The Royal Yachting Association

Welsh sailor David Evans has teamed up with Double Olympic medallist Simon Hiscocks as the pair have targeted the 2012 London Games for success.

Cardiff’s Evans has just started sailing professionally after finishing his university studies, while Hiscocks was looking for a new partner after missing out on the Beijing Olympics this summer.

He won silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics with Welshman Ian Barker, bronze at the Athens Games with Chris Draper, as well as four world championship titles, so he will be a realistic medal contender along with Evans.

Evans has just moved up from the British development squad into the full Olympic squad programme, allowing him to concentrate on sailing full-time in the 49er class – with National Sailing Coach Barker adding to the Welsh connection.

“We will be together until the Sail for Gold British Olympic regatta at the end of the summer as a trial period to see how it goes, but the aim is to keep it going with 2012 as the target,” said 23-year-old Evans.

“We both wrote down our strengths and weaknesses and found that they fitted in pretty perfectly, so I am looking forward to it very much.

“Ian Barker sailed with Simon in the Sydney Olympics and he will be our coach, he suggested the pair of us linking up.”

Evans is the helm at the back of the two man boat who steers the course, while Hiscocks is the crew helping with the sails and the balance to try to get more speed.

“As the helm then I will usually be calling the tactics, steering and making the decisions around the race course – what to do and where to do it,” explained Evans.

“Simon is the crew which means he is at the front of the boat, he is the person who will make the boat go faster, doing all the hard work.

“He has to be superfit and his experience will be a big factor. I have only sailed with him once or twice, but he just seems to make the boat really quick which makes it easier for me to make the decisions.

“With his Olympic medals and world championships, Simon is pretty much the perfect person to step into the boat.”

Evans won the 29er world championship in 2003 before stepping up to the Olympic boat – the 49er.

Over the winter he finished 16th in the 49er world championships in Australia, an impressive finish at this stage of his development against the best in the world – a result that earned his promotion from the development squad.

Anyone who can prove themselves in the top 20 in the world qualifies for the improved funding which comes with joining the Olympic performance squad.

Only one boat in each class can represent Britain in the Olynpics and that place has been taken by Ben Rhodes and Stevie Morrison for Beijing – the pair just edging ahead of Draper and Hiscocks.

Rhodes and Morrison will go into this summer’s Games among the favourites for a gold medal and that is the scale of the task facing Evans and Hiscocks if they are to take up the British place in 2012.

“The second British boat would qualify for almost any other country, so that will make it hard to get past Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes,” said Evans.

“Getting the British place does not mean you are guaranteed a medal, but it does put you among the firm medal favourites and that is what we are hoping to do.”

The change has also moved Evans from being a sailor with great potential into the bracket of being a medal tip for future world championships and the 2012 London Olympics.

RYA PRESS RELEASE
April 13th, 2008

image credit: RYA