Olympic sail duo Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell to split for 2016

Scotland’s Luke Patience and crew Stuart Bithell, who won silver in the 470 class in August, now go their separate ways, recognising that their combined body weight as a crew – which worked so well for them in Weymouth’s winds in the summer – would be too much for them to realistically hope to take the next step up the podium and win gold in four years’ time.

The effervescent duo, who became media favourites in Weymouth and Portland for their good humour and hearts-on-their-sleeves passion, not only won Olympic silver together but twice finished runners up in the World Championships – in Copenhagen in 2009 and a year ago in Perth, Western Australia.

Bithell, who is one of the larger and more powerful sailors in the international 470 dinghy fleet, will move on to the high-performance 49er skiff class as a helm.

Current helmsman Patience’s jockey-like physique leaves him ideally suited to carry on to Rio with a new crewmate. The dynamic duo part company as best friends with Bithell now starting his own 2016 Olympic programme.

Patience, who started his sailing career on the Gareloch at Rhu, Dunbartonshire said: “It has been fantastic. To be of this generation, which has got to go a home games, as your first Olympics is more than special.

“If you had the choice you’d want it as your final Games or your first. So it was fantastic together. Me and Stuart have had a really great campaign together for the last three years but Rio brings new challenges.

“It will be a very light winds venue. So, ultimately, here we are, we have to go our separate ways with different campaigns. The sport is so weight and height specific and Rio being such a light winds venue, we would just be lead weights in the boat together.

“We cannot carry on our partnership together. Our combined weight, even at rock bottom,  dieting hard, is just not a weight that we can be competitive at that venue.”

Patience, who moved through the traditional British Olympic pathway from the Optimist training dinghy to the two-person 470, reaffirmed his love for the boat: “I love the 470, it is a boat I really enjoy racing. I have fallen in love with it since I have sailed it.

“I am a wee man and the boat suits me. I would not consider doing anything else. “

The decision to split is one that has been on the cards for many weeks and has been taken along with the performance  direction team and coaches at the Royal Yachting Association.

“We have given a lot of thought to it,” Patience added.

“It is a key decision. When there are only two of you on the team, it really matters that the team you choose is right.

“There is great depth in this country, very many people who would be fantastic. This is nothing new for us, it is an issue which has been underground since the Olympics and I have been in conversations with a few people, so the plan is in place and it will surface in the next wee while. There is a path and we know where it needs to end up.

“I am really excited about the whole new opportunity. It removes any chance whatsoever of things being stale. Bring it on, I can’t wait.

“I can’t wait to be waking up every morning again and that first vision being gold medal Rio, gold medal Rio, gold medal Rio. Here we go.”

Bithell echoed those sentiments, adding: “We’re good mates and we both want that for each other so, although it’s been a blast and I’ll miss sailing with Luke, we know it’s the right decision to take.”

Meanwhile, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark confirmed yesterday that they will continue together in the 470 class for Rio.

Like Patience and Bithell, the pair took silver in Weymouth and Portland, and are reigning world champions.