Burling and Tuke near perfect on Day 2 of Sailing World Cup Hyeres

by Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting NZ on 24 Apr 2015 Racing continued for the NZL Sailing Team in France today at ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres Regatta where our 2012 Olympic medallist crews hit their stride.

On the skiff course Peter Burling and Blair Tuke were showing everyone else how it’s done, while in the Women’s 470 Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie have made major gains on the leader-board.

49er & 49erFX: After a near perfect day on the water Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have opened up a solid leading margin in the 49er skiff class. Adding two bullets and a second place on day two of the five day long regatta, the kiwis are out in front by 21 points with Denmark’s Jonas Warrer and Anders Thomsen now in second place.

Team-mates Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski have slipped to 18th.

Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech improved their overall position in the women’s 49er FX climbing to seventh overall with a 14th, a fourth and a ninth in today’s three races.

Maloney reports; “After a slow start we connected a few more pieces of the puzzle day two into Hyeres Sailing World Cup. We are determined to make each race more complete in the coming few days.”

470: Women and Men: Lying 11th going into today Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie have climbed up the ladder with two solid single-digit race results today – a sixth and a fifth. All three teams at the top of the leader-board, including the kiwis, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR) and Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha are lying equal on points.

The Brazilian and Slovenian crews in fourth and fifth aren’t far adrift and the scene is set for another exciting battle over the coming two days of racing which lead up to Sunday’s medal race.

Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox are lying 10th in the Men’s 470 class.

Finn: Changing fortunes on the Finn course today have seen Andrew Murdoch slip to 13th on the leader-board suffering from a DNF in today’s first race. In contrast, Josh Junior had a better day and climbed up the ranks to 17th overall after placing seventh and 10th in today’s racing.

Laser & Radial: New Zealand’s Laser sailors struggled for consistency today and only Andy Maloney remains in the top ten of the 40 boat fleet. He is in 10th, Sam Meech is 13th, Mike Bullot is 21st and Thomas Saunders is 25th at the end of days two.

Sara Winther is lying 24th in the Laser Radial.

Nacra 17: Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders are now in 16th overall in the mixed multihull.

Women’s RS:X: Natalia Kosinska has moved from 21st up to lie 17th at the end of day two finishing today on a high note with a third place.

Racing continues in Hyeres tomorrow with another two days of racing remaining before the top ten medal races scheduled for Sunday.

2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres NZL Sailing Team current standings

1st Peter Burling and Blair Tuke – 49er (2, 9, 3, 1, 1, 2)
18th Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski – 49er (9, 12, 19, 29, 16, 35)
7th Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech – 49erFX (12, 16, 18, 14, 4, 9)
3rd Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie – Women’s 470 (3, 25, 6, 5)
10th Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox – Men’s 470 (24, 7, 18, 5)
13th Andrew Murdoch – Finn (5, 5, DNF, 28)
17th Josh Junior – Finn (33, 27, 7, 10)
10th Andy Maloney – Laser (12, 9, 18, 7)
13th Sam Meech – Laser (11, 2, 23, 39)
21st Mike Bullot – Laser (21, 18, 12, 22)
25th Thomas Saunders – Laser (16, 30, 14, 30)
24th Sara Winther – Laser Radial (26, 11, 19, 32)
17th Natalia Kosinska – Women’s RS:X (27, 13, 28, 11, 3)
16th Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders – Nacra 17 (5, 18, 29, 10, 14,14)