RS Games: Kiwis lead RS Feva Worlds going into Final day

Simon Cooke and Arthur Rebbeck (NZL 7637) gets away to a good start on Day 5 of the RS Feva Worlds - Weymouth - England - July 2022 © Phil Jackson

We have just finished our second day of Gold fleet racing at the RS Feva World championships in Weymouth, England.

NZ Coach Wade Tresadern, NZ Coach reports.

With all three teams enjoying the quality racing that comes when you pit the best in the world against each other.

Simon and Arthur came away with three race wins in the first three races they had some close battles coming into the final leg with the Finnish crew behind them in the overall standings. Ultimately the NZL sailors downwind speed was unrivaled and has been their biggest strength in sealing the wins. Finals race 4 saw Simon and Arthur win with no horn followed up by the dreaded feeling of seeing their sail number on the whiteboard under a UFD. They bounced back with a win in finals race 5 and a 3rd place in finals race 6 to be leading overall.

The Maraetai girls combo of Kate and Madi had a consistent start to the gold fleet managing to bank five scores in the top 15 they were happy with and a 41st they are hoping to make their drop. They have shown consistent starting and good racing prowess and speed. They are learning a lot and have really come on strong in the gold fleet races. They were caught by surprise when they led the fleet around the top mark with their incredible upwind speed and flawless tactics on the first beat of finals Race 6

I was called in to help them with a protest by a British competitor, but the girls were racing clean and fair, and my video recording of the start showed they had done no wrong. Kate showed real maturity in the face of the always scary foreign jurors.

The boys team of Ashton and Oskar representing Akarana along with Simon. Have made up ten places overall since making it into gold fleet. They have struggled a bit with getting off the start line with a clear lane and have had to fight back through the fleet. I am very proud of watching how resilient they are when things aren't going their way. They managed to claw their way back through the fleet in one upwind passing 30 boats to make a 9th place finish this was extremely impressive to watch and they were the fastest boat on the course at the time. This is very positive as they continue their development towards their next regattas.

We have only two more races to complete tomorrow (Wednesday in England) and we will say goodbye to our charter boats and journey back to NZ.

But once again we want to see as much support for the teams in the comments and live streams on the RS Feva page. It is really inspiring the teams to know they are so well supported and we thank you all for your dedication to the late nights.