NZ Olympic Womens Match Racing Squad update

by .. on 12 Jun 2010
An update from the New Zealand Womens Match Racing Squad, part of the NZL Sailing Team

Hi Everyone,

The squad has been busy over the last few weeks, here is an update of what's been going on......

World Cup - Medemblik, Holland
Holland was beautiful - cold and breezy. Steph, Jenna and Sam finished 14th at this event.
The team had their opportunities but didn't win the races they needed too. Lots of great stuff learnt and to practice.

New boats for NZL - check out the photos attached
Two of New Zealand’s legendary women sailors have been honoured with the naming of Yachting New Zealand’s new Elliott 6 metre Women’s match racing yachts. Earlier this month, New Zealand’s Governor General officially named the yachts Barbara Kendall and Leslie Egnot in front of a crowd of sailors, sponsors, media and friends of Yachting New Zealand.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with these names. Both these women won medals at the Olympic Games for NZL in Yachting.

The names were chosen after a nationwide competition where yacht club members submitted their suggestions to a panel of judges for their consideration.

Squad training
The entire squad was back in NZ for a week's training last week. It was nice to be connected again and to share the lessons learned over the last month. It was great to be using the boats out on the Auckland harbour.

World Cup - Kiel, Germany
The team competing in Kiel have just departed NZ to start their build up for this event.
The team is Samantha Osborne (Helm), Jenna Hansen (Main) and Susannah Pyatt (Bow).
The team is accompanied by their coach Graeme Sutherland. The girls have organised training with the German and Spanish teams and are looking forward to tuning up for the regatta. The team promises email updates as internet is readily available here.

Thanks for all the support,


Stephanie Hazard, Raynor Smeal, Susannah Pyatt, Samantha Osborne, Keryn McMaster & Jenna Hansen