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Sailing: Brits riding high at Dutch World Cup regatta

June 2, 2024

Britain’s sailors excelled in the final day of the ISAF Sailing World Cup event in Holland, with women’s match racing trio Lucy Macgregor, Nicky Muller and Ally Martin picking up a silver medal, and Bryony Shaw and Helena Lucas winning bronzes in the women’s RS:X windsurfing and 2.4mR Paralympic class respectively.

The trio of Macgregor, Muller and Martin (pictured) had to deploy some aggressive race tactics to compete in the final, after the French team took the first two matches to leave the GBR trio fighting back in the building breeze across the Ijsselmeer at Medemblik.

They took the third and fourth matches, forcing a decider in the best-of-five series. However, the French team clung on to take gold.

“It was a great final in the end,” said Macgregor. “We lost the first two so the pressure was on for the rest of the racing and we pulled back really well to win the next two after that. It was frustrating to lose the last race – we were winning initially and then lost it on the first downwind so it was game over from there really.”

“It’s been a great week for us,” she continued, “We have learnt a lot”.

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Related Stories:

Sailing: Macgregor secures silver at European Championships despite setbacks

Sailing: Shaw part of golden trio as GBR dominate in France

Sailing: Lucas scores Palma silver

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Olympic bronze medallist Bryony Shaw went into the RS:X medal race in bronze medal position having broken into the top three positions on the penultimate day. Despite having to take penalty turns after infringing her French rival Pauling Perron at the first windward mark, Shaw held onto the overall third spot – meaning three straight podium spots from three European World Cup events so far.

“It’s been a really hard week,” Shaw said afterwards. “It’s been hard to stay consistent in the really shifty offshore winds so it was good to finish on the podium finally. I’m tired but happy!”

Helena Lucas only finished ninth in the final race today, her worst finish of the regatta, but it was enough to secure bronze by two points from fellow Brit Megan Pascoe in the 2.4mR Paralympic class. “Getting a result here has been really key for me,” said Lucas. “We’ve got the IFDS World Championship here in July so to get a medal here before the IFDS Worlds gives me great confidence going into the event.”

The final-day medal haul brought Britain’s medal total to five for the Delta Lloyd Regatta, with windsurfer Nick Dempsey securing silver and 470 duo Nic Asher and Elliot Willis already having won gold.

Anna Young, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

Image credit: Richard Langdon/Skandia Team GBR

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