Great Britain take two of three regatta titles

The Brits powered to titles in the 2.4mR and SKUD 18 events at the Delta Loyd Regatta for sailing. 26 May 2014
Imagen
Water splashes up as a woman sails in a boat.

Great Britain's Megan Pascoe won her fourth sailing medal of 2014 in Medemblik, Netherlands.

ⒸDelta Loyd Regatta
By IPC

“Megan smashed the 2.4s, but we had to fight a little bit harder for ours. It's really good to see the European fleet really developing, with the Italians, the Dutch and the Spanish. All the boats are flying round and going a lot quicker than a few years ago.”

Great Britain took two of the three titles available for para-athletes at the Delta Lloyd Regatta for sailing on Saturday (24 May) in Medemblik, Netherlands, as Megan Pascoe won a stacked 2.4mR competition and Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell powered to the finish in the SKUD 18 event.

Pascoe held such a large lead early in the week in the 2.4mR event that she did not need to sail the second of the two scheduled races on Saturday to defend her 2013 Delta Lloyd crown.

The Netherlands’ Barend Kol and world champion Guus Bijlard finished second and third, respectively.

With the results Pascoe has had this year, she is on track to qualify for her first Paralympic Games in 2016.

“It's my fourth medal of the year,” Pascoe told Great Britain’s Royal Yachting Association. “Retaining my title at Medemblik is really nice. It's an amazing place and I seem to really like it. I always go practising at Frensham Pond before I come here, to get used to the shifts. So I am really excited about this.”

Five-time world champions and Paralympic bronze medallists Rickham and Birrell were made to scrap it out to maintain their winning streak in the SKUD 18 event.

They claimed a hard-fought victory over Italian sparring partners Marco Gualandris and Paolo Bergmaschi to remain unbeaten in the class since the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

But Birrell knows the competition in the SKUD 18 is continuing to build toward Rio, and with August’s IFDS World Championship in Canada providing the first country qualification opportunity for the 2016 Games.

“Megan smashed the 2.4s, but we had to fight a little bit harder for ours,” Birrell said. “It's really good to see the European fleet really developing, with the Italians, the Dutch and the Spanish. All the boats are flying round and going a lot quicker than a few years ago.”

The French crew of Bruno Jourdren, Eric Flageul and Nicolas Vimont-Vicary won the sonar event ahead of the British trio of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas.

In total, 40 sailors from 20 countries, including the entire Sonar podium from the London 2012 Paralympic Games competed in Medemblik.