Video: Catch me if you can, windsurfer Dempsey tells rivals at Dorset's Sail for Gold Regatta

By Ben Baker, Sportsbeat

NICK Dempsey has long been Great Britain’s number one windsurfer, but he has fired a warning shot to his London 2012 rivals, insisting he is sailing faster than ever at the 2011 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta.

The 30-year-old has been in scintillating form at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy as the competition reached the halfway mark on Wednesday, sitting top of the RS:X men’s pile.

Dempsey is joint on points with New Zealand’s JP Tobin after six races but takes first place thanks more race victories than his Kiwi rival, outscoring him three to two at the London 2012 venue.

And the Norwich-born windsurfer, who claimed World Championships gold in Weymouth in 2009, admits he is feeling better than ever, a dangerous thing for his Olympic rivals considering they are all due back in August for an Olympic test event.

“I had a really good day on Wednesday, we had two brilliant races and I won them both so that was pretty good and it is just nice to do that after a frustrating day before that,” said Dempsey, who won bronze from the 2004 Athens Olympics before finishing fourth in Beijing.

“At the halfway stage I am pleased with how it has all gone. The first day was good, the second day should have been good but I just made three horrendous errors and then the third was good so if I can keep on sailing well for the rest of the week then I can get back the points I lost.

“But I am happy with how it is all going and I am sailing faster than I have ever sailed before so all is good.

“The Kiwi JP Tobin has been sailing really well this week and Dorian from Holland, both of them have been sailing really fast this week so it will be a close battle this week but a good one.

“I know that I am sailing well, sailing fast and I am feeling good so we will see what happens come the end.”

AMERICAN sailor Anna Tunnicliffe might be an Olympic champion already, but she insists London 2012 is a whole new ball game after switching disciplines.

The 28-year-old stormed to Laser Radial success at the Beijing Olympics before joining forces with Molly Andemoer and Debbie Capozzi to compete in the Women’s Match Racing.

And it certainly looks like a good choice as she is right in the mix for a medal at the 2011 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, winning bronze in both 2009 and 2010.

And with the competition taking place in London 2012 waters, Tunnicliffe can’t help but let her mind wander to the Olympics, and a change of scenery a she goes for her second gold.

“I switched to match racing after the radial in 2008,” she said. “I was just looking for something new, I love sailing the radial, I love the physical aspect of it and the intense fleet racing which goes on and everything which goes with it.

“But the match racing is a new game, it's a new challenge. It's the fleet racing plus the unusual step of just trying to beat one boat and using strategy even more, it's a lot of fun.

“There's a great depth in the fleet right now, and we've had a different winner at all ISAF World Cup events but the Aussies are one of the top teams, Team USA has three solid teams, the Brits are good, the French are very good, the Russians, and so anybody who is on their 'A' game is going to perform well.

“The conditions have been all over for sure this week, I think this is the windiest we've had for a while but luckily we've had a fair amount of breeze practise in the last couple of weeks so we're psyched with that, but it's a great venue, the race crew is doing a great job and we're psyched to be here sailing.”

Investment specialist Skandia is the principal sponsor of the British sailing team. For more information go to www.skandiateamgbr.com