Giles Scott proved he’s still the man to beat in the Finn Class after bouncing back from a disappointing first race on the water on day four to record second and first place finishes yesterday.
The four-time Finn Gold Cup winner came home in 17th place in his opening race at Rio 2016, his current discard, but was back on track a day later after dominating the field in wet and windy conditions to sit first overall after the four races.
Scott, who has dominated the class over the past four years, coped well in conditions not associated with the postcard perfect sun-kissed beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
“It was much better than yesterday,” said Scott.
“It was incredibly windy and at the top end we would race in 20 to 25 knots and big seas which made for really full on racing. To come away with a second and first is a lot more pleasing than my day yesterday that’s for sure.
“It’s important not to panic. Going into the week you know the difficult course would be Sugarloaf and I could have read into it [yesterday] a bit too much but it was nice to get into today and have some different conditions to get away from the thoughts of yesterday.
“It was a change in racing and approach and fortunately for me it came good.
“The reason we race such long series is to do away with those particularly fickle races in tricky conditions so hopefully as the week goes on that will come true.”
It was a strong day on the whole for Team GB’s sailing squad as Nick Thompson moved up to second in the Laser with a second and first, while the mixed Nacra 17 pair of Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves made their Olympic debuts in the class, sitting third after two races.
“It was nice to get out there and get some decent breeze and some decent waves,” said Thompson.
“I think Rio really delivered today and they were fantastic conditions and really enjoyable.
“We’ve seen those conditions a lot in training but it wasn’t expecting to see them at this time of year. It was really nice that Rio turned it on for us today. I’ve always favoured strong winds and big waves. Brits love the breeze. As a nation we enjoy strong winds and sailing in those conditions.”
Elsewhere, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are sixth in the women’s 470 while the men’s pairing of Chris Grube and Luke Patience are 11th. Alison Young is up to 13th in the Laser Radial after finishing sixth and ninth in her two races.