Hereford sailor Wrigley has Olympic dreams after Europeans

HEREFORD sailor Martin Wrigley has his sights set on LA 2028 after an encouraging fifth place finish in the European Championship.

Competing alongside Bettine Harris, the pair were the highest ranked British duo in the mixed 470 class but missed out on the medal places by 10 points, though they remained in contention until the final day of racing.

Despite being one of the more inexperienced duos in a race characterised by light wind conditions, Tokyo Olympian Wrigley expressed mixed emotions at his fortunes.

He said: "It's a little disappointing. We were in a strong position going into the last day, even within a chance of a medal so it's disappointing to finish on the bad side of the medal race.

"There's a bit of disappointment just from how we're feeling and the way we were sailing the last days but I'm proud of how far we've come.

"We only teamed up just over a year ago now and so compared to the other crews at the front, we were down on hours in the boat together and racing experience together.”

Wrigley added: "It was light winds conditions, on the limit of racing most days and when it's so light, everyone's similar in speed and it makes it difficult to get any advantage on anyone so it becomes a real tricky game.

"Everyone's so similar and it becomes about the marginal decisions that are made so it ends up being a really tight regatta.

"Everyone was having a tricky race here and there because of how tight the fleet was.''

Fellow British Sailing Team members and Olympics-bound Chris Grube and Vita Heathcote finished 16th on the day, with the Spanish duo of Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugman finishing as champions.

And Wrigley is set to take inspiration from the Spaniards as he and Harris look ahead to LA 2028.

He added: ''You look at Jordi who was a bronze medallist at the last Olympics. Him and Nora teamed up in 2021, so they've been working relentlessly for the last three years.

"They have had that experience before coming into this campaign.

"We didn't have that and we're inexperienced as a team so for us it's just about getting time on the water and time racing and learning from the mistakes that we make and trying to improve."

Wrigley also expressed his confidence that he and Harris have what it takes to keep building that experience by the time the Olympics arrive in Los Angeles four years from now.

"We're starting to get into that front-end and focus on the real details that make a big difference so that we're on a good trajectory for the next cycle,” he added.

"To finish the last event before the Olympics where everyone's at their best and we finish fifth, it leaves me excited for what's to come."

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