Stevie Morrison: 'Still a long way to go' in London 2012 Olympic sailing bid

British 49er skipper Stevie Morrison admits yesterday’s races were ‘worse than average’ – but is confident they will turn things around.

The 33-year-old and crew Ben Rhodes saw their London 2012 campaign get off to a difficult start as they picked up two 12th-place finishes.

The Exmouth duo are fancied by many for a podium spot and, although their main rivals failed to capitalise in the first race, they received a gut punch from favourites Australia in the second.

Morrison and Rhodes had downplayed the dominance of Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen during the week, but saw them recover from an eighth-place finish to win the next race.

Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk

myprint-247

View details

Print voucher

Our heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.

Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk

Contact: 01858 468192

Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013

Asked how he assessed the day, Morrison said: “Worse than average, but it is very early on in a very long regatta.

“We made some mistakes, quite obviously, and are quite frustrated with the second race, where we got ourselves in a pretty good position.

“The first race came down to one very quick decision.

“Strategy-wise we were good in both races, but just towards the end of that second one the wind started to play a lot on the left-hand side and we were tending to favour the middle.

“Unfortunately, in the 49er, when something changes it changes rather dramatically because you’re going so fast.

“That was a bit frustrating, but that is what happened and we just have to deal with that and carry on.

“We only need to have two really good races and then it’s not an issue. We’ve always got the potential to go out and do that. There is no need to panic or change the game plan just yet as it’s a long, long event.”

Morrison and Rhodes sit 12th overall.

Reigning Laser gold medallist Paul Goodison also began his regatta disappointingly and ended the day 17th in the standings.

The 34-year-old Brit finished 10th in his first race and ended a lowly 23rd in the second.

Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson followed Sunday’s 11th and second-placed finishes by posting two top-three finishes yesterday.

Percy and Simpson are now joint-top of the overall standings alongside Norway.

Three-time gold medallist Ben Ainslie could only finish sixth and 12th in his Finn class races yesterday.

Ainslie slipped to the bronze medal position overall.