Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland Begins

P.O.BOX 55-011 MISSION BAY AUCKLAND www.sailauckland.org.nz

MEDIA RELEASE

Date: 16 February 16, 2008
From: Sarah Dunn

A mix of top international names and local talent came out on top of the six Olympic classes which began racing in the Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland ISAF Grade One regatta on Auckland Harbour today.

Gusty westerly winds made for snakes and ladders style racing in the star studded Laser Radial Women’s fleet. Finnish sailor Sari Multala, a veteran of two Olympics, is leading after three races with 3, 3 and 1 on her scorecard.

Multala commented “I started late in the first two races but the shifty conditions gave me lots of opportunities to catch up, being in the patches of wind was key. My start in the last race was good and that made it a lot easier.”

Behind Mutala is Chinese sailor Lijia Xu and New Zealand’s 2008 Olympic representative Jo Aleh. Jo Aleh finished the day with 1, 7 and 10 on her scorecard.

Jo Aleh commented “I won the first race in lighter conditions, I got a good start and played the shifts well which kept me in the lead all the way to the finish. In the other two races I got shafted at the starts but I managed to catch up on the down-wind legs. The last race was crazy; there was a big left shift off the start line which I missed and after that there was no catching up.”

World number one ranked Australian pair Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby lead the highly contested Tornado class which boasts a World class fleet of thirty-nine boats from nineteen countries. Today they scored 3, 3 and 7.

For the Tornado class Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland is doubling as a pre-Worlds regatta for the World Championships that begin next week.

The top New Zealand Tornado sailors are board sailing Olympic bronze medalist Aaron McIntosh and his crew Mark Kennedy in 13th place. The next New Zealanders are father and son team, Rex and Brett Sellers. Rex won gold and silver medals in the Tornado Class at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics respectively.

In the RS:X men’s class New Zealander JP Tobin was rewarded for his consistency to lead a very strong fleet which includes thirty international sailors from fifteen countries. These sailors have remained training in New Zealand after the recent RS:X World Championships.

Tobin snatched the overall lead in the final race of the day from Portugal’s Joao Rodrigues, who was second in the 2008 World Championships, and 2004 Olympic champion Nikos Kaklamanakis from Greece.

Racing continues for the next three days and concludes with a medal race on Tuesday.

Provisional Results:

Laser Radial Women