Sailing: British boat intent on breezing through to medal race

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Luke Patience is a serious contender for a medal on his Olympic debut.

Luke Patience, right, and Stuart Bithell are just one point behind leaders Australia. Picture: Getty

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Herald Staff

The Scot continued his strong start to London 2012 yesterday alongside men's 470 partner Stuart Bithell, the duo recording finishes of first and sixth in Weymouth.

This means the British boat lies second in the table, just one point behind leaders Australia with two more rounds to go today before the top-10 battle it out in Thursday's medal race.

Third-placed Italy are a further 29 points behind and the British crew look certain to end up with a medal this week. However, Patience is adamant that the pair do not become bogged down by the pressure of chasing success."The Aussies were the favourites before the regatta and they still are but we take confidence from where we are now," Patience said. "We're just happy, it's been a great series so far in our first Olympics and there a lot of hype around it. But we're just having such a good time and we were whooping going upwind as we were catching the waves. We are having an absolute ball, it's great fun. "Stuart and I are pretty excitable characters and you have got to remember it's just a game, it's not a war in Afghanistan or anything serious like that."With things shaping up to be a two-boat race between Britain and Australia for the gold medal, race tactics could well come into play in the final three races. "We are pretty confident about that side of the game. We've done all our work behind the scenes," said Patience.

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Sailing: British boat intent on breezing through to medal race

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