Sail-World.com : Young Kiwis report mid-contest on the 470 Worlds in Holland

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Sail-World.com : Young Kiwis report mid-contest on the 470 Worlds in Holland

Young Kiwis report mid-contest on the 470 Worlds in Holland

'Francisco Lardies and Finn Drummond (NZL 52550) - sailing in the 2009 International 420 Class World Championship, where they won the silver medal in the Open fleet' Gianni Tomazzoni Click Here to view large photo

Young New Zealand 470 sailors, Finn Drummond and Frankie Lardies report on the 470 World Championships in Netherlands, next month:

Hi Everyone,

After three days on the water we have finished five of six qualifying races over some very different conditions.

On Day 1 we waited on shore for the wind to fill before the race committee sent us out but all we did was drift around and racing was called off for the day.

On day 2 we went on the water at the correct time to drift around before the race committee sent us in as the wind arrived for a 3 hour wait on shore. The first race was started at 3pm in around 5knots we struggled in all of our starts on the first day and were not able to catch up on the first beat but made good gains all the way around the course to finish 28th. Race 2 we were able to find a lane up the first beat and round the first mark in the top ten and were able to hold our place with good boat speed and finish 8th. In the third race the wind had died and we no longer had the crew on the wire, we were able to hold a lane off the line for a short while and then were tacked on, from there we were unable to find a lane and struggled to the first mark. We made good gains on the downwinds to pass boats but with the tide so strong you did not need to gybe downwind making passing opportunities very limited, we finished 26th.

On day 3 there was slightly more wind forecasted and racing got away on time. It was a 10-16knot offshore wind making it very gusty. In the first race we were fighting for the pin and finished 14th but were called ocs. The second race of the day we needed a good race to have a chance at gold fleet, we started closer to the boat end of the line and sailed our own race up the first beat and were 5th at the top mark with a large gap behind us to the fleet. We were able to work the next beat and downwind well to finish 4th.

We have had good boat speed over both days but have lacked the big fleet experience especially in the large fleet on the start lines and around the bottom marks as the fleet converges together. We have one more qualifying race tomorrow morning where if we have a good result and lots of other results go our way we will just scrape into the gold fleet, but it is looking very unlikely. We are still improving quickly learning lots and having fun.

Our races are able to be watched live via a gps tracker at www.470worlds2010.com with our first race tomorrow starting at 8pm New Zealand time and then a break on shore to be split into gold, silver and bronze fleets.

Thanks to all of our sponsors and supporters who have made our campaign possible;

Sparc, Sailutions, Selden, North Sails, Four Winds Foundation, Pelorus Trust, Talleys, Mackay Boats, Glendowie Boating Club, Wakatere Development Trust, Wakatere Boating Club and The International New Zealand Yachting Trust

Finn and Frankie

by Finn Drummond and Frankie Lardies

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2:26 AM Thu 15 Jul 2010 GMT

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