Olympic Sailing Results – 20 August

Olympic Sailing Results – 20 August

Results are in from overnight racing at the Agios Kosmos sailing venue in Athens. All of New Zealand’s sailors raced overnight with some mixed results.

New Zealand’s Overall Standings:

Women’s Mistral – Barbara Kendall – 12th (provisional after 5 races)
Men’s Mistral – Thomas Ashley – 10th – (after 4 races)
Finn – Dean Barker – 13th (after 10 races)
Europe – Sarah Macky – 7th (after 8 races)
Laser – Hamish Pepper – 9th (after 8 races)
Women’s 470 – Shelley Hesson & Linda Dickson – 17th (after 10 races)
Men’s 470 – Andrew Brown & Jamie Hunt – 26th (after 10 races)
Yngling – Sharon Ferris, Joanna White & Kylie Jameson – 7th (after 10 races)

Barbara Kendall had a disappointing race 5 when she was disqualified for crossing the start line ahead of time along with 2 other sailors. This puts her 12th in the 26 strong fleet of the Women’s Mistral class, but the results are provisional until protests are considered. Kendall is contesting the disqualification though the outcome of this is unlikely to be known until later this evening.

6 races remain in the women's boardsailing event and Team Manager Don Cowie points out that there is a long way to go. "Barbara has over half the regatta ahead of her," he says "she'll be back out there giving it her best."

After 4 abandoned starts the Men’s Mistral fleet finally sailed 1 race late Thursday evening in Athens. Conditions were light with winds of 7-10 knots on the boardsailing course. Kiwi sailor Thomas Ashley finished in 17th place which gives him 45 total points and puts him in 10th place overall after 4 races. In order to catch up to schedule the reserve day will be used to sail another race overnight tonight. Brazilian Ricardo Santos is leading the fleet with a total of 13 points.

Dean Barker has only 1 race remaining in the Finn class where Britain’s Ben Ainslie has now secured himself a spot on the podium. Barker finished 19th in race 9 and 20th in race 10 which puts him in 13th place overall. The final race for the Finns is scheduled for overnight Saturday.

Sarah Macky has improved her standing from 11th up in to 7th on the leader board. She has now sailed 8 races and will be sailing overnight tonight. She recorded a 6th and a 4th placing in last night’s competition giving her a total of 59 points. Siren Sundby of Norway is in the lead with Australian Sarah Blanck in 2nd.

Hamish Pepper also moved up the leader board overnight in the Laser class. He finished 13th in race 7 and his best result yet, a 3rd in race 8 to put him in 9th overall with only 3 races to go. Robert Scheidt has sailed consistently well through the regatta and holds the lead going into the penultimate day of racing for the Laser fleet.

The gold medal has been decided in the Women’s 470 fleet with only 1 race left to be sailed. Sofia Bekatorou and Emilia Tsoulfa have guaranteed gold after last night’s competition while New Zealand’s Shelley Hesson and Linda Dickson came in 14th and 18th and now sit in 17th place overall.

Andrew Brown and Jamie Hunt also have 1 race remaining in their Athens Olympic campaign. The Men’s 470 sailors slipped back in to 26th place overall after last nights racing and now have a rest day before sailing the final race. USA has a slim lead over the British pair at the top end of the fleet.

Britain has claimed gold in the Yngling fleet though competition doesn’t finish until Saturday night. The crew led by Shirley Robertson have a substantial lead over the rest of the fleet which gurantees them the win with 1 race yet to be completed.

The kiwi team of Sharon Ferris, Joanna White and Kylie Jameson are now 7th overall at this late stage in the regatta. They sailed both overnight races in little over 10 knots of breeze finishing 12th in the first race of the day and 7th in the second.

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