NZL Sailing Team- Two Kiwi leaders extend on Day 4 at Miami SWC

by Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting NZ on 30 Jan 2015 New Zealand crews continue to lead in two classes after Day 4 at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami. A total of six crews from the NZL Sailing Team are on target to make their medal race heading into the penultimate day of competition.

In similar style to yesterday, today saw both of New Zealand’s two-handed women’s crews, in the 470 and the 49erfX skiff, extend their points leads even further.

Elsewhere, in the Laser, Radial, Nacra and Men’s 470 the kiwi crews either improved or consolidated their positions and will head into tomorrow’s final day of gold fleet racing in good shape for a top ten placing and a start in Saturday’s medal races.

Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie sailed two races today to finish third and first fairing much better than the other top placed crews. After day four they have opened a 19 point leading margin, when the best second placed crew of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (Great Britain) could do was seventh and 11th.

Jo Aleh reports after today’s racing, 'Another solid day today. Two more races in lighter breeze than we have had all week, slightly less shifty but no less tricky! Tough racing out there, it was easy for things to go from bad to worse. Luckily, we stayed away from the bad, and went from ok to better as the day went on.'

In today’s first race Aleh and Powrie were amidst a tight bunch at the first mark, but worked their way through the pack to cross in third.

Aleh describes how the next race unfolded; 'It got a little shiftier, and we picked the first beat well to round the top mark in the lead. However it was one of those races where it would have been easier to be behind and pass people rather than trying to stay ahead.'

'So it all got a little tight on the last downwind, but we kept our cool and managed to take the race win, to finish with a tidy score-line yet again.'

Three races took place for the 49erFX gold fleet today and Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech end the day no less than 56 points out in front in the Olympic skiff for women. In the opening race of the day they scored a 22nd, their worst of the series to date, however they bit back with a race win in the next, and finished the day with an 11th.

The Brazilian pair of Grael and Kunze, who have been leading the chasing pack, today suffered with a black flag in the second race and a 32nd after that to slide down the leader-board to seventh place.

Kiwis Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox remain in fourth overall in the Men’s 470 and after an 11th and a fourth on the water today they’re just two points behind third place.

Early leaders in the Nacra multihull Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders went some way towards redeeming themselves after average results on day three saw them take a tumble down the board to seventh. At the end of today they’ve climbed back to fifth overall.

Also climbing back up the ranks today were Sara Winther in the Laser Radial, and Andy Maloney and Mike Bullot in the Laser. Winther is now in ninth after a 12th and an 11th in today’s two races and will be looking to stay within the top ten with some good results tomorrow.

Andy Maloney took a race win today and is back up to7th (from 11th) in the Laser fleet; he says that Miami can be a tricky place to sail, and today, while slightly better than yesterday, it was still challenging; 'There were lots of little shifts, but the thing was to be sure you were in phase with the big ones. When it's that tricky, nobody can get everything right.'

Mike Bullot jumped from 27th up to 14th.

Racing continues tomorrow with two more fleet races in what looks like much lighter wind, ahead of Saturday’s medal races in which only the top ten placed sailors get to race.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami runs from 26-31 January and 856 sailors from 63 nations are competing across the ten Olympic and three Paralympic events. It is the second regatta in the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Series which includes events in Melbourne (AUS), Miami (USA), Hyeres (FRA), Weymouth (GBR), Qingdao (CHN) and Abu Dhabi (UAE).

ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami New Zealand’s standings after Day 4:
Full results http://tinyurl.com/k9whzwm!click_here

1st Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie - Women’s 470 (2, 2, 1, 7, 1, 1, 3, 1)
1st Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech – 49erFX (1, 2, 2, 5, 9, 21, 11, 2, 5, 22, 1, 11)
4th Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox – Men’s 470 (12, 3, 11, 2, 4, 15, 11, 4)
5th Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders – Nacra 17 (3, 1, 2, DSQ, 2, 7, 29, 14, 28, 8, 16, 9)
9th Sara Winther – Laser Radial (2, 2, 16, 9, 26, 13, 12, 11)
7th Andy Maloney – Laser (4, 1, 10, 4, 18, 29, 24, 7, 11)
14th Mike Bullot – Laser (DNC, 7, 12, 26, 14, 33, 8, 10, 2)
17th Sam Meech – Laser (DNC, DNC, 21, 2, 4, 31, 16, 6)
31st Erica Dawson and Ellie Copeland – 49erFX (DNC, 21, 15, 32, 24, 33, 33, 24, 7, 29, BFD, Regatta website