Tokyo2020: Several Kiwi sailors still in medal contention - Day 5

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke racing on Day 5 of the Tokyo2020 Olympic Regatta © Sailing Energy / World Sailing

It was a very nearly day for many of the New Zealand sailing crews today but a number of them are still in medal contention heading into the business end of the Olympic regatta.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are fourth overall, only eight points off the lead, but could have made significant progress up the standings save for a costly error when Burling fell off the boat through a manoeuvre.

Sam Meech was also having a great day, finishing second in his first race before capsizing when he got his leg stuck under the hiking strap when contesting the lead in his second. The Rio bronze medallist has had a frustrating regatta to date and now sits 14th overall in the Laser with two more qualifying races before the top-10 medal race.

And the men's 470 of Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox faced a late protest from the Spanish crew after provisionally ending the day in fifth overall, only one point behind third. (SW: the protest was later dismissed.)

Josh Junior is hanging in there in the Finn and will go into the rest day in seventh while Alex Maloney and Molly Meech will return to action tomorrow in the 49erFX in ninth after a rest day today. Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson are 12th in the Nacra 17 but are expected to climb in the standings when the wind drops over the next couple of days.

Burling and Tuke made an uncharacteristic error in their first race when Burling fell off the boat through a tack near the top mark. The pair had been sitting in second at the time and did well to quickly recover and finish 12th to limit the damage.

They followed that up with a second in their next race, despite a poor start, and feel ready to attack the last half of the regatta.

"We are still well within touch but it’s been a little bit frustrating over the last couple of days," Tuke said. "The positives out of that is that we are making mistakes and are still there or there abouts."

Burling added: "It was a little bit frustrating not to put two really low ones on the board but everyone seemed to have a bit of an up and down one today. It would be nicer to be a bit closer to the front but we’re looking forward to the next six races."

Junior is looking forward to a rest day in the punishing Finn class. The 31-year-old hasn't quite found the form that won him the 2019 world title and knows he needs to string it together in his final four qualifying races.

"I need to sail to my potential, sail a bit faster, smarter and sail cleaner races," he said. "I think it’s a bit of everything but it’s all achievable.

"The rest day is great timing. I’ll reset and hopefully attack the second half of the regatta."

It could look quite different in terms of conditions, with the moderate winds and wavy conditions giving way to lighter sea breezes.

It's the sort of conditions Snow-Hansen and Willcox are looking forward to, with the 470 European champions hoping for a range of wind strengths across their 10 qualifying races to mix up the fleet.

The Australian pair of Matt Belcher and Will Ryan banked two wins today to extend their lead at the top but it's extremely tight among the rest of the top 10.

"It felt like a day where we could have got more but we could have also clocked up a lot of points so I guess we just have to be happy," Snow-Hansen said before facing the protest. "We are very much in it and it’s exciting."

Results and standings after Day 5 of the Olympic sailing regatta in Enoshima:

49er (19 boats)

1st: Dylan Fletcher-Scott / Stuart Bithell (GBR) 2 8 4 1 (14) 3 - 18 points 2nd: Diego Botin / Iago Lopez Marra (ESP) 5 1 2 5 5 (12) - 18 pts 3rd: Jonas Warrer / Jakob Jensen (DEN) 6 5 (10) 3 1 5 - 20 pts

4th: Peter Burling / Blair Tuke (NZL) (12) 3 7 2 12 2 - 26 pts

49erFX (21 boats)

1st: Charlotte Dobson / Saskia Tidey (GBR) 1 1 (6) 4 2 5 - 13 pts 2nd: Annemiek Bekkering / Annette Duetz (NED) (13) 8 2 1 6 1 - 18 pts 3rd: Tamara Echegoyen / Paula Martin (ESP) 2 10 (22 UFD) 2 3 3 - 20 pts

9th: Alex Maloney / Molly Meech (NZL) 16 (22 UFD) 5 12 4 4 - 41 pts

Finn (19 boats)

1st: Giles Scott (GBR) (9) 9 1 1 1 1 - 13 pts 2nd: Joan Cardona (ESP) 3 3 (5) 3 2 3 - 14 pts 3rd: Zsombor Berecz (HUN) 2 2 (9) 4 6 7 - 21 pts

7th: Josh Junior (NZL) (12) 10 3 7 8 5 - 33 pts

Laser (35 boats)

1st: Matt Wearn (AUS) 17 (28) 2 4 2 2 1 1 - 29 pts 2nd: Pavlos Kontides (CYP) 4 7 5 1 20 1 (36 DNF) 6 - 44 pts 3rd: Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR) 3 (18) 15 2 6 8 10 5 - 49 pts

14th: Sam Meech (NZL) (19) 19 8 16 14 3 2 13 - 75 pts

Laser Radial (44 boats)

1st: Anne-Marie Rindom (BEL) 6 5 3 (13) 4 4 2 1 - 25 pts 2nd: Tuula Tenkanen (FIN) 9 6 14 (33) 5 3 6 3 - 46 pts 3rd: Josefin Olsson (SWE) (34) 15 8 4 1 6 4 9 - 47 pts

Men's 470 (19 boats)

1st: Matt Belcher / Will Ryan (AUS) 2 (5) 1 1 - 4 pts 2nd: Luke Patience / Chris Grube (GBR) 3 (8) 2 4 - 9 pts 3rd: Anton Dahlberg / Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE) 1 (15) 8 5 - 9 pts

5th: Paul Snow-Hansen / Dan Willcox (NZL) 6 2 (7) 7 - 15 pts

Women's 470 (21 boats)

1st: Agnieszka Skrzypulec / Jolanta Ogar (POL) 1 1 2 (5) - 4 pts 2nd: Hannah Mills / Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) 4 3 (7) 1 - 8 pts 3rd: Camille Lecointre / Aloise Retornaz (FRA) 3 2 4 (7) - 9 pts

Nacra 17 (20 boats)

1st: Ruggero Tita / Caterina Banti (ITA) 1 3 1 2 (5) 1 - 8 pts 2nd: John Gimson / Anna Burnet (GBR) (7( 5 2 1 1 2 - 11 pts 3rd: Paul Kohlhoff / Alicia Stuhlemmer (GER) 5 1 7 3 3 (11) - 19 pts

12th: Micah Wilkinson / Erica Dawson (NZL) 11 12 (13) 11 8 12 - 54 pts

Women's RS:X (27 boards)

1st: Lu Yunxiu (CHN) 2 9 (25) 2 2 1 4 2 1 2 3 2 - 30 pts 2nd: Emma Wilson (GBR) 5 2 6 1 4 2 1 1 (28 UFD) 6 1 5 - 34 pts 3rd: Charline Picon (FRA) 1 6 2 (9) 1 4 2 3 6 3 2 6 - 36 pts

Men's RS:X (25 boards)

1st: Kiran Badloe (NED) 5 7 1 1 (26 DSQ) 5 2 4 1 5 1 1 - 33 pts 2nd: Thomas Goyard (FRA) (13) 5 3 13 1 1 3 6 7 1 9 3 - 52 pts 3rd: Matia Camboni (ITA) 4 2 4 8 2 2 8 (13) 4 8 3 9 - 54 pts

Full results click here