The best of Weymouth and Portland was on show on Sunday as ten gripping Medal Races brought the final Sailing World Cup event before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to a close. Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland was the final opportunity for sailors to test themselves at an elite, official event before the summer showcase in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Medal Races provided a glimpse of what is to come at Rio 2016 with those aiming to peak for the Olympic Games topping the podium.
A consistent south westerly 10-14 knot breeze ensured a bumper day of live Medal Races in Portland Harbour. Great Britain were the big winners, claiming 13 medals on their home waters.
Watch the Medal Races back in their entirety here - https://youtu.be/DljxrjNTyLo
Men's and Women's 470
Croatia's Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic expertly tackled the Medal Race in the Men's 470 to win an impressive gold medal.
They grabbed the lead early on and never looked back as they overcame a six-point deficit over the leading British and Spanish teams.
"It feels great to win in Weymouth," beamed Fantela immediately after racing, "We have never done it. When we were preparing for the London 2012 Olympics we were always third and fourth. It's great to finally win here."
Fantela and Marenic have won key events in the build-up to Rio 2016. They knocked Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) off of the Men's 470 World Championship throne, winning the title in Buenos Aires, Argentina earlier on in the year. They then snapped up Sailing World Cup Hyères gold and the Weymouth and Portland victory puts them in a strong place going into Rio 2016.
"We are happy with the way we are sailing," said Marenic, "We're taking some good points away and some things to work on with Rio really close. This is showing us we are in a good way and we are looking forward to Rio."
Great Britain's Luke Patience and Chris Grube and Spain's Jordi Xammar and Joan Herp were tied for the lead overnight on 24 points with the Croatians six points behind in third.
The Croatians concentrated on winning the race as both teams pushed to make up the places. Xammar and Herp came closest, finishing level on 32 points with the Croatians, missing out on gold via countback. Even though they had to settle for silver, Xammar and Herp were both delighted with their week.
"It was a good championship for us," expressed Xammar, "It's our second podium in the world cup and having a silver is amazing. We won in Qingdao [2014] but not all the top guys were there."
Herp added, "At one moment we thought we could move up [to first] at the last mark. Our speed brought us up into the silver medal position."
Patience and Grube finished the race in sixth and completed the podium.
British sailors dominated in the Women's 470, making it a clean sweep of British flags on the podium.
Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR) successfully defended the title they won in 2015 after a second in the Medal Race. Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) took the race victory and with it, silver. Amy Seabright and Anna Carpenter (GBR) completed the all-British podium.
Switzerland's Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthaler were tied with Mills and Clark at the top of the leader board before the Medal Race but a seventh meant they missed out via countback, ending up fourth overall.
Finn
Great Britain's Giles Scott continued his dominance in the Finn, claiming another gold medal on his #RoadToRio. Jonathan Lobert (FRA) won the Medal Race to secure silver and Max Salminen (SWE) completed the podium.
Scott finished second to Lobert in a physically tough Finn Medal Race that saw each sailor push the limits. After racing Scott said, "This is about as physical as it gets. The water was flat, there was not a lot of surfing and with free pumping in 10 knots, you put as much energy into it as you can.
"The guys who did well made the most of that."
Lobert was the standout sailor in the Finn class on the day, streaking ahead to win the Medal Race by 15 seconds. The Frenchman has enjoyed great success in Weymouth and Portland over the years, winning bronze at London 2012 and feels comfortable on the waters. "I love Medal Races in Weymouth as I win most of them," exclaimed Lobert. "I feel good here, I have good lines and I am fast."
The Frenchman will be a major contender at Rio 2016 and has his eyes fixed firmly on Scott, "We are pushing for Rio and we know that nobody is unbeatable. He [Scott] is dominating but this week I have been in front of him many times and I hope I can do it again in Rio."