NZL Sailing Team- Racing underway in Rio for Olympic Test Event

by Jodie Bakewell-White on 4 Aug 2014 Racing is underway for the NZL Sailing Team in Rio, Brazil in the RS:X and Finn classes at Aquece Rio – International Sailing Regatta 2014 – the Olympic Sailing ‘Test Event’.

Natalia Kosinska has made a solid start in the Women’s RS:X racing to lie sixth overall at the end of the first day of competition. The Takapuna Boating Club representative placed 13th and second in today’s two fleet races.

The other event to start racing today was the Finn heavyweight single-handed dinghy featuring two NZL Sailing Team sailors – Josh Junior and Andrew Murdoch.

Junior came away from today with a fifth and a 16th to lie 10th on the leader board, while Murdoch is close behind in 12th overall after a 10th and a 12th on the water today.

Conditions in Rio today saw a south easterly breeze of around 8-12 knots providing the puff for a full schedule of racing.

The format, which reflects the Olympic Games schedule, dictates a staged start to racing across the different classes. Tomorrow will see everyone on the water with the double-handed dinghy, multihull and skiff classes hitting the water, as well as the Laser, Radial classes.

Aqueece Rio – International Sailing Regatta 2014, 2-9 August 2014 New Zealand’s current standings

Full results below

6th Natalia Kosinska (Women’s RS:X) - 15 points (13, 2)
10th Josh Junior (Finn)- 21 points (5, 16)
12th Andrew Murdoch (Finn)-22 points (10, 12)

Starting tomorrow…

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke – 49er
Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski – 49er
Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech – 49erFX
Andy Maloney – Laser
Sam Meech – Laser
Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie – Women’s 470
Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox – Men’s 470
Sara Winther – Laser Radial
Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders – Nacra 17

Support and coaching: Jez Fanstone, Mark Howard, Nathan Handley, Simon Briscoe, Hamish Willcox, Craig Panther, David Slyfield, Louise Johnson and Christel Dunshea- Mooij

Event website right click here

About the NZL Sailing Team

The NZL Sailing Team includes New Zealand’s top Olympic campaigners who have made the top 20% in their most recent (respective) class World Championships or pinnacle event and have shown consistency of performance over the year including other significant Championships.

Yachting New Zealand’s High Performance Programme is focussed on winning medals at the Olympics in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

NZL Sailing Team sailors all started out at grass roots yacht clubs around the country and with commitment, dedication and drive have risen to be world class athletes; they work hard in the gym, train long hours on the water and are supported by great coaches.