2012 Olympics- Mixed bag for NZers on Day 2 of 470 and Finn Worlds

by Sail-World on 15 May 2012
Two New Zealand Olympic representative crews performed well in the 470 Worlds being sailed in Barcelona, Spain.

The 470 is used for the Mens and Womens Two handed event in the 2012 Olympics.

The New Zealand womens crew of Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie lie in third place overall after two days of racing. Their worst placing is a fourth after four races were sailed over the first two days of the regatta. They are on equal points for third, and one point off second place in the regatta, which is being contested by 54 crews.

In the Mens Worlds, the young New Zealand crew of Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders lie in 28th overall. They had a poor first race, finishing 30th, but from that point on they have been on the improve with places of sixth, seventh and third. All going well they should be able to drop their worst place when the discard races cut into the points table, and they would move up significantly. 95 crews are competing in the regatta.

For results on the 470 Worlds http://worlds.470.org/eventsites/results_main.asp?eventid=66686#!click_here

In the Finn class, Dan Slater has had a best place of 12th in the four races sailed and lies in 17th place overall after two days of racing. Although New Zealand has qualified for the 2012 Olympics, a nomination for the position in the team has yet to be made. A second NZ sailor, Matt Coutts is in 34th overall in the 95 strong fleet.

The regatta is being sailed at the Olympic venue of Weymouth, and is being dominated by British sailors, who hold the top three positions overall. For the full story and results http://www.sail-world.com/NZ/Finn-Gold-Cup---Ainslie-leads-the-fleet-after-day-2/97209!click_here