Kingussie sailor Fynn Sterritt is plotting course for Olympic glory
Team GB sailor Fynn Sterritt believes being crowned European champion is just the kick that his Olympic campaign needed.
Kingussie’s Sterritt and 49er partner James Peters overhauled their set-up after finishing 10th at the World Championships earlier this year.
They included a fresh, star-studded coaching team, putting on weight to increase speed and even a new boat.
Those wholesale changes paid immediate dividends as they clinched the European title on the waters of La Grande-Motte, just down the coast from Marseille Marina that will host this summer’s Olympic regatta.
Sterritt said: “We’re delighted with the result. If someone had said we’d be on the podium at the Euros after the Worlds, we’d have been a bit surprised.
“We felt like we were improving and learning the whole week and got more and more used to the conditions. We still have a huge amount of work to do.
“Everyone’s going to be pushing really hard but this gives us a good bit of confidence. We can go into the Games knowing we’ll be in the hunt and that’s all we can really ask for.”
Sterritt and Peters parted ways with long-time coach Ben Rhodes in March.
They are now working with Olympic gold medallist Stuart Bithell, who won gold alongside Dylan Fletcher-Scott in dramatic fashion in Tokyo, now combining working with the British pair with a role on the SailGP pro circuit.
Jack Hawkins, who acted as a training partner for Bithell and Fletcher-Scott pre-Tokyo, is also on board.
“The cool thing is that it feels like we’re vindicated with some of the decisions,” said Sterritt. “They weren’t easy, it was really difficult and emotionally difficult, especially the coaching situation.
“ It feels like those decisions have been vindicated and that they’ve all had an impact. Sport is all about momentum and small things can make quite big differences.
“We feel like we’ve got the skills and experience but it was about how we create the right environment and get the energy and enjoyment back. It was always there but it can all get a bit business-like.
“We’ve surrounded ourselves with people who we know can give us that energy and it was a significant contributing factor along with some of the other changes we made.”
Peters and Sterritt won three of the first five races and despite being displaced by British Sailing Team colleagues and world fourth placers James Grummett and Rhos Hawes on day two, they soon stretched clear of European rivals.
Uruguay’s Hernan Umpierre and Fernando Dizz finished top of the standings with all nations able to take part in the wider international regatta, but Peters and Sterritt were top European crew by a margin of eight points.
It was the best result Peters and Sterritt have ever produced together and a first major medal since July 2022.
“It feels like it’s been a long time since we have been at the pointy end,” said Sterritt. “We always knew we had the ability, we just weren’t able to show it and get to that level. It reminds us we do have the quality, it’s about bringing that out.
“To be up at the front of the fleet for the whole week, have a range of conditions and to be able to be consistent throughout the week was the big positive.”
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