Ainslie wins Ultimate Trophy in Sailing World Cup
Ben Ainslie led the medal haul for British sailors in Mallorca last weekend in the Trofeo Princesa MAPFRE Sailing World Cup. Olympic champion Ainslie won the gold medal in the Finn class and was also awarded the Ultimate Trophy for being the best sailor across all classes in the competition.
Early leader in the Finn class, Giles Scott (GBR), eventually picked up the silver medal, with Ed Wright coming in seventh place. Fellow Brit Paul Goodison won the gold in the Laser class after a closely fought battle with Tom Slingsby (AUS) with Nick Thomson (GBR) achieving the bronze medal.
The Star class was dominated by World and Olympic champions Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR), who built up such a lead that they were guaranteed the gold medal with a day of racing to spare.
The 470 class was won by French duo Nicolas Charbonnier & Jeremie Mion, with Brits Luke Patience & Stuart Bithell narrowly missing out on the silver medal to end the competition with a bronze. There was also a bronze for Nick Dempsey (GBR) in the RS:X windsurfing competition, which was won by Dorian Van Rijsselberge (NED).
The women's 470 class was won by Jo Aleh & Bianca Barbarich-Bacher (NZL) and the British team of Penny Clark & Katrina Hughes narrowly missed out on the bronze medal. Spain won their only gold medal in the women's RS-X with Marina Alabau winning handsomely.
The Paralympic class was won by the Dutch sailor Thierry Schmitter. Megan Pascoe (GBR) took the bronze.
With a great deal of sunshine and wind, the regatta was deemed to be extremely successful by the organisers. The sailors now move on to Hyeres in France for the next Sailing World Cup competition.
For all the results, please see the Trofeo Princesa Sofia website.
