GB Finn sailors claim Europeans podium hat-trick<\/p>\n
Written by RYA | 13 May 2017<\/p>\n
Silver, bronze and u23 title for British Finns as European Championship wraps up<\/p>\n
There were triple celebrations for British Finn sailors who closed out three podium results at the European Championships in Marseille on Saturday (13 May).<\/p>\n
Ed Wright secured silver with bronze going to Ben Cornish, while young talent Henry Wetherell took the under 23 European crown as well as sixth place overall at his first Europeans in the men\u2019s Olympic heavyweight class.<\/p>\n
Gold went to the host\u2019s Jonathan Lobert, who led Wright and Cornish across the finish line in the five-boat \u2018winner-takes-all\u2019 trial finals format used for this regatta.<\/p>\n
\u201cA medal here is really exciting because it\u2019s my first event back, apart from Hyeres which was a warm up event last week,\u201d said Bournemouth\u2019s Wright. \u201cI\u2019m sailing probably better than I have done ever at the moment. I\u2019m fast upwind and downwind in all conditions and that\u2019s really exciting. The winter paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy biggest goal was just to medal so halfway through the [final] race I decided to cover Anders and let Cornish and the French guy get away and do whatever they needed to do, I just needed to be top three,\u201d said Wright of his final race. \u201cBut I managed to end up with the silver medal luckily.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason for that is so I can be in a good position for the Worlds later on in the year, less pressure. It could be potentially quite a tricky regatta at the Worlds, so I wanted to be quite relaxed in that environment, so it all worked, and what a wonderful day\u2019s sailing!\u201d<\/p>\n
While Wright is no stranger to the Finn European or World Championship podium, Cornish\u2019s bronze was his first medal at a Europeans, and he also feels his performance has set him up well for the World Championship later in the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good day, that! I came here with the intention of trying to win a medal and as it plays out I have done, so that\u2019s obviously a really good result. It\u2019s nice to be going away from the first big event of the season with a bronze.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe British fleet is particularly strong and seem to be dominating on the world series which is good, and I think everyone constantly raising the bar means we keep moving through and there are young guys coming through punching in to the top ten as well, which is great to see,\u201d the Exmouth sailor added.<\/p>\n
The Finn fleet had been experimenting with a new race format which gave rise to a tense final day, which started with a tenth opening series race after which the top three in the overall standings would automatically progress to a five-boat, winner-takes-all final.<\/p>\n
The sailors ranked fourth to tenth after the opening series then had to fight it out for the two remaining spots, and three British boats were firmly in that battle.<\/p>\n
Wright ended the opening series in fourth, Cornish in ninth and Wetherell in tenth, but the points table was wiped clean for the semi-final showdown and whichever two sailors crossed the finish line first would earn the remaining finals berths.<\/p>\n
The British Sailing Team led that semi-final battle from the front, with Cornish taking the gun, followed by Wright and with young gun Wetherell just missing out.<\/p>\n
But the Snaith sailor, who transferred into the Finn from the Laser just under a year ago, was happy with his performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really good to win the under 23 European Championships,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s been an up and down week. I started off well, had a little dip mid-week and then had a good last race today and just managed to squeak into the top ten.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my first Europeans in the class and I\u2019m feeling pretty good about the whole thing and quite comfortable in the boat.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the last downwind I just got into a little bit of a hole,\u201d recalled Wetherell of his semi-final race. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t much breeze where I was and I just got passed right at the end by Ed which was a bit frustrating, but I\u2019m happy with sixth.\u201d<\/p>\n
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