NZL Sailing Team start ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth, this week

by Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting NZ on 7 Jun 2015 This week the NZL Sailing Team is in Weymouth and Portland on the southern coast of England where in 2012 the Olympic sailing regatta took place.

Fifteen kiwi crews are at the venue preparing for 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth Regatta where racing starts on Wednesday. On Sunday, after five days of racing, medals will be awarded to those who have performed the best in each of the ten Olympic classes being contested.

Women’s 470 partners Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie won Olympic gold on this patch of water in 2012 and they’re excited to be back; “With forty of the top Women’s 470 teams competing it will be a good tough event, with hopefully a little of that traditional Weymouth wind.”

“We are all rigged up and ready to get on the water for a few days practice before we start racing! Looking forward to sailing out there again, we did rather a few hours on this patch of water in the build-up to London, so hopefully we can remember some of it!”

Jez Fanstone, Yachting New Zealand High Performance Director is in Weymouth with the team and he explains what they know about the venue;

“In the past we have had every condition from flat calm to gales, and everything in between,” he says. “Generally Weymouth offers good and challenging sailing conditions with varied winds, geographical features and tricky current.”

Changes to the ISAF Sailing World Cup were introduced at the last regatta in Hyeres, France where New Zealand came away with two medals, gold for Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in the 49er and silver for Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie in the Women’s 470.

Each class is set at forty entries, every crew having qualified for an invitation to compete through their ISAF ranking or at last week’s Delta Lloyd Regatta.

“This is the second opportunity for NZL Sailing Team to race in the new ISAF Sailing World Cup format,” says Fanstone. “It’s also a good opportunity to do final preparations before heading into the other major Championships coming up in 2015.”

ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth (10-14 June 2015) New Zealand entries

Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, Women’s 470
Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox, Men’s 470
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, 49er
Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski, 49er
Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech, 49erFX
Josh Junior, Finn
Andrew Murdoch, Finn
Andy Maloney, Laser
Sam Meech, Laser
Michael Bullot, Laser
Thomas Saunders, Laser
Sara Winther, Laser Radial
Susannah Pyatt, Laser Radial
Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders, Nacra 17
Olivia Mackay and Micah Wilkinson, Nacra 17

Racing at ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland commences on Wednesday 10 June. 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
ISAF Sailing World Cup Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ISAFSailingWorldCup
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

2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup
Melbourne - 7-14 December 2014
Miami - 25-31 January 2015
Hyères - 20-26 April 2015
Weymouth and Portland - 8-14 June 2015
Qingdao - 14-20 September 2015
2015 Final Abu Dhabi - 27 October to 1 November 2015