Sailing: Pair win silver in 470 class

Published on Monday 18 August 2008 09:11

NICK Rogers and Joe Glanfield overcame a poor start to win the silver medal in the 470's men class after finishing third in the medal race at the Olympic sailing regatta today.

The Athens silver medallists entered the medal race in fourth place in the overall standings, needing to finish at least two spots in front of France or three in front of the Netherlands to secure a place on the podium.

The British pair made a poor start and were in ninth place at the first mark, 49 seconds behind leaders Australia, but they made up considerable ground on the second leg and made the turn in sixth place, four places behind the French but four in front of the last-placed Dutch.

They improved their position on the run back to the windward mark, crossing n fourth place, two places in front of the French to put themselves on the silver trail.

And they improved their position to third at the finish line, six seconds behind the gold medal-winning Australian boat with France finishing sixth and the Dutch coming home in seventh.

The French and Dutch were tied on 78 points but France took the bronze by virtue of their better finish in the medal race.