G4S 49ers Peter Greenhalgh and Chris Draper won the 49er European Championships in Poland, while G4S team-mates Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes won the bronze medal
12 July 2010
G4S 49ers Peter Greenhalgh; Chris Draper and Stevie Morrison; Ben Rhodes continued the impressive form that they had shown in qualifying for the medal races on the final day of the 49er European Championships in Poland. The duos entered the final day with Peter and Chris in 3rd place overall and Stevie and Ben in second place overall, and so there was every chance of both crews finishing in the medals, and this is exactly what happened. G4S 49er and Olympic Bronze medallist Chris Draper commented on the medal race: “The race was really close to the shore. There was lots of confused water but a nice 10-12 knots. The first windward mark was the critical part of the race and we just managed to sneak around the first mark in fourth, ahead of Stevie and Ben and so were in a good position overall. We chipped away at the next boat in front of us and managed to hold a comfortable position in third for the rest of the race.” With Peter and Chris finishing in 3rd in the final medal race of the day, it meant that they had done enough to be crowned the European Champions. A delighted Chris said on the victory, “It goes without saying that we are really really pleased. We've sailed together now for fourteen months and the hard work we have put in since we started full-time in November has started to pay off. Thanks so much to all our support network, our amazing families and parents, Harv our coach and all our sponsors for helping to prepare us in the best way possible.” This is a truly outstanding achievement for the 49er crew, and the newly crowned European Champions were pushed hard all the way for the title by their G4S team mates Stevie and Ben, who finished in 3rd place overall. Reflecting on the final days racing, Stevie said: “I think we'll look at this one as the one that got away. We're pleased with bronze, but at the same time there are a few moments during the event where we know we lost some points.”
The 49er European Championships have been an outstanding success for the G4S 49ers, with the event only being second in prestige to the World Championships. The two crews will no doubt now begin the build-up to the Sail For Gold Regatta in Weymouth buoyed by the success of these performances. For more information on the 49er European Championships, please click on the link below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/sailing/8807857.stm