They might be sitting pretty at the top after day one of the 2012 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, but Hannah Mills insists the title is far from being a foregone conclusion for herself and Saskia Clark.
The 470 women’s pairing were returning to the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy for this year’s event following last year’s silver-medal winning performance that went a long way to wrapping up their selection for London 2012.
However this time the duo arrived as 470 women’s world champions, having secured the crown in Barcelona last month, and quickly set about exerting their dominance.
In winning the world title Mills and Clark had to fight back from a disqualification in race one, however there was no such trouble at Sail for Gold as the pair finished day one’s two races fourth and first to sit atop the overall standings.
But 24-year-old Mills isn’t about to pop the champagne corks just yet, adamant there is a lot more sailing to come.
“I don’t know if we are the favourites,” she said. “I think our fleet is very wide open.
“I think there are probably four or five girls who on any given day might win.
“It’s nice to be counted as one of the favourites maybe but I think we very much consider ourselves as one of the few that definitely could step it up as it goes on.
“It’s a really important week, it’s the last big event before the Olympics and it’s at the Olympic venue and all our main competitors are here so it’s really important to see where we are in Weymouth in the conditions we get here.”
Investment specialist Skandia is the principal sponsor of the British sailing team. For more information go to www.skandiateamgbr.com.
Ben Baker, Sportsbeat for Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
