Britain’s Olympic windsurfing bronze medallist Bryony Shaw took the lead in the RS:X fleet on day two of the ISAF Sailing World Cup event in Palma.
It was a long day for competitors and race management alike on this second day at the Princess Sofia Trophy, and patience paid when light winds caused a delay to the start of the day’s racing.
Skandia Team GBR’s sailors fared well when the day’s action did get underway, in generally light sea breeze conditions, with Bryony Shaw proving that she can challenge the world beating Spanish women’s windsurfers on their home waters.
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Shaw collected a fourth and a race win to see her at the top of the women’s leaderboard after day two, four points ahead of Italy’s Laura Linares in second.
“It was really nice to get a win today, and I was in a position to do better in the first race but had a slippery boom which made it tricky,” Shaw commented.
“I’ve just got to keep going through the motions for the rest of the week. I’m not focussing on a result here – it’s a process event so mostly it’s about working on specific techniques, learning, refining and how we can draw on other peoples’ strengths which is the most important thing at this stage.”
Helena Lucas held her form in the 2.4mR Paralympic class, with her 1,4 scoreline from Sunday’s opening day matched again today. She retains her second place overall, with Megan Pascoe still fifth, while 2009 World Cup series and Princess Sofia winner Nick Thompson holds steady in sixth overall in the Laser class.
Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Ally Martin had a long wait to complete their opening round robin matches in the Elliot 6m event, but eventually finished second in their group behind USA’s Sally Barkow.
Elsewhere, Nick Dempsey is placed 26th in the men’s RS:X windsurfing event, Charlotte Dobson is 13th in the Laser Radial and development squad duo Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth are the top British boat in the 470 Women’s event in 21st.
Racing today (Tuesday) looks set to be disrupted, with strong winds forecast across Palma Bay.
Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
Image credit: Dom Tidey/Skandia Team GBR
