NZL Sailing Team approach podium steps at ISAF Sailing Worlds

by Kristine Lederis and Sail-World on 17 Dec 2011
The NZL Sailing Team sailors are close to the steps of the podium as they head toward the final day of fleet racing Saturday at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships.

On Friday, only the Women’s 470 and Men’s 49er classes sailed off the shores of Fremantle, as crews tried to improve their fleet standing ahead of Sunday’s medal races.

'Team Jolly'- Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie, did well in the sea breeze today. The standard local afternoon onshore breeze, known as the Fremantle Doctor, greeted the 470 women under clear skies and brought a wind range from 12- 18knots.

Their first race saw a big comeback from a deep first bottom mark rounding; they managed to pick their way back through the fleet on the third and fourth legs and finished the race in third. In the second race Aleh and Powrie were involved in a port-starboard altercation shortly after the start, and after doing their 720 degree penalty turn they never quite recovered, finishing that race in seventeenth.

Even so, Team Jolly has climbed two rungs up the ladder and now sit in fourth overall. They are only five points behind third placed team and not much further behind second. The women’s 470 fleet have their final two races tomorrow, and then the top ten will progress to the medal race.

The Men’s 49ers were on the water early today, starting their racing at 9:00am. They got the first two races away in shifty conditions, again with the leaders playing snakes and ladders, as places were swapped in almost random fashion. The race committee made a wise decision to wait for the Fremantle Doctor to arrive, postponing the last race of the day until better conditions were present.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke were able to perform much better in the third race with stable conditions, finishing that race in fifth. They have held on to their fourth overall position, just ten points behind the lead boat and with a nice ten point buffer on the fifth place boat behind them. They trail the third placed crew by just two points with two races and the medal race to sail.

The Men’s RS:X and Laser enjoyed a rest day today.

All four fleets will have their final set of races on Saturday and following that the top ten in each fleet will progress to Sunday’s medal races on the Centre Course of Bathers Bay. At this stage, it is looking likely that the NZL Sailing Team could be represented in all four medal races.

Tomorrow (Saturday) there will be live streaming from the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships, available via www.perth2011.com

Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships
New Zealand’s current standings

49er
4th Gold Fleet - Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (3, 16, 11, 5)
7th Silver Fleet- Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski (18, 3, 7, 11)
14th Bronze Fleet- Chris Burgess and Rohan Swanson (12, 18, 15, 16)

470 Women
4th Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (7, 4, 14, 25, 7, 1, 3, 17)
43rd Vicki Francis and Erica Dawson (32, 43, 43, 44, 44, 40, 43, 41)

Men’s Laser (did not sail today, placings are from the last race day on Thursday)
8th Gold Fleet- Andrew Murdoch (50DNF, 7)
14th Gold Fleet- Andy Maloney (14, 3)
15st Gold Fleet- Mike Bullot (38, 10)
31st Gold Fleet- Sam Meech (23, 42)
45th Gold Fleet- Josh Junior (42, 41)
34th Silver Fleet- Tom Saunders (50DNC, 11)

RS:X Men’s (did not sail today, placings are from the last race day on Thursday)
7th Gold Fleet- JP Tobin (3, 24, 2)
9th Gold Fleet- Tom Ashley (20, 10, 4)
6th Silver Fleet - Antonio Cozzolino (15, 5, 4)
28th Silver Fleet- Carl Evans (14, 28, 21)