Unstoppable Determination: Webster Braves Windy Conditions, Capsizes, and Still Finishes Three Olympic Races
(Photo credit: Julianna Aikens)
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By Alric Lindsay
On Saturday, August 3, 2024, Charlotte Webster continued her strong performance in the Women’s Dinghy event. She completed races 4, 5 and 6 and stood out as one of the youngest competitors in the event.
While she successfully completed these races, she encountered some tough challenges, including wind gusts of up to 35.7 mph, which temporarily took her off her game in race 4.
Commenting on this, Polly Pickering, Communications Officer for the Cayman Islands Sailing Club, said:
[She was] doing really well in R4 up the 1st beat, rounding in P33. Then what looked like a capsize after hitting 11 knots which dropped her seven places… but she held for the remainder of the race.
This is the first day of solid winds after two days of interruptions from race delays.
Ultimately, Charlotte recovered in race 4, earning 41 points.
With race 4 behind her, Charlotte proceeded to race 5, where she improved her tally to 36 points (the lower the points, the higher the score).
Race 5 was also her “best race,” according to Polly Pickering, Communications Officer for the Cayman Islands Sailing Club.
Pickering added, “With five boats not finishing the race (likely due to capsiz[ing] or breakage), Charlotte really moved ahead on points.”
Charlotte’s father, Ben Webster, also commented, noting that it was an “Outstanding finish in R5—overhauled Slovenia with about 50m to spare!”
The “Slovenia” referred to by Mr Webster is Lin Pletikos, ranked number 53 in the ILCA class 6.
Race 5 was also particularly interesting as Charlotte surpassed a larger number of athletes compared to her previous races.
Onto race 6, she racked up 40 points, arriving ahead of Mozambique, Egypt and Kuwait.
Remaining races
With a total of 10 races, Charlotte now looks forward to race 7 on Sunday, August 4.
Fans wishing to follow her results may get updates on the below link:
https://paris2024.sailing.org/racing/results-centre
More about points in sailing
According to World Sailing, the medals for the Women’s Dinghy event will be decided by the boat with the lowest total points. In addition, “Athletes will be able to discard their worst finishing position after they’ve completed three races.”
