Olympic Squad Sailors shine in Hyeres

Olympic Squad Sailors shine in Hyeres

Yachting New Zealand's Olympic Squad sailors remain in the medal hunt at the ISAF Grade 1 Semaine Olympique Francaise Regatta in Hyeres, France with two days of racing left to go. Tom Ashley lies second in the men's windsurfing while Jo Aleh holds third place in the Laser Radial.

Aleh and Ashley are coping best with the light, fickle conditions which have persisted since the start of the regatta four days ago. However Andrew Murdoch and Dan Slater are also both in the top six places in the Laser and Finn classes.

Just one race was sailed in the men's windsurfing with winds of 6-8 knots petering out as the afternoon passed. Tom Ashley, from Takapuna Boating Club crossed the line in third and holds second place on equal points with Ho from Hong Kong in third. Chan from Hong Kong has a one point leading margin over Ashley.

"I had a great start and pretty good first beat to round the top mark 4th", says Ashley. "Ahead of me were King Yin Chan (HKG), Julien Bontemps (FRA) and Ho Chi Ho (HKG) the same guys I've been fighting with all week. I passed Ho Chi Ho on the downwind, then let him past me again on the second upwind, before getting by him again on the second downwind to finish 3rd."

"I am now in 2nd overall, one point behind Chan and on equal points with Ho Chi Ho."

"Tomorrow we are expecting good breeze, so I'm hoping to punish the Hong Kong guys a bit as they're not generally very good in planing conditions. There are a couple of French guys not too far behind also, however I'm feeling confident about tomorrow as I have not yet had a race outside the top 4 and normally go well in the breeze. Looking forward to it!"

Light and unstable winds resulted in a late start to racing at around 4:30 in the afternoon for the Laser Radial fleet. Despite this two races were sailed, and Jo Aleh placed 10th and then 6th for an overall standing of third at the end of day four. Samdal of Norway, and Railey, USA are ahead of her.

"We didn't get a start away till after 4.30pm," says Aleh. "I had the absolute worst start ever. I was head to wind, sail flapping, going backwards when the starting gun went. I had no option but to go left - and the wind went right - so I was 35th at the top mark. Not great."

"But I did some smart sailing, passing a few boats on every leg, with a big gain on the second beat, where pretty much the whole fleet sailed into the right hand side of the course. I got some great shifts out left, and was 13th at the top mark. I then managed to get past a few more on the last downwind leg, to finish in 10th again."

"Tomorrow is the last day of finals, and the forecast is for lots of wind (Yey!! Can't wait!!) so it should be fun!," says Aleh.

Two races were sailed overnight in the Finns with mixed results for kiwi Dan Slater. The YNZ Olympic Squad sailor placed 2nd in the first race and 35th in the second - he is fifth overall, and eagerly anticipating the stronger winds forecast for the final two days of the regatta.

"Tomorrow the forecast is for wind up around 20 knots which will be a good for a change," says Slater. "If we get two races then there will be two discards on the scorecard before the medal race on Friday."

Racing was abandoned for the Laser fleet last night and Andrew Murdoch's overall standing of 6th is unchanged.

Racing tonight in France will determine the top ten sailors in each of the fleets who will sail the final double-points medal race on Friday.

39th Semaine Olympique Francaise
New Zealand's placings after Day Four

Laser Radial

3rd - Jo Aleh (Takapuna Boating Club)
20th - Sara Winther (Takapuna Boating Club)
50th - Cushla Hume-Merry (Evans Bay Y&MB Club)
55th - Miranda Powrie (Kohimarama Yacht Club)

Laser

6th - Andrew Murdoch (Kerikeri Cruising Club)
18th - Blair McLay (Torbay Sailing Club)
42nd - Michael Bullot (Murrays Bay Sailing Club)
62nd - Aaron Hume-Merry (Murrays Bay Sailing Club)
105th - David Weaver (Titahi Bay Boating Club)
141st - Blair Lindsay (Murrays Bay Sailing Club)

Finn

5th - Dan Slater (Murrays Bay Sailing Club)

Men's RS:X

2nd - Tom Ashley (Takapuna Boating Club)
80th - Michael Lichtwark (Takapuna Boating Club)
101st - Antonio Cozzolino - (NZ RS:X Association)

Women's RS:X

17th - Kate Ellingham (Wakatere Boating Club/Takapuna Boating Club)
53rd - Hayley Thom (Takapuna Boating Club)
58th - Steffanie Williams (Takapuna Boating Club)

Women's 470

39th - Shelley Hesson & Bianca Barbarich-Bacher (Murrays Bay Sailing Club)

Mens' 470

30th - Geoff Woolley & Mark Overington (Kohimarama Yacht Club)
44th - Andrew Brown & Nick Taylor (Royal Akarana Yacht Club)
64th - Stephen Keen & Philip Keen (Naval Point Club Lyttelton)

Yngling

25th - Sharon Ferris, Raynor Smeal & Shandy Buckley (Bay of Islands)

Tornado

28th - Bruce Kendall & Brett Sellers

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ENDS

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