Great Britain is Fastest Para-team at Sonar Euros

Fresh from being the first athletes picked for the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Great Britain’s Para-Sonar team, consisting of skipper John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas, came seventh at the 2011 Sonar European Open Championships.

Taking place at the Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club in Scotland from 19-21 August, the team on-board the Chimera were the fastest Para-Sonar team at the able-bodied event, and beat eight able-bodied crews.

In the seventh and final race of the competition the crew finished fourth – a success that Hannah Stodel put down to coach Mark Rushall’s tactical preparations.

“We’ve been working on positioning and where you put the boat compared to your competitors to get the best out of the next race. We’ve been working really hard on that for the last couple of weeks, so in the last race it all clicked into place,” Stodel said.

Other Para-Sailing crews to compete included Great Britain’s Andy Cassell, skippering Jenny, who came eighth, and the USA’s Kerry Gruson skippering Blew BaYou2 who finished in 17th place.

Hannah Stodel says the crew’s next goal is the World Championships which take place 24-27 August on the same course at the Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club in Scotland.

“We’ll be looking to do a little bit better next week at the World Championships,” said Stodel. “Obviously we want to be top Paralympic boat again because that just proves that we’re the best in the Paralympic fleet and we want to show the able-bodied guys that we can compete on the same level.”