COAL Point sailor Will Ryan will weigh up his push for Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold in the coming weeks after securing a fourth 470 world title.
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Ryan and London 2012 gold medallist Mat Belcher recently won the world championship in Thessaloniki, Greece, with victory in the deciding medal race.
It was Belcher’s seventh title and his fourth with Ryan. The pair were third last year at the world titles before claiming Olympic silver in Rio.
Ryan made his Olympic debut in 2016 along with his sister, Jaime, who was 15th at the Games and 22nd at the recent world championships with Carrie Smith in the women’s 470.
Will, 28, said the win in Greece was “very special” given he and Belcher had a light program this year, they trailed throughout the regatta, and his parents, Mandy and Frank, were on hand for the first time at a world titles.
Ryan said the victory was a boost as he and Belcher considered their future.
“Post Rio, we each had different thoughts on what this and the coming years ahead could hold, but ultimately we felt there were elements of our past program that were yet to be fully developed and that could be done better,” Ryan said.
“We haven’t yet committed as a team towards Tokyo 2020, but rather have used this year just to keep our hand in with the racing and maintain our spot within the federation system.
“At the end of the year we wanted to be able to see if some of the changes we wanted to implement were feasible and if we could be in the position to be in contention for gold in three years.
“It’s good to know we can still be competitive, and in the coming weeks we will take the chance to sit down and talk through things.”
In the meantime, Ryan is looking to gain more experience in big boat racing with a view to one day joining the likes of fellow Coal Point sailor, good friend and Oracle Team USA wing trimmer Kyle Langford in the America’s Cup. Ryan will next compete in the World Match Racing Tour, featuring 32-foot catamarans, with Ian Williams’ GAC Pindar team.
“Hopefully this will all increase the learning, and fingers crossed lead to further racing opportunities towards America’s Cup and similar like some of the other Lake boys,” he said.
Ryan said each world title win was unique, but this one was special because they had been behind for the much of the event.