NZL Sailing Team - Kiwis climb to second in Mens 470 on light day

by Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting on 13 Jun 2015 Fickle and changing winds at the 2012 Olympic venue hampered racing on day three of 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and only one NZL Sailing Team added a countable race to their results.

Paul Snow Hansen and Daniel Willcox managed a second place in the only race of the day for the Men’s 470 class and as a result they are now lying second overall.

They are now nine points back from the event leaders Stuart Mcnay and David Hughes (USA) and were pleased to come away from today with a countable result in the challenging conditions.

Daniel Willcox explains, 'The first race of the regatta we were black flagged so since then we used our discard up and have had to keep our consistency and keep some good results under our belt. We've managed to do that and we look to do that going forward as well.'

The Kiwis worked their way up the fleet throughout the race, moving up the ranks from 12th to second. Willcox continued, 'It was a pretty tricky race and very changeable from the start to finish. We kind of had a trend to the right, like the forecast model said and we had to deal with the right shift with the pressure as well.”

'We did a pretty good job. There were lots of snakes and ladders throughout the race so we were keeping our boat point towards the mark and doing the simple things right and it paid off quite well so we're happy.'

For the remainder of the NZL Sailing Team no racing was possible and consequently eight kiwi crews hold their place in the top five going into the penultimate day of the regatta.

Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (Women’s 470), Andy Maloney (Laser) and Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech (49erFX) all lead their events. Daniel Willcox and Paul Snow-Hansen (Men’s 470) and Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski (49er) are laying second overall, while Josh Junior (Finn) and Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (49erFX) are third.

Racing is scheduled to resume tomorrow at 10:30am local time, with Medal Races on Sunday 14 June will bring the regatta to a close.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth (10-14 June 2015)
New Zealand’s current standings

1st Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, Women’s 470 (1, 1, 2, 4)
2nd Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox, Men’s 470 (BFD, 3, 4, 7, 2)
2nd Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski, 49er (4, 37, 10, 3, 8, 1)
3rd Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, 49er (12, 7, 25, 2, 4, 5)
1st Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech, 49erFX (3, 3, 11, 1, 2, 1)
3rd Josh Junior, Finn (15, 1, 4, 2)
4th Andrew Murdoch, Finn (3, 2, 6, 8)
1st Andy Maloney, Laser (1, 2, 6, 18)
7th Michael Bullot, Laser (9, 12, 1, 6)
12st Sam Meech, Laser (17, 24, 5, 7)
21st Thomas Saunders, Laser (8, 22, 13, 21)
18th Sara Winther, Laser Radial (22, 15, 12, 22)
28th Susannah Pyatt, Laser Radial (28, 18, 31, 26)
30th Olivia Mackay and Micah Wilkinson, Nacra 17 (17, 29, 32, DNC, DNC, DNC)

Racing resumes tomorrow at ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland. Medal Races on Sunday 14 June will bring the regatta to a close.

ISAF Sailing World Cup website http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/home.php
Yachting New Zealand Latest News http://www.yachtingnz.org.nz/news
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NZL Sailing Team Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NZLSailingTeam

More about the ISAF Sailing World Cup

The ISAF Sailing World Cup is a world-class annual series for Olympic sailing. It is open to the sailing events chosen for the 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition. Its centre piece is the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup will consist of five regattas for all ten Olympic events and where possible, Formula Kite Racing. Qualification places for the ISAF Sailing World Cup final are up for grabs at each event. The final will bring together the top 20 boats in each Olympic event and an Open Kiteboarding event where the World Cup Champions will be crowned