NZL Sailing Team - Kiwi 49er crews well placed at World Cup regatta

by Yachting New Zealand on 19 Oct 2017 A typhoon might be descending on Japan early next week but the sailors at the World Cup regatta in Gamagori are having to contend with painfully light winds.

A handful of Kiwis across the classes are coping well, with all three 49er crews inside the top seven and Olympic bronze medallist Sam Meech in a share of third in the Laser fleet.

Meech and the 49er crew of Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn picked up race winds to put themselves in a handy position after two days of the regatta. The wind topped out at about five knots meaning big gains and losses could be made.

Dunning Beck has won a couple of World Cup regattas but Gamagori represents the first major regatta with Gunn after the pair teamed up earlier this year. They have been encouraged by their results so far, picking up a win in the third race of the day, but were also disqualified from the first race for being over the start line.

'It was a good day out today,' said Dunning Beck, who skippered the NZL Sailing Team at this year's Youth America's Cup. 'It was a mixed bag in the results department, especially with a UFD score but, that aside, we were sailing well through the water.

'We have learned a lot in the last few months and are relishing the chance to get out there and race. We are both learning plenty every day we have here, sailing against the overseas competitors, and it is exciting to see just how much is left in the development tank.

'The forecast breeze looks like we might get the chance to stretch out on the trapeze in the next few days so we will be looking to get off the line fast and keep the boat ripping all the way around the course. Still plenty left to learn from the races we have remaining '

Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie are another young crew and settled into fifth after day two, backing up their race win on the first day with three top-10 results and a 15th which is their discard as their worst result. Close behind are Josh Porebski and Trent Rippey in seventh.

Meech is within striking distance in the Laser, sitting on the same points as Olympic champion Tom Burton (Australia) in third after a 15th and first in the two races yesterday. World champion Pavlos Kontides of Cyprus has opened up a small gap after two top-three results on day two.

'It was another really light-wind day and we were lucky to get both races in,' Meech said. 'It was going pretty well for me in the first race but I dropped back on the second beat when the wind went far left. In the second race I had a good recovery after not that great a start and managed to come away with the bullet which was a really nice way to finish the day.

'There are a couple of guys who are doing really well but there's plenty of racing still to go. My starts aren't going great but, after that, I feel like I'm sailing alright so a couple of good races and I could be in with a chance. It's pretty tricky racing and a long way to go.'

Both Andrew McKenzie (12th) and Tom Saunders (15th) improved in the highly-competitive Laser fleet, with both recording top-four results

There was only one race in the men's 470, with Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox finishing ninth in the 24-boat fleet and they are now fifth after three races. It's tight at the top, with only two points separating the top three boats, including mulitple world champions Mathew Belcher and William Ryan (Australia) in third.

Susannah Pyatt had a disappointing day in the Laser Radial and dropped to 33rd overall.

Results and standings after day two of the World Cup regatta in Gamagori, Japan:

Laser (50 boats)

1st: Pavlos Kontides (CYP) (7) 4 3 2 - 9 points
2nd: Lorenzo Brando Chiavarini (GBR) 3 (8) 5 6 - 14 points
3rd: Tom Burton (AUS) 1 14 (32) 3 - 18 pts

4th: Sam Meech (NZL) 4 13 (15) 1 - 18 pts
12th: Andrew McKenzie (NZL) 23 (32) 16 4 - 43 pts
15th: Tom Saunders (NZL) 13 39 2 30 - 45 pts

Laser Radial (35 boats)

1st: Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) 1 5 (23) 2 - 8 pts
2nd: Vasileia Karachaliou (GRE) 4 4 1 (9) - 9 pts
3rd: Emma Plasschaert (BEL) (16) 1 4 6 - 11 pts

33rd: Susannah Pyatt (NZL) 14 (32) 32 30 - 76 pts

49er (20 boats)

1st: Dylan Fletcher-Scott / Stuart Bithell (GBR) 4 1 (8) 5 1 - 11 pts
2nd: James Peters / Fynn Sterritt (GBR) 2 5 1 (9) 8 - 16 pts
3rd: Logan Dunning Beck / Oscar Gunn (NZL) 6 (21 UFD) 9 1 3 - 19 pts

5th Isaac McHardie / William McKenzie (NZL) 1 6 10 (15) 6 - 23 pts
7th: Josh Porebski / Trent Rippey (NZL) 10 4 13 2 (14) - 29 pts

Men's 470 (24 boats)

1st: Tetsuya Isozaki / Akira Takayanagi (JPN) 1 (7) 2 - 3 pts
2nd: Matteo Capurro / Matteo Puppo (ITA) (14) 4 1 - 5 pts
3rd: Mathew Belcher / William Ryan (AUS) 3 2 (11) - 5 pts

5th: Paul Snow-Hansen / Dan Willcox (NZL) 2 (22) 9 - 11 pts