420 Worlds Day 4 & 5- Win for Kiwi Girls

by Simon Cooke + Richard Gladwell on 5 Aug 2005 Kiwi Coach Simon Cooke gives his perspective on the last two days racing in the 420 World Championships in Brest, France

3rd August - Day Four, Finals
Conditions: N (off shore) 0-8 knots

OK today was a bad day for the Kiwis, I guess it had to happen and was hard for the team to take as expectations had risen so high after the great start.

Anyway, it is important to note that today was offshore and extremely unpredictable (shifty and up and down) for Kiwi’s. Some countries performed very well, but most of us came off the water wondering what was going on. As I said to the team “You win some and you lose some. With the good days there are bad days. Today was our bad day and maybe tomorrow we will have a better day”.

I still think that we have over performed so far and no matter where we finish we should be very proud of how the team is going. I am 100% sure that our sailors need more time competing in Europe and in fleets of this size. Every one is learning very quick and I have been able to see the progress in everyone.

4th August - Day Five, Finals

Conditions: NW (on shore) 6-14 knots

After another late start we finally got away with the Men’s teams first for a change. The first race was in majority very light and during this race there was a right hand shift along with a significant increase in wind strength. This caused most fleets to invert in the results. The second and third races were in slightly more wind and the right hand side paid very heavily.

Best effort of the day goes to Georgina Hill and Michelle Kennedy who got a win and a third . Great effort. Peter Burling and Bruce Kennedy had a good day with three top tens also.

On the water sources advise that although official results have not yet been posted, Peter Burling and Bruce Kennedy moved up into third overall with 10,6,4 results (not sure of the order). They now lie one point clear of fourth place and 10 points clear of fifth, with a second drop race still to come. They have a protest against them, however the Portuguese who protested them didn't turn up to the hearing so the protest has been dismissed, for the time being.

Michelle Kennedy and Georgina Hill had a great day - they love boat-end starts - they got a pretty ordinary start at the boat and headed straight out to the right layline to lead by a large margin.

There is one day left in the regatta, and more wind is expected for tomorrow, which should be to the liking of the favour the Kiwis.

Source: www.simoncooke.co.nz and www.kiwispy.com