Ben Ainslie disappointed with form but still leads: 2011 Weymouth and Portland International Regatta
Ben Ainslie of Great Britain had a successful start in Finn class of 2011 Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, grabbing the first place. On the second day, however, he didn’t finish well as he took a sixth and a fifth place. The Brit finished third
in the fifth race on Day 3 and was disappointed with his form but he sprang back in the sixth race and won it.
Despite his slightly rusty performances on the second and third day, Ainslie is still leading the overall standings with 18 points. Ainslie pulled out after a poor beat in the fifth race to finish behind Jonathan Lobert of France and Pieter Jan Postma from
Netherlands. However, the sixth race was quite comfortable for Ainslie, as he sailed sensibly to finish first.
While speaking to the local media after the races, Ainslie said, “It always seems to be windy in Weymouth; well at regattas anyway. It's a bit like the Sail for Gold regatta all over again. It's hard work physically and both Jonathan and PJ are sailing really
well, so we'll see what happens with the conditions for the rest of the week.”
He added, “I was pretty disappointed with the first race as I got fantastic start and thought I had a handle on everything and it all fell apart rather spectacularly at the top and then I really struggled, but I was fortunate in having a really good final
beat and got up to third. Then I got a slightly better grip on the conditions in the second race.”
The overall result after six races is given below:
1. GBR Ben Ainslie 2, 1, (6), 5, 3, 1 = Total Points 18, Net Points 12
2. FRA Jonathan Lobert 3, 2, 3, 6, 1, (13) = Total Points 28, Net Points 15
3. NED Pieter Jan Postma (12), 3, 1, 1, 2, 9 = Total Points 28, Net Points 16
4. EST Deniss Karpak 1, 7, 10, (12), 4, 2 = Total Points 36, Net Points 24
5. CRO Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic 4, 8, 4, 3, 6, (12) = Total Points 37, Net Points 25
6. ESP Rafael Trujillo 14, 5, 2, (15), 9, 3 = Total Points 48, Net Points 33
7. USA Zach Railey 5, 9, (26), 8, 5, 8 = Total Points 61, Net Points 35
8. DEN Jonas Hoegh Christensen (28) DSQ, 6, 7, 7, 8, 7 = Total Points 63, Net Points 35
9. NZL Dan Slater 11, 18, 5, 2, (28) DSQ, 4 = Total Points 68, Net Points 40
10. SWE Daniek Birgmark (28) DSQ, 10, 12, 10, 7, 5 = Total Points 72, Net Points 44
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