Grummett and Hawes scoop sensational 4th at 49er Worlds

James Grummett (right) and Rhos Hawes in action. © Sailing Energy

Young guns impress in Lanzarote

James Grummett and Rhos Hawes claimed a landmark fourth place finish at the 49er & 49erFX World Championships in Lanzarote.

Just three months after teaming up, the British pair came mightily close to making the podium on the global stage.

They finished the 49er competition on 110.2 points, just shy of the 106 that wrapped up bronze for Diego Bottin and Florian Trittel Paul of Spain.

The gold medal went to Erwan Fischer and Clement Pequin, the first time that a French team have won a world title in the class, with Dutch defending champions Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken taking silver.

Grummett and Hawes showed excellent consistency, only placing outside the top ten three times in the first 15 races. They ended the penultimate day with a race win to go into the denouement just 0.2 points shy of third, finishing seventh in the medal race to end the regatta.

“A big part of the success was racing without expectations," said Hawes. "We could have come last or first. We won a Grand Prix before Christmas so that helped build our confidence and racing with that air of freedom meant that we could express ourselves on the racecourse.

"We showed that through the whole week rather than getting caught up in the emotions, which was great. It was great to go into the medal race with a chance of second and bittersweet to finish fourth.

"But to come fourth at the Worlds after three months together is pretty brilliant and just missing that medal fuels the fire for more to come. I think, big picture, this will be a good thing for us.”

While the majority of other nations were feverishly chasing Olympic selections at the Championships, Team GB have already selected Paris 2024 athletes in both classes.

Team GB's 49er athletes Fynn Sterritt and James Peters finished ninth with 159 points and in the 49er FX event, Paris-bound Saskia Tidey and Freya Black finished 14th.

Full results from the regatta can be found here.