Peters and Sterritt bow out with heads high

A valiant medal race, a new class starting and a whole load of waiting around. Here’s what went went down on day six in Marseille.

49er

James Peters and Fynn Sterritt went into the 49er medal race with a mathematical shot at gold, but a more realistic chance of bronze.

They threw everything they had at the finale, knowing they had to win it to stand a chance of finishing on the podium. 

It wasn’t to be though, and after a small error in positioning on the startline, they found themselves fighting for places in the middle of the fleet.

A seventh place in the ten-boat race saw them round out their Paris 2024 campaign in seventh overall.

“We absolutely battled it to the end, tried to take every opportunity to just try and pass boats but it was not quite enough,” Peters said. 

“We hold our heads high, and I think when the dust settles we'll probably look back and be proud of ourselves, but right now it hurts.”

Sterritt paid tribute to the army of supporters backing them at home and in Marseille: “You just want to go out there and make people proud,” he said. “I know we have.”

470

Team GB’s youngest sailor, 22-year-old Vita Heathcote, got her campaign for an Olympic medal alongside three-time Olympian Chris Grube off to a flying start.

The pair took second in the opening race of their competition, following it up with a slightly less flying 16th. 

Nevertheless Heathcote and Grube go into day two in sixth place, happy of a solid start.

“One good, one bad, but generally we thought we were sailing well and the vibe was good,” Heathcote said. “We enjoyed ourselves.”

ILCA 6

After getting just one race done yesterday, the ILCA 6 fleet managed to complete their planned two today.

Hannah Snellgrove opened with a 20th – but came back straight away with a sixth, to sit 14th going into her third day of racing.

ILCA 7

Micky Beckett said minor mistakes getting off the start line have been punished over the four races completed so far.

Beckett sits 12th in the 43-boat fleet going into day three of his competition.

“It has been immensely unforgiving,” he said. “We've got 45 boats and that first beat is proving to be a huge challenge. 

“Those first few decisions I'm finding a little bit difficult and I haven’t been getting them right. I'll keep scrapping away. That's all you can ever do in this class, you just persist.”

iQFOiL men and women

The beautiful breeze that filled the bay for the skiff showdowns disappeared when it came time for the iQFOiL medal series.

The race committee waited until 3.30pm in the hope of wind, before accepting that it wasn’t going to happen. 

Emma Wilson and Sam Sills will get their shot at gold tomorrow, with Emma guaranteed a second Olympic medal.

See the full results.

What’s coming up

In stark contrast to the past few days, the breeze is all but guaranteed to blow in Marseille tomorrow. The famed mistral winds that come off the land into the Mediterranean are set to switch on, providing epic racing conditions for the delayed iQFOiL medal series. See the full schedule.

Find out more

Head to the RYA’s Paris 2024 hub for all the latest news and updates, as well as information about the team, classes, how to watch and more.