Smith and Ryan Finish Fifth in Weymouth

WAIS sailor Carrie Smith and her crewmate Jaime Ryan have finished fourth in the medal round at the Weymouth World Cup in England to finish fifth overall.

The Rio bound sailors were in action in Weymouth – venue of the 2012 London Olympic sailing course – to build preparation ahead of August’s Olympic Games in Brazil.

Whilst Weymouth didn’t have all of the Olympic crews in action, the Australian pair demonstrated that their preparations are headed in a strong direction with a consistent week of racing earning them qualification for the top ten medal round.

The close nature of scoreboard meant that final positions were very much on line, with the Australian combo holding their nerve and delivering under-pressure to move from sixth to fifth overall.

“Today’s race was a tricky one, as we had everything to lose given the pointscore was so close,” said Smith at the end of racing. “We’re thrilled to have finished with a top five place.”

Smith said that she and Ryan had been hard at work to improve elements of their racing and felt Weymouth had been welcome evidence of that process.

“We’ve been training really hard and working on all the things we think need improving and this was the perfect place to test that.”

“We’re really pleased to be mixing it with the current world champions and other top contenders.”

In the men’s laser class, WAIS sailors Matt Wearn (11th) and Luke Elliott (18th) both competed in Weymouth, with fellow Australian and officially selected Rio representative Tom Burton winning bronze.