at the moment. We have competed here before, and we are just enjoying the event, but we will have to ramp it up at the end of the week".
"I think because we have sailed together a lot before, the communication on the boat is good, sailing the boat again is like putting on an old pair of shoes, they still fit - we just have to readjust them a bit. It looks like for this event we will have to work on the breezier stuff".
"All of the foreign competitors here are trying to learn as much as they can about the venue before 2012, just as much as we are. Obviously we're based here, so we will spend the next 18 months working out the wind and getting the boat just right. A medal at 2012 is definitely possible for us, we wouldn't compete if it wasn't. But we will have to work hard and put in the hours on the water."

Results – Top Five

470 Woman Results
1st Lecointre and Geron FRA 8 points
2nd Kondo and Tabata JPN 11 points
3rd Rol and Defrance FRA 15 points
4th Westerhof and Berkhout NED 19 points
5th Maxwell and Kinsolving USA 23 points
470 Men Results
1st Leboucher and Garos FRA 4 points
2nd Asher and Willis GBR 4 points
3rd Patience and Bithell GBR 8 points
4th Kambouridis and Polychronidid GRE 9 points
5th Biehl and McNay USA 11 points

49er Results
1st Dyen and Christidis FRA 6 points
2nd Outteridge and Jenson AUS 10 points
3rd Draper and Greenhalgh GBR 10 points
4th Burling and Tuke NZL 10 points
5th Phillips and Phillips AUS 15 points

Finn Results
1st Lobert FRA 3 points
2nd Le Breton FRA 11 points
3rd Gaspic CRO 15 points
4th Ainslie GBR 17 points
5th Karpak EST 17 points

Laser Results
1st Murdoch NZL 3 points
2nd De Haas NED 6 points
3rd Goodison GBR 6 points
4th Van Vianen NED 12 points
5th Brunning AUS 12 points

Laser Radial Results
1st Bouwmeester NED 2 points
2nd Fenclova CZE 2 points
3rd De Truckheim FRA 5 points
4th Clapcich ITA 6 points
5th Steyaert FRA 8 points

RS:X Men Results
1st Rodrigues POR 5 points
2nd Bontemps FRA 6 points
3rd Dempsey GBR 6 points
4th Heidegger ITA 6 points
5th Santos BRA 6 points
RS:X Women Results
1st Manchon ESP 4 points
2nd Charline FRA 6 points
3rd Tartaglini ITA 7 points
4th Shaw GBR 10 points
5th Hamilton GBR 11 points

Star results
1st Pepper and Monk NZL 2 points
2nd Florent and Rambeau FRA 5 points
3rd Polgar and Koy GER 8 points
4th Mendelblatt and Von Schwarz USA 12 points
5th Grael and Ferreira BRA 16 points

Women's Match Racing – unbeaten to date
Macgregor, Lush and Macgregor GBR 3-0
Tunicliffe, Vandemer and Capozzi USA 3-0
Leroy, Riou and Bertrand FRA 4-0
Le Berre, Ponsor and Ponge FRA 3-0
Souter, Curtis and Price AUS 4-0
Kjellberg, Kallstrom and Harryson SWE 4-0
Lehtinen, Klemetz and Kanerva FIN 4-0
Spithill, Eastwell and Farrell AUS 4-0

Paralympic
2.4mR Results
1st Damien FRA 3 points
2nd Schmitter NED 3 points
3rd Kol NED 6 points
4th Bugg AUS 11 points
5th Tingley CAN 13 points
Skud-18 Results
1st Rickham and Birrell GBR 3 points
2nd Fitzgibbon and Cox AUS 3 points
3rd McRoberts and Hopkin CAN 6 points
4th Hovden and Millward GBR 8 points
5th Hall and Faulks GBR 10 points

Sonar Results
1st Hessels and Rossen NED 2 points
2nd Kroker and Prem GER 5 points
3rd Robertson and Stodel GBR 7 points
4th Wang-hansen and Kristiansen NOR 9 points
5th Cohen and Vexler ISR 10 points

Full results HERE

More than five hours of frustrating drifting on the Clyde off  Largs today proved to be in vain for the sailors awaiting racing at the Laser Radial World Championships.

