Olympic Sailing Results for New Zealand -17 August

Olympic Sailing Results for New Zealand -17 August

Strong winds hampered sailing at the Olympics overnight. Only the Finn and Yngling classes recorded results from Monday while racing was cancelled for the Men’s and Women’s 470, and both the Europe and Laser fleets.

New Zealand’s Overall Standings:

Women’s Mistral – Barbara Kendall – 3rd (after 2 races)
Men’s Mistral – Thomas Ashley – 8th – (after 1 race)
Finn – Dean Barker – 9th (after 6 races)
Europe – Sarah Macky – 8th (after 2 races)
Laser – Hamish Pepper – 16th (after 2 races)
Women’s 470 – Shelley Hesson & Linda Dickson - 5th (after 4 races)
Men’s 470 – Andrew Brown & Jamie Hunt – 27th (after 4 races)
Yngling – Sharon Ferris, Joanna White & Kylie Jameson – 6th (after 6 races)

New Zealand’s Dean Barker is now over half way through this Olympic regatta slipping back to 9th place with a total of 40 points after competing in 2 races overnight. Race 5 saw him come off the start line in 13th and then climb up through the fleet to cross in 7th. In the second race of the day Barker again had to fight his way back to finish with a 16th.

Britain’s Ben Ainslie, (Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand team mate) has now clocked up 3 race wins after a poor start to the regatta. He leads the Finn class with 16 points, though is closely followed by Rafael Trujillo of Spain on 17.

The kiwi Yngling crew of Sharon Ferris, Joanna White and Kylie Jameson had another strong day on the water in winds that averaged 20 knots and gusted up to 25. They moved up to 6th overall after 6 out of 11 scheduled races.

Coach of the Yngling trio, Harold Bennett commends the girl’s tenacity and determination. “At this point it is game on for the girls as they are only 9 points off 2nd,” says Bennett.

They sailed 2 races overnight, starting poorly in the first race of the day making tactical decisions that paid off and saw them pass the fleet to finish 2nd. In the second race the wind increased making for challenging conditions. The New Zealanders finished 9th in a race where the outcome was essentially determined by one crucial gust.

Both the Yngling and the Finn classes have a reserve day scheduled for tomorrow and will be back on the water in Athens on Wednesday.

The wind is forecast to decrease tomorrow and the Race Committee has announced that the reserve day for the 470 fleets will be used when racing continues tonight. The Europe and Laser fleets also resume competition as do the Men’s and Women’s Mistral.

With only one race on the board for the Men’s Mistral 3 races are now scheduled to take place overnight tonight.

For full results and live mark roundings click the link http://www.sailing.org/olympics2004/default.asp

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