Brilliant day for the NZL Sailing Team at 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup

by Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting NZ on 12 Jun 2015 New Zealand leads in three events with a total of eight NZL Sailing Team crews lying top five at the end of day two in Weymouth, England where the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth Regatta is underway.

Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech (picture above © onEdition) were the stand-out performers on the team today and they take the overall lead in the 49erFX. Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie retain their lead in the Women’s 470; so does Andy Maloney in the Laser.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are in third and back in the game with a good day today, while Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski also appear towards the top of the board in the 49er lying second.

Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox climb to third in the Men’s 470, while New Zealand is lying third and fourth in the Finn.

With two days racing complete another two days of fleet racing remain. Live Medal Races on Sunday - that will be available to view from 11:00 local time in Weymouth here - will bring the competition to a close.

470 Women’s and Men’s:

Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie maintain their day one lead although British rivals Saskia Clarke and Hannah Mills have inched a little closer and now sit just one point behind the kiwi Olympic champions.

“It was an okay day out there for us today. We’re a little frustrated as we made a few basic mistakes that cost us a few places,” reports Jo Aleh. “We got a fourth and a second, so not too bad in terms is results.”

While not able to re-produce their perfect scores from day one, Aleh and Powrie are clearly enjoying being back on the memorable territory of Weymouth and are relishing the blustery, familiar conditions that they often compare to New Zealand’s Takapuna.

“There was good breeze and some great waves downwind, although still rather shifty and lots of pressure differences. It made for some interesting racing.”

In the Men’s 470 Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox take a massive jump up the leader board into third overall, due to the combination of a great day on the race track and their discard coming into play. Sailing two races today they were fourth and seventh and now have 14 points, four adrift of the Aussies in second.

Laser and Radial:

Andy Maloney continues to lead the Laser class after day two of racing in Weymouth. He placed sixth and 18th on the water today and holds a four point lead over Sweden’s Jesper Stalheim and Britain’s Philipp Buhl who are tied on points in second and third.

Michael Bullot has broken into the top ten after a great performance today with a win and a sixth. The Murray’s Bay Sailing Club representative is now in seventh overall.

Sam Meech also improved his overall position today with results including a fifth and a seventh which pushes him up into 12th. Thomas Saunders is in 21st place.

In the Laser Radial Sara Winther is in 18th overall, while Susannah Pyatt is 28th.

Finn:

Andrew Murdoch’s overall lead in the Finn after day one has slipped from his grasp with the on-form hometown favourite Giles Scott taking the top spot in the Finn fleet after day two.

Regardless it was still a good day for both kiwis in the men’s heavy weight dinghy class. Josh Junior has improved to third place overall after a fourth and a second in today’s racing, while Murdoch is just behind in fourth making for two in the top five for New Zealand.

Points remain close at the top of the board and the 24 boat fleet are now half way through the fleet racing which will determine who sails the top ten medal race on Sunday in Weymouth.

49er and 49erFX:

Its New Zealand second and third in the Men’s 49er skiff standings with the two kiwi crews the only ones in the class to return three single digit scores on day two.

Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski take a jump from seventh up to second with a third, an eighth and a race win to hold a points-score of 26, three behind Sweden’s Victor Bergstrom and Victor Vasternas.

Olympic silver medallists Peter Burling and Blair Tuke came home top five in three races held today in Weymouth and climb up to third overall into more familiar territory on the leader board.

However of all the NZL Sailing Team it was Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech who performed the best today with an outstanding 1-2-1 from their three races which sees them jump into the overall lead in the Women’s 49er FX.

'We had a really good day today. Everything kind of felt easy and we were going quite fast and that always helps,' smiled Meech. 'It was quite good racing and everyone was going really fast. If you made a mistake you were going to get passed but if you didn't, then you were always going to pass people.'

Maloney and Meech are amongst the leading competitors in the 49erFX and have the potential and know how to medal at each event. Most recently they finished seventh at World Cup Hyeres and have been working hard to get back on the podium, 'We've got a few things to work on for the rest of this regatta. Our starts have been a focus for us and things are starting to come together. We'll look to push on from that and try to get a great result from this regatta.'

Nacra 17:

Olivia Mackay and Micah Wilkinson did not compete in the Nacra 17 racing today. They suffered a broken rig on day one of the regatta.

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)
3nd Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox, Men’s 470 (BFD, 3, 4, 7)
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.

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