Bouwmeester makes strong start to Olympic Test Event

Marit Bouwmeester made a strong start in the ILCA 6 while Michael Beckett and Finn Lynch hit the early ILCA 7 summit as the Olympic Test Event got underway in Marseille. The first two races in both classes took place amid testing conditions on Sunday, as they did in the Mixed 470, which saw Jordi Xammar Hernandez and Nora Brugman Cabot back up a runners-up spot in the opener with victory to sit top of the fledgling standings. Ad Only one race was possible in the Formula Kite Men's competition, won by Axel Mazella on home waters, with the remaining two, along with the scheduled Formula Kite Women's races, postponed.

SailingOlympic contenders descend on Marseille for sailing test event21 HOURS AGO Just one point separates the top four in the star-studded ILCA 7 field after two hotly-contested opening races. Reigning Olympic champion Matt Wearn made a perfect start to the Test Event by winning the first of those, ahead of Beckett and Lynch. Lynch then finished fourth in the second, with Beckett in fifth, to take both to seven points – one clear of Wearn and Portugal's Eduardo Marques, who recorded finishes of fifth and third.

Beckett said: «It was pretty interesting. There was a big range of breeze, from two or three knots up to 15, so it was a high stakes game. You were almost gambling your way around the course like a poker game.

»I'm happy with my results and looking forward to tomorrow. It's interesting doing this format, one person per country, which I've not done before. I'm just trying to learn as much as I can." There follows an eight-point gap to Norway's Hermann Tomasgaard, with world champion Jean-Baptiste Bernaz a further three back.