Quotes of the day so far

Medal day in Weymouth catch up on some of the quotes of today....

Vincent Garros - Gold 470 Men 
"It was a difficult fight today. We have had good conditions for sailing, the wind was pretty shifty but if you played it right you could win 50 meters in 30 seconds. But that works both ways and if you played it wrong you lost 50 metes in 30 seconds so it was really tight racing all the way to the finish. We are vey happy with the result..  It has been a great regatta for France."

Berta Betanzos  - Silver 470 Women
"We started the medal race in fourth so we had a really good day to get back up to second. We were second for the whole race, the girls that were leading us when we started finished so it was really good. There wasn’t much wind and it was a bit shifty. It is great to beat the French who are world number one, and get into the medal spot. This is our third time in Weymouth; we came first here in 2008 and seventh in 2009 so we are pleased this week and really enjoy sailing here"

Nick Dempsey – Bronze, RS:X
"Today was as it’s been all week, pretty unpredictable. But in essence I messed up the start and the first two guys got away. So then it became about staying in front of the French and staying in third. It was a shame to let first and second positions go, and I was going for Gold. I was lining up for  a risky start but it didn’t shape up how I wanted so I had to bail and started behind the fleet.

On the whole, this week has been brilliant, I have sailed really well even though I haven’t done as much preparation as I would like. I am happy with how I sailed and I sailed well enough this week to have won the regatta and I didn’t. I am ok with the fact I didn’t win, at least we have the world championships in two weeks.  There are always expectations of me when I go into an event but I haven’t been affected by it. I have done well but I haven’t won. The winning is for next year."

Sari Multala – Silver, Laser Radial
“It was a tough race, I had a penalty at the start because of a collision but I made a good comeback so I am really happy. I went to the right side of the course in the first beat which was favourite and I looked like I was leading but then the left came in so it was tough and I was fighting right to the end.”

“I have learnt a lot this week, Weymouth is a challenging place to sail so I definitely want to train some more here. It’s a good end to the season for me.”

Blanca Manchon – Silver, RS:X Women
“You never know in the medal race and today was pretty bad for me. I lost in the first downwind and I was performing pretty badly, whilst she [Picon] did really well so this is the result. But I’m really happy because I had a really good week and sailed well. I have my world championship next week so I have to improve, put in some training and try to win there”.

Dorian van Rijsselberge – Silver, RS:X Men
“It was tricky out there; gusts coming out of nowhere so lots of respect to Rodriguez. To go from fourth place to first is amazing. I had a couple of good learning moments in the week so I will take that and continue. I threw a bit of fun in there [with the duck dive] just for the spectators. There’s a great feeling amongst the competitors. With windsurfing it’s about everybody having the same passion and love for the sport and we love to hang out with each other. I like Weymouth, it’s not a bad spot and there’s plenty to do around here for everyone."

Peter O'Leary – Gold, Star
"We are delighted [with the result]. I think going into the Medal race wearing the yellow bib seems to be quite unlucky every now and again so we weren’t too fazed with going in second. It was quite tricky and shifty out there so we just had to try and stay on the lifting hand [tack] all the time and stay out of trouble. But it was great [out there] it’s a nice boat and we have a decent coach who’s been a great help to us so I think onwards and upwards from here and hopefully we will come back in two years’ time."

"Coming from Ireland it’s probably the closest thing we will ever get to a home Olympics as such so we have to use that to our advantage. From that point of view it’s just like home for us. It’s our first regatta sailing together so we are really pleased."
 
Tom Slingsby – Gold, Laser
"I just managed to keep him [Goodison] at bay. We had a good race and we had a bit of a pre-start match race. We both made some mistakes and I sort of let him off the hook once because I got my rules mixed up a little and he let me off the hook a couple of times. I was lucky I got off the start just a little bit better than him and was able to control him."

"It’s really good going into a medal race knowing you just have to watch one boat. It’s a rare situation where you can just do a one-on-one match race. We don’t get too much of that. Hopefully I can learn from my mistakes this time and if it comes up again I can do a bit better next time. With two weeks to the world championships I have plenty to work on. I always make mistakes sailing, you can never sail 100%. I am pleased though as it’s good to come away with a regatta win."
 
Nathan Outteridge – Gold, 49er
"We had a 12 point lead going into the race today so the idea was not to do anything stupid. The French guys were over the line so that made our life a bit easier. From then on we were fourth and fifth the whole race so we really happy with that.There was obviously a bit of stress and pressure before the race but 20 seconds into the race we were in a really comfortable position. We didn’t cruise around or race around we just kept an eye on everything and there were some big shifts out there but we kept on top of those which again made our life a bit easier."

"I am pleased with our performance during the week. There’s always room for improvement with us but we will be looking forward to coming back next year and repeating what we have done and hopefully learning some more. The Aussies have done great this week and hopefully in two years’ time will be able to do the same if not better. It’s just great to come here and learn as much as we can. We don’t have the advantage of the British who are here every day so we just have to make the most of it what we can."

Giles Scott – Gold, Finn
"It feels very good [to win]. I’m really pleased to have sailed well this week and to come away with a win. It was still quite stressful going into the medal race despite my lead. I was in a good position off the start line and then lost quite a few places down the last run which kind of got me a bit anxious. I managed to hold on and did enough to win which was brilliant."
"It’s fantastic to win here and hopefully over the next few years I can continue to do much of the same. I’ve learnt a lot this week, the amount you learn about the venue doing an event like this is masses alone."

Ben Ainslie – 4th, Finn
"It’s a bit frustrating but I’ve really enjoyed the week and there have been some great races. The medal race was a bit tricky as the wind was shutting off the whole time. I kind of forgot how quickly it can all change in medal racing, you really have to keep your head around what’s going on."

"Next year is important for the Olympics in terms of qualifications. Giles, Edward and Andrew Mills will all be fighting hard for it as well so that will be interesting and next year’s results will be very important. I think Giles and Jonathan sailed really well this week and they both really impressed me. The rest of the fleet have been working hard and moving forward and it was just good to be back sailing against the guys again. I think we are going to go away and work hard over the winter and see what happens next year. For whoever qualifies it’s going to be a tough battle but I think that person will be in a good position once they get through the selection phase."