WA brothers David and Lachy Gilmour have won the 49er gold medal
Western Australian brothers David and Lachy Gilmour have won the 49er gold medal on Day 6 of the Hempel World Cup Series – Round 3, Genoa, after finishing fourth in the double points Medal Race.
In a fleet of the world’s elite 49er sailors, the Gilmours held off Rio Olympic gold medallists, Peter Burling/Blair Tuke (NZL), who took Bronze and fourth placed reigning world champions Sime and Mihovil Fantela (CRO).
New Zealand’s Isaac McHardie/William McKenzie took the silver medal.
The 49er race started at 11.40am local time and was sailed in a 5 to 6 knot fairly stable breeze. Lachy Gilmour described what unfolded: “We got off the start in poor shape, got rolled and had to tack twice before we got a clear lane.
“From there, we just sailed faster than everyone else. We sailed through the left pack and the right pack. We were just managing the boats around us. I kept asking Dave ‘are we good on points’? And he kept saying ‘yeah’. We finished fourth which gave us the gold medal.
This is by far the best international result for the brothers who joined forces last September for a shot at the 2020 Olympics. They sailed their new 49er in Genoa and are happy they have it up to speed.
Chris Charlwoodand Josh Dawson slid down the leaderboard to 36th overall following 40th and 37th placings in what was an especially trying day for the 470’s.
Nia Jerwoodand Monique de Vries posted mixed results of eighth and 22nd in the 470 Women’s, moving up the standings by two places to 24th overall.
Luke Elliottalso made a big move up the standings, picking up 17 places to be 26th overall in the Laser Gold fleet, courtesy of a third in the only race of the day. Officials tried for more, but between General Recalls and a shifty breeze that dropped out to 1.4 knots, it was not possible.
The same problems occurred in the Laser Radial Gold fleet, where all three Australian sailors are, but they were able to put three races away. Mara Stransky sits sixth overall, the best of the Australians.
Apart from a 16th place today (used as her drop), she has otherwise sailed within the top seven throughout the Olympic classes regatta.
Zoe Thomson is next best placed in 24h overall, with Elyse Ainsworth dropping to 33rd overall; a disqualification in Race 5 not helping.
In the 49erFX Caitlin Elks and her skipper Amelia Stabback finished 39th overall, third of the contesting Australian crews.
Photos, media and content courtesy of Australian Sailing Team – https://www.australiansailingteam.com.au/news/gold-for-gilmour-brothers-at-genoa-world-cup-series/