Marseille turned up the heat and turned on the breeze for day three of the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition.
In the Men’s Skiff (49er), duo James Peters and Fynn Sterritt relished the stronger breeze yesterday (Tuesday, July 30).
A good start saw them finish race seven in fifth, then eleventh in race eight.
With momentum building they gave everything in the last race and were rewarded with their first race win of Paris 2024 and head in to their penultimate day in fourth overall.
The medal race for the 49er class is scheduled for Thursday.
Peters said: “Breeze is good, light wind is good.
"You've got to be prepared for anything here. I mean, today we didn't think it was going to be windy, and it was.
"Even in the races themselves we had everything, from flat calm in the boat, nothing, to pretty much 18 knots and trying to get through the gybes without capsizing. So, you've got to be prepared for anything here, and we will be.”
It was a more promising day for Freya Black and Saskia Tidey in the Women's Skiff (49er) with the pair posting scores of ninth, 14th and third in the three races yesterday and sit in 17th overall going into today's action in the south of France.
Portland-based Emma Wilson backed up her impressive opening day on Monday with a dominant display in the Women’s Windsurfing (iQFOIL) event.
READ: Emma Wilson on course for medal at Paris 2024 Olympics
The Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist won three of her five qualifying races to sit 17 points clear at the top of the leaderboard with two more days of action before the all-important medal series on Friday.
A beaming Sam Sills, Team GB’s representative in the Men’s Windsurfing (iQFOIL) climbed the leaderboard to ninth after five races today.
Sills said: “I'm doing my best, doing the best I can, just trying to stay focused and deliver.
"I mean, it's tough. It's really tough. There's so much jeopardy out there and you’ve just got to keep calm. Whatever happens, just hold on and keep going. We've got a great team behind us. Just don't give up, basically.”
All four categories resume racing in Marseille later today.
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