What’s been happening in the sailing?published at 21:46 4 August
Kiteboarding made its Olympic debut on Sunday, with the men and women taking off from the beach in Marseille on their featherweight foiling boards.
It is a fast and furious sport, where competitors can reach speeds of up to 50mph.
The Mediterranean wind hasn’t always played ball this week, but there was plenty of breeze as Austria’s Valentin Bontus won the first race in the men’s event, with Britain’s Eleanor Aldridge taking the honours in the women’s.
Elsewhere, in the men’s dinghies there were swings at the top of the leaderboard, with eight of the 43 men penalised for being over the line at the start for race seven in their series.
Team GB’s Micky Beckett was one of those who fell foul, dropping to fourth overall, while Australia’s Matt Wearn managed to hang on to his overall lead despite two 10th place finishes.
“He’s got two very difficult races to navigate, so far he is doing reasonably well and has been by far the most consistent. But every day has its curve balls and tomorrow won’t be any different,” Beckett said when asked if Wearn was catchable.
The remaining two races of the pre-medal series of the event are scheduled for Monday.