New Zealand certain of a gold in World Blind Sailing Champs

by Jacky James on 21 Mar 2009

Racing on Day 3 of the 2009 IFDS Blind World Sailing Championships, Rotorua David Staley - copyright

New Zealand seems certain to receive one gold and two silvers in the IFDS World Blind Sailing Championship, even before the fleet sails its final two races on Saturday.

New Zealand skipper Paulien Eitjes is assured of a gold medal in the B2 fleet, despite missing her first win of the series today.

In race one the team ended up on the wrong side of a big wind shift and were lucky to finish third in a close race with Canada and the United States. The team is able to drop this result.

The team came back well in the second race, finishing with a large lead and dominating again in the third race. Great Britain is second in the B2 fleet and Japan is now in third place.

NZL tries a port tack start in Race 12 of the B2 racing on Day 3 of the 2009 IFDS Blind World Sailing Championships, Rotorua © David Staley - copyright

In the B1 fleet, New Zealand finished ahead of fleet leaders Italy in the first race, but the results were reversed in the second race. Unfortunately New Zealand pre-empted the start of the second race and had difficulty finding room to turn back and re-cross, eventually finishing seventh.

The most exciting race today in the B3 fleet came in the last race where New Zealand just led Great Britain around the first mark. In the run to the line, Great Britain became engaged in a duel with Japan, allowing New Zealand to slip through to take the win.

NZL to leeward of GBR in the B2 racing on Day 3 of the 2009 IFDS Blind World Sailing Championships, Rotorua © David Staley - copyright

After today's races, Italy retains its lead in the B1 fleet on 20 points, New Zealand is in second place on 28 points and Norway still in third place on 33.5 points.

In the B3 fleet, Great Britain holds onto its lead at the top of the table on 14 points, with New Zealand in second place on 24 points and the United States in third place on 35 points.

At this stage another two races are planned for tomorrow morning, completing the Championship’s racing. The overall team’s trophy will be awarded at a prize giving on Saturday night.

NZL has a huge lead in the B2 Race 13 on Day 3 of the 2009 IFDS Blind World Sailing Championships, Rotorua © David Staley - copyright

NZL has room on ITA in the B1 racing on Day 3 of the 2009 IFDS Blind World Sailing Championships, Rotorua © David Staley - copyright

ITA and NZL in the B1 racing on Day 3 of the 2009 IFDS Blind World Sailing Championships, Rotorua © David Staley - copyright

ITA finishes just ahead of NZL in the B1 racing on Day 3 of the 2009 IFDS Blind World Sailing Championships, Rotorua © David Staley - copyright

NZL and GBR racing in the B3 on Day 3 of the 2009 IFDS Blind World Sailing Championships, Rotorua © David Staley - copyright

GBR 30 and NZL 19 fight it out downwind on Day 3 of the 2009 IFDS Blind World Sailing Championships, Rotorua © David Staley - copyright

Provisional Results

B1 Fleet

Sailed:14, Discards:2, To count:12, Entries:9, Scoring system:ISAF Series A
Rank	Fleet	Nat	VIP Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	Total	Nett
1st	B1	ITA	Luigi Bertanza	(9.0)	(4.0)	3.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	1.0	33.0	20.0
2nd	B1	NZL	Dick Lancaster	2.0	(10.0 DSQ)	1.0	4.0	4.0	1.0	3.0	1.0	1.0	4.0	4.0	1.0	2.0	(7.0)	45.0	28.0
3rd	B1	NOR	Thomas Johannesen	1.0	1.5	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	5.0	(6.0)	4.0	1.0	5.0	(8.0)	4.0	3.0	47.5	33.5
4th	B1	FIN	Jukka Jokiniemi	3.0	1.5	6.0	6.0	5.0	6.0	1.0	3.0	3.0	(9.0)	3.0	5.0	(9.0)	9.0	69.5	51.5
5th	B1	FRA	Olivier Brisse	4.0	(8.0)	7.0	7.0	3.0	5.0	6.0	5.0	6.0	5.0	2.0	3.0	7.0	(8.0)	76.0	60.0
6th	B1	AUS WA	Kylie Forth	5.0	5.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	(10.0 DSQ)	4.0	(9.0)	5.0	3.0	8.0	9.0	6.0	2.0	81.0	62.0
7th	B1	JPN Team Toyota	Fumihiro Adachi	7.0	3.0	(8.0)	8.0	(9.0)	8.0	8.0	4.0	7.0	6.0	7.0	7.0	5.0	4.0	91.0	74.0
8th	B1	USA	Matt Chao	6.0	6.0	(9.0)	3.0	7.0	4.0	(9.0)	7.0	8.0	8.0	6.0	6.0	8.0	6.0	93.0	75.0
9th	B1	GBR	Vicki Sheen	8.0	7.0	5.0	(9.0)	8.0	7.0	7.0	8.0	(9.0)	7.0	9.0	4.0	3.0	5.0	96.0	78.0

B2 Fleet

Sailed:14, Discards:2, To count:12, Entries:5, Scoring system:ISAF Series A
Rank	Fleet	Nat	VIP Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	Total	Nett
1st	B2	NZL	Paulien Eitjes	2.0	(3.0)	2.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	(3.0)	1.0	1.0	20.0	14.0
2nd	B2	GBR	Lucy Hodges	1.0	(4.0)	3.0	2.0	3.0	(4.0)	3.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	34.0	26.0
3rd	B2	JPN Team Flying Fish	Takao Sugiyama	3.0	2.0	1.0	3.0	4.0	3.0	4.0	3.0	3.0	(5.0)	4.0	1.0	(5.0)	3.0	44.0	34.0
4th	B2	CAN	David Brown	4.0	1.0	4.0	4.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	(5.0)	4.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	4.0	(5.0)	47.0	37.0
5th	B2	USA	Walter Raineri	(5.0)	(5.0)	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	4.0	5.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	3.0	4.0	65.0	55.0

B3 Fleet

Sailed:14, Discards:2, To count:12, Entries:5, Scoring system:ISAF Series A
Rank	Fleet	Nat	VIP Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	Total	Nett
1st	B3	GBR	Gary Kirby	1.0	(2.0)	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	(2.0)	2.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	18.0	14.0
2nd	B3	NZL	Dave Allerton	2.0	1.0	(3.0)	(5.0)	3.0	3.0	2.0	1.0	1.0	3.0	2.0	2.0	3.0	1.0	32.0	24.0
3rd	B3	USA	Jason Wallenstein	(5.0)	3.0	2.0	3.0	(4.0)	2.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	2.0	4.0	44.0	35.0
4th	B3	JPN Team Yuki	Yuki Kawazoe	4.0	(5.0)	4.0	4.0	(5.0)	4.0	5.0	4.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	3.0	4.0	3.0	57.0	47.0
5th	B3	CAN	Randy Nelson	3.0	4.0	(5.0)	2.0	2.0	(5.0)	4.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	59.0	49.0