NZL Sailing Team- Wild and Windy on Day 2 at Sail for Gold

by Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting NZ on 11 Aug 2010
A wild and windy day on the water tested the NZL Sailing Team competing at Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth, England. It was all about survival out on the race course today with gusts of up to 25 knots.

After two day's racing of the six day series Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk hold onto their lead in the Star event, with plenty of snakes and ladders on the leader board for the rest of the kiwi team. Many stepped up the challenge and New Zealand now has six sailors or teams placed within the top ten of their fleet at this early stage in the regatta.

Jez Fanstone, Yachting New Zealand Olympic Programme Manager commented, 'It would be fair to say that it’s been a big day for weather and results.'

'The venue is living up to its billing as one that can deliver a variety of conditions with us seeing 5 - 25knots in one day. With some lighter winds forecast for the end of the week it will be a good test of all round sailing for the whole team.'

Star
After kicking off the series with two bullets on day one Pepper and Monk sailed one race overnight crossing the line in ninth place – enough to retain their spot at the top of the class. With eleven points they are out in front of Johannes Polgar and Markus Koy of Germany who have 14 points.

The big name Star sailors like Torben Grael, Robert Scheidt, Xavier Rohart and Freddie Loof are in the hunt all sitting in the top ten.

Laser
Andrew Murdoch remains the best placed of the kiwis in the Laser, but slipped from the top spot into second place after a fourth and a seventh in last night’s two races. Britain’s Paul Goodison takes the lead just two points ahead of Murdoch.

Stand out performer of the day for New Zealand in the class was Wellington’s Josh Junior who came away with two race wins on day two. Sam Meech from Tauranga had a solid day on the water also scoring a third and a fourth.

49er
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have moved up from fourth into second place in the 49er class as the second best performing team of the day in skiff. The 49er boys sailed with speed and maturity to record a second and a third, with the second race being one of survival down the last run.

They are on 11 points – five points adrift of the current leaders Manu Dyen and Stephane Christidis who returned two race wins on day two. The Sibello brothers of Italy sailed well and have third place on the board four points behind the kiwis.

Men’s RS:X
Jon-Paul Tobin was on fire on day two repeating the form of the Star boys on day one, with two wins from two race sailed, taking him up into fourth place overall in the Men’s RS:X fleet. Tom Ashley is in 13th place after two fourths.

Women’s 470
In the challenging and testing conditions Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie switched on the afterburners to win the second race of the day which sees them fight their way up into the top ten. After lying seventh at the outset of the day they move up into seventh position in the fleet of 46.

Finn
The Finn fleet sailed just one race on day two, New Zealand’s Dan Slater placing 17th. He is inside the top ten in ninth position in the standings.

Elsewhere in the team Sara Winther sailed well in the windy conditions returning a third and a fourth in the Laser radial fleet where she now lies 13th overall. Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders are the best of the three kiwi teams in the Men’s 470 with an 11th and a third last night they are in 15th.

Daily reports on the New Zealand team performance will be issued during the regatta and you can now follow the NZL Sailing Team via their Facebook page.

Full results, images and more information will be available on the regatta website. Media requiring high resolution images or footage can contact event media services on Sarah.Alexander@intotheblue.biz

2010 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta
New Zealand’s Current Standings after day two as available

Star (36 boats)
1st Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk (1, 1, 9)

Laser (180 boats)
2nd Andrew Murdoch (1, 2, 4, 7)
13th Mike Bullot (13, 12, 3, 13)
15th Josh Junior ( 2, 39, 1, 1)
21st Sam Meech (5, 34, 3, 4)
57th Andy Maloney (43, 9, 21, 10)
97th James Sandall (10, 32, 45, 34)
132nd George Lane (34, 37, 53, 46)
146th Spencer Loxton (DSQ, 52, 33, 41)

Laser Radial (91 boats)
13th Sara Winther (5, 22, 3, 4)
31st Rachel Basevi (33, 24, 6, 8)
44th Miranda Powrie (33, 31, 15, 11)

470 Men (60 boats)
15th Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders (18, 8, 11, 3)
31st Francisco Lardies and Finn Drummond (20, 18, 9, 11)
33rd Geoff Woolley and Daniel Willcox (15, 10, 14, 24)

470 Women (46 boats)
7th Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (20, 12, 16, 1)

49er (58 boats)
2nd Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (3, 3, 4, 2, 3)

Finn (50 boats)
9th Dan Slater (2, 17, 17)

RS:X Men (75 sailors)
4th Jon-Paul Tobin (6, 6, 1, 1)
13th Tom Ashley (19, 2, 4, 4)

RS:X Women (50 sailors)
25th Natalia Kosinska (25, 30, 28, 24)
24th Stephanie Williams (40, 27, 23, 16)
34th Alice Monk (41, 34, 24, 31)

Women’s Match Racing (24 teams)
Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt (Group C Round Robin: 0 wins/4 losses)

Coaching Team
Graeme Sutherland
Jez Fanstone
Mark Howard
Andrew Palfrey
David Robertson
Rod Slater
Hamish Willcox

About this Regatta
Skandia Sail for Gold is the last round of seven events in the 2009-10 ISAF Sailing World Cup series for Olympic class sailors. Racing starts on August 9th and runs until August 14th.

The Numbers...
703 Entries
57 Nations
975 Athletes
212 Coaches