The mirror like waters were only occasionally ruffled by light airs from conflicting directions, and only – as the race officers' version of Murphy's Law would have it – as the appropriate signals were made, was there anything close to a breeze.

Sari Multala, Finland's defending world champion goes into the final day of scheduled racing with a lead of seven points over Marit Bouwmeester (NED).

It will be an interesting finale. Forecasts conflict as to how much or how little breeze there will be and the opinions seem to be towards either extreme.
Even if there are three races for the Women's gold fleet there can only be one discarded result and Bouwmeester has not finished outside the top ten so far, whilst Multala has a weighty 49th from Race 4 as her throwout.

In the Men's fleet it is champion Marcin Rudawski (POL), also the defending 2009 who enters the last day at Largs with a six points lead and only a seventh place as his discard, whilst fellow Pole Wojciech Zemke lies second and the USA's impressive 16 year old Mitchell Kiss lies third.

Standings: Laser Radial Womens World Championships
Gold Flight Overall After race 6 Inc. 1 discard
1 S Multala (FIN)  4,3,1,(49),2,5, Nett = 15pts,
2 M Bouwmeester (NED) 2,1,5,(7),6,8,= 22pts,
3 P Railey (USA) 3,1,4,16,(17),3 = 27pts,
4  S Steyaert (FRA) 23,4,1,3, 15,4, = 27pts,
5 T Drozdovskaya (BLR) 1,5,14,3,(32),13, = 36pts,
6 T Mihelic (CRO) 15,8,3,8,(35),6, = 40pts,
7 A Tunnicliffe (USA) 1,2,37,(49),5,2, = 47pts,
8  E Van Acker (BEL) 6,11,(21),14,1,15, = 47pts,
9 G Scheidt (LTU) 13,19,2,4,(40),11, = 49pts,
10 M de Kerangat (FRA) 18,7,15,5,(19),10 = 55pts,

Laser Radial Mens World Championship 2010
Overall After Race 6 Inc. 1 Discard
1 M Rudawski (POL) 1,2,1,1,1,(7), Nett = 6pts,
2 W Zemke (POL) 1,1,2,1,7,(OCS[48]), = 12pts,
3 M Kiss (USA) 4,10,3,(29),2,2, = 21pts ,
4 B Koppelaar (NED)  9,4,1,(37),4,4, = 35pts,
5 I Kim (KOR) ,5,8,4,2,(32),16, = 35pts,

Sari Multala (FIN): "It was pretty strange. I found the decision to cancel when they did a little strange but of course it is always frustrating to sit around for the whole day. It is nice to be going into the last day with a seven points lead, but I still have to sail well because it looks we will only get one discard so every race is going to count. But almost everyone is in the same position. Marit who is behind me is in a good position as she has no bad races. It would be nice to get some more races for sure. But for me it will be about managing the risks and a top 5 result could be enough."

Marit Bouwmeester (NED) "It is a shame because it is always better to get racing. I think it will be all down to tomorrow I think it is better for everyone to get more races in. I am pretty happy with the way it has gone and I don't think I could have gone any better. I'm not too worried about what the weather does tomorrow but I do like to sail in strong winds."

Tatiana Drozdovskava (BLR): "It is very strange weather out there, no wind at all, just a mirror for five hours. For me I am fairly happy with my position, but more races tomorrow would be good."

Ali Young (GBR): "It was frustrating, but there was nothing that the race management could do. It was just when we started to get towed in that there was some wind.
It has gone alright for me. I have managed to stay fairly consistent, so hopefully we will get three races in tomorrow and that would finish it off nicely. I am happy with how things have gone so far. We have had some very tricky conditions and so I am pleased to have been able to keep consistent with my starts and build my races from there.
There are pretty conflicting forecasts but it would be just good to get some more races in. It will be shifty here no matter where the wind comes from, that is what we have seen all week. You know it will be shifty because there is so much land around.
We did not see any easterlies when we trained here and have now raced in that, but the training we did was valuable even just to get your head into what it is like."

Racing Schedule

Laser Radial Women's and Men's World Championships

Qualification Series                      Friday 9th to Sunday 11th July
Final Series                                  Monday 12th to Wednesday 14th July
Prize Giving                                 Wednesday 14th July