News / Adamson ‘can’t really believe’ it after winning World Championships
MAGGIE Adamson has been crowned a world champion after guiding Great Britain to victory in the Offshore Double Handed World Championships.
Adamson and Carl Finlayson tasted success in the final of the Lorient Agglomération race, narrowly finishing ahead of the chasing pack on Tuesday afternoon.
A dramatic final leg saw the lead change hands several times, with the team – flying under the flags of Scotland and Great Britain – holding off their nearest challengers to cross the finish line just 65 seconds before the second placed team.
Adamson said she “can’t really believe that it has happened”.
“We hung in there, we never give up,” she said.
“At the end, we saw a little bit of breeze towards the shore and we were getting freed off, so we went in for that.
“We held the Code Zero [sail] a little bit longer, we had both our spinnakers ready to go but we felt that we were a bit faster with that set up.
“It is just those little things – keeping your head out of the boat worked, we just stayed focused.”
Ten teams started the World Championship final, with eight of those boats appearing in the top three during the course of the race.
Just a few miles from the finish the four leading boats were neck-and-neck, before Adamson and Finlayson pulled away to win top honours.
“I am too tired to take it all in,” said Finlayson.
“To beat such great sailors is surreal to be honest, especially in Lorient, the home of French offshore racing.”
At a prize-giving ceremony on Tuesday night, at Lorient’s Éric Tabarly sailing museum, the top three boats were awarded medals for their achievements.
After the ceremony Adamson showed off her other top talent, playing a medley of Shetland songs on the fiddle to the audience.
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