Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Iain Percy In! Ben Ainslie Out!

Iain Percy has been selected for his third successive Olympics, named yesterday by the Royal Yachting Association for the two-man Star keelboat along with his crew of the past 12 months, Andrew Simpson.

Not named for Beijing, however, was triple Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie. The dominant force in the Finn class since switching to the heavy single-hander dinghy from the lighter Laser class after the Sydney Games, Ainslie faces a credible challenge from Ed Wright, the former European champion.

Wright appealed directly through the selectors two weeks ago to be allowed a crack at Ainslie, who has been absent from the class for two years due to America's Cup commitments save for the two pre-Olympic regattas in China which he won commandingly.

Simpson goes to Qingdao next summer having been thwarted in his own Finn class campaigns by Percy in 2000 and then Ainslie in 2004, both of which resulted in gold medals. Percy has been unopposed in the Star class for the last two Games' cycles. - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/