PORTLAND-BASED sailor Hannah Mills and her crew Eilidh McIntyre will attempt to win the World Cup Series crown for a third time running this week in Marseille, France.
Mills and McIntyre have enjoyed a run of success on the Mediterranean waters of Marseille, winning the 2017 and 2018 World Cup Series finals in the 470 class.
With two days of the regatta already done, the duo headed into day three as the Echo went to press sitting comfortably in third overall, with only Dutch crew Afrodite Zegers and Lobke Berkhout and Japan’s Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka ahead of them.
Mills and McIntyre began the regatta buoyed by taking the runner-up spot at the 470 class European Championships in San Reimo, Italy, and prior that gold at the Princess Sofia Trophy regatta in Palma, Mallorca.
The pair teamed up in 2017 after Mills’ previous crew Saskia Clark, with whom she won silver at London 2012 and gold at Rio 2016, retired from Olympic sailing.
Last week they were named in a 17-strong British Sailing Team for the official Tokyo 2020 test event, a key step towards selection for Team GB.
The regatta, held at the Olympic sailing venue of Enoshima from August 15 to 22 this year, is a dress rehearsal for the Olympics and a key performance indicator a year out from the Games.
The World Cup Series final in Marseille runs until Sunday, and culminates in double-points medal races for the top ten boats in each fleet.
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