MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) – Briton Emma Wilson made a strong start to the Olympic windsurfing on Monday with a first and a second in the series, which had been postponed due to a lack of wind.
It is early days in the event, where the windsurfers ride above the Med on foils, with up to 20 races possible in the series before culminating in a quarter, semi and final.
“It was pretty light winds … we trained a lot in these conditions and I just got off the start line well,” Wilson said after returning ashore following another day of long delays.
She said there was some relief at getting started.
“It was just nice to go windsurfing,” she said, adding that she was drinking lots of water and jumping in the sea to stay cool as some sailors suffer from the intense heat in Marseille.
In the men’s windsurfing, officials only managed to complete one race, with Nicolas Goyard of France making the most of home waters with a first place once racing began.
Noah Lyons of the United States, who like many sailors was sporting an ice vest to lower his core temperature, said that delays were “just the nature of the game”.
“If you let yourself get frustrated you are going to sail worse,” Lyons told Reuters on the edge of the beach where the windsurfers launch from huge tents.
“I wish we could race more, but it is what it is and we participate in a sport where we are completely reliant on something we can’t control,” said Lyons, who is lying fifth.
In the men’s and women’s skiff events, where three more races were completed in the 12-race series, the consistent French duo of Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon grabbed the lead from the overnight Dutch leaders.
The fickle conditions tested some of the most experienced in the fleet, with three-time Olympian Saskia Tidey and her helm Freya Black lying last in 20th for Britain, a place behind New Zealand’s pairing, Olympic gold and silver medal winner Jo Aleh and Molly Meech, who was skiff silver medallist in Rio.
Meanwhile, the men’s skiff saw another New Zealand and Ireland top-of-the table duel, with the Kiwi pair of Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie ending the day ahead of Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove.
Spain’s Diego Botin and Florian Trittel had a better day, clawing their way up to third.
(Reporting by Alexander Smith; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
