Rio Olympics - Golden duo's unbeaten run comes to an end

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com NZL on 15 Jul 2016 The odd-on favorites for the Gold medal in the 49er Skiff at the Rio Olympics in three weeks time have stumbled at the final hurdle.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke who have been unbeaten in any regatta since the 2012 Olympics in Weymouth have finished third in the 29th Rio de Janeiro International Sailing week, which is being used as a final hit out for all the Olympic classes.

The three day 49er even concluded on Thursday, with Burling and Tuke lying second behind the British crew after three races and seemingly poised to make it 28 straight wins. However a dominant display by the 2012 Olympic Gold medalists Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, scoring two wins and a fourth in the back end of the six race race regatta was enough to pull them up to the top of the leaderboard.

Burling and Tuke showed they were not invincible placing 15th and two fourths to finish third behind the Polish crew of Lukasz Przybytek and Pawer Kolodzinski. Both the Australian and Polish crews tied on total points with the placings being decided on a tie breaker.

Burling and Tuke were 8pts in arrears of the two leaders.

Second ranked crew in the 49er world, Austrian Nikolas Resch believes the Kiwis are very beatable and that Rio has shown up their weak spot.

Resch told Sailing World that Burling and Tuke’s biggest strengths are their speed and their ability to point higher than the fleet. “Even if they have a bad start, they’ll usually finish at the top,” says Resch. “They have an easy time moving through the fleet and their consistency of high finishes is has certainly been their strength, in the end.”

Team Nickomania, as Resch and teammate Nico Delle Karth call themselves, are ranked second in the 49er World Sailing rankings, behind Burling and Tuke. They haven’t given up on the gold in Rio just yet, but with Burling and Tuke’s proven track record of success, Resch says it’s really the Kiwi’s medal to lose.

“There’s so much pressure on them, and the venue is extremely challenging,” says Resch. “It all comes down to four days in the Olympic regatta, and there may not be all that many races. Each race will be vital, and mistakes will be costly.”

It’s here that Resch says Burling and Tuke may have a chink in their armor. “They sometimes struggle with starts,” says Resch. “In Rio, one side of the course is often so favored that even with their excellent boat speed, they wouldn’t be able to climb up the leader board. In a strong fleet like this, the starts are challenging and that could be an advantage that we will have over them.”

The regatta was only sailed on the inshore course, and the racing is expected to be more of a test of boat speed on the two offshore courses which will also be used.

The consolation for the New Zealand is that in the Womens Skiff, Alex Maloney and Molly Meech finished second overall.

The Olympic regatta gets underway on August 9, 2016

For the full story in Sailing World click here

For the full results click here