Ashby Continues the Winning Campaign
Overnight (Sunday May 25 2008), Bendigo Sailor Glenn Ashby and Darren Bundock continued their unbeatable campaign winning the grade 1 Olympic, Delta Lloyd Regatta in Holland. The team won by 6 points.
The top ten sailors at the Delta Lloyd Regatta met windy and wet conditions in the final Medal Race. The strong breeze and choppy short waves proved a challenge for the fleet, with final positions up for grabs.
The competitors showed spectacular battles with lots of capsizes around the course. The leaders Ashby and Bundock tried to stay out of troubles whilst others had to take extra risks. Some gained and some lost. Ashby commented “ we went into yesterday’s race with a 17 point lead. With double points at stake in the medal race we just wanted to get round the course and keep our nose clean”
On finishing the regatta Ashby found himself assisting in a rescue of the British Tornado team. The British capsized in the strong winds of 25knts and were heading for the rocks. On going through the finish line Ashby jumped off their catamaran and assisted the British team to safety. Ashby commented “ The British are our training partners and would do the same for us. I had no hesitation jumping off to assist. I had to swim across to their boat that was upside down and moving quickly towards the rocks. We were able to get the boat up and out of danger”
See the action - Day 5 Video at hollandregatta.org
Unfortunately for the British Tornado Team the result of DNF (did not finish) resulted in the team dropping from a comfortable second to fourth.
This year’s Delta Lloyd Regatta has been good training for the upcoming Olympic Beijing Games, with similar weather conditions. Ashby commented “ this regatta was excellent for us as it was similar to china. We had short wave chop and was tactically extremely challenging”.
There is no rest for Ashby and the team as they head directly to China this week for intensive training at the Olympic venue. He will then return back to Europe for the Tornado Europeans in Greece.
Ashby commented “ I will certainly be looking forward to returning home for a quick trip in July”
For more details you can contact Glenn on mb: 0409827152. Please keep in mind Europe is 8 hours behind Australian time. The regatta web site is http://www.hollandregatta.org