Sailors Remain in First Place

Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson have continued their promising start to the 470 sailing regatta at Qingdao with fourth place and a first place on Tuesday keeping them in first place overall.

After the first four races of the women’s competition Rechichi and Parkinson have clinched second, second, fourth and first to have a total of nine points. The pair is seven points clear of Natalia Via Dufrense and Laia Lluisa Tutzo of Spain and Marcelien de Koning and Lobke Berkhout of the Netherlands.

As expected light winds have been the major factor in the racing so far, with the West Australian combination taking advantage of their own light weight and their experience of the conditions to be in the leading position after two days of racing.

Skipper Rechichi said after Tuesday’s racing that doing the basics well has been the key to their results so far.

“We didn’t do anything too extreme, we got ourselves into good positions and we had good boat speed,” Rechichi told olympics.com.au.

“It’s nice to get an early win, but it’s still early days.”

Rechichi and Parkinson will sail again in races five and six this afternoon before a rest day on Thursday. Racing will then continue on Friday and Saturday before the medal race on Monday