Kiwi's on Fire at Finn European Champs (May 13)

Kiwi's on Fire at Finn European Champs (May 13)

Date Released: May 13th 2004
From: Julia Faire

Kiwi’s Continue Impressive Form at Finn Worlds

At the end of day 3 of the Finn European Championships sailed off La Rochelle, the Kiwis moved further up in the top ten positions on the leader board. Dean Barker heads the Kiwi charge, positioned in 6th position, with Clifton Webb in 7th position and Peter Fox in 8th position. Only three points separates the Kiwi’s.

Two races were sailed on day 3. Peter Fox had the best day on the water among the Kiwi’s, notching up a 14th and 6th placing, with Barker scoring an 18th and a 10th placing. Webb, who went into day 3 leading the Kiwi’s had a 9th place in race 4 but was disqualified in race 5 as a result of being over the line at the start.

It’s the mid way point in the regatta and with it being New Zealand’s final selection trial regatta, Barker is clearly out in front of his compatriots in the selection process. The consistent placing’s Barker notched up in the Princess Sofia regatta, which was the first of the two selection regatta’s, have given him a definite edge over Fox and Webb going into this regatta.

Mateusz Kusznierewicz from Poland continues his awesome form to be top of the leader board at the European Championships, with current World Champion, Ben Ainslie from Great Britain, in second position.

In a fleet of 90 sailors, the awesome Kiwi performances demonstrate the fine calibre of these Kiwi yachties racing off La Rochelle and it will put the winner of the selection trial in very good stead for the Olympics.

The European Championships is a nine race regatta, with one drop allowed. Racing concludes on May 15th.

The selection trial points as they stand for the Kiwi’s:

Princess Sofia Regatta:
Points Total
Dean Barker 21 9 21 20 15 3 (24) 12 15 11 127
Clifton Webb 11 14 3 32 34 (37) 6 28 21 15 164
Peter Fox 2 19 12 (42) 33 17 32 10 32 30 187

European champ nships:
Dean Barker 4 37 6 18 10
Clifton Webb 3 9 19 9 BFD
Peter Fox 6 15 35 14 6

Note: The winner of the trials is determined by the race results from both regattas being combined as one series. The total number of drops across that series is applied to any of the races. The competitor with the lowest total points wins the right to be considered.

For more information visit: www.srr-sailing.com

Ferris and Team Mates in Top Ten at Yngling World Championships
The end of day 3 at the Yngling Women’s World Championships sailed off Santander, Spain, has Sharon Ferris and team mates Joanna White / Kylie Jameson maintaining 6th position while Alesha Thorpe and team mates Karen Lambert and Michelle Vinsen drop into 17th position.

Two races were sailed, with Ferris and team notching up a 19th and 7th, while Thorpe and team scoring a 30th and a 6th.

Its mid way through this all important regatta for the Kiwi’s who need to qualify the class and also must fight it out among themselves for Olympic selection. New Zealand is clearly qualifying and is currently holding second spot of the four spots available.

In terms of the Kiwi’s performances, Ferris and team have sailed a consistent regatta so far to be leading New Zealand’s selection trial. However, Thorpe and crew have had three impressive top ten placing’s but as a result of finishing deep in the fleet in other races have let Ferris stretch her lead.

Overall it is the Dutch team of Annalies Thiesa and team who lead, with Denmark’s Dorte O, Jensen and team second. Like New Zealand, it is the selection trial for the Dutch teams, Danish teams and the Russian teams. All three nations have 2 of their teams in the top ten. This will obviously cause the selectors some large headaches in choosing which crew to send to Athens!

Tomorrow is a rest day for the sailors. Racing resumes on the 14th.

Visit www.rcmsantander.com for more race detail.

An Anxious Wait is Now On for New Zealand’s 470 Women’s Crews
Day three of the 470 Worlds in Zadar, Croatia, continued to be another frustrating day on the water for the Kiwi’s. In the women’s fleet, Shelley Hesson and Linda Dickson finished 10th in the only race of the day and lie in 24th position. The duo has qualified for the Gold fleet in the final phase of racing.

Melinda Henshaw and Jan Shearer dropped into 43rd position, to be in the silver fleet. This is an agonising result for the duo as they sailed an impressive performance yesterday notching up a 3rd and 5th placing. However their 5th changed into a disqualification after a protest was lodged by the Americans, claiming the Kiwi’s tacked in front of them before a top mark. With no witnesses, the Kiwi’s were disqualified. It would seem real pressure is on the American’s who still need to qualify the country.

It’s going to be an anxious wait now for both Kiwi women’s teams. Henshaw and Shearer have to prove to the selectors that they are capable of a top ten place at the Olympic’s before getting the nod from the selectors. However Hesson and Dickson were asked by the selectors to also continue sailing at these regattas, which suggests its still possible for the duo to be selected. It’s all on for the selectors now!

Due to the race being abandoned in 2 of the 3 men’s fleets, results have not been posted and remain unchanged from yesterday. The Keen brothers lead the New Zealand contingent in 28th position.

Positions as they stand:
Womens fleet
Shelley Hesson / Linda Dickson 24th
Melinda Henshaw / Jan Shearer 43rd
Mens Fleet
Stephen Keen / Phillip Keen 28th
Andrew Brown / Jamie Hunt 49th
Simon Cooke / Alistair Gair 52nd

No Results on First Day of Laser World Championships
Racing at the Laser World Championships was scheduled to kick off today in Bodrum, Turkey. New Zealand’s Hamish Pepper, who is our Olympic representative, along with Andrew Murdoch, Matthew Blakey and Micheal Bullot are racing at this event.

62 nations and 148 individual sailors are racing at these Worlds Championships which is such a big event that the International Laser Class Association has imposed allocation criteria on entries, in order to keep numbers to a manageable level.

No results have been posted so far.

To get further details visit: laserinternational.org/wor2004

For more information contact Yachting New Zealand on 09 488 9325

ENDS

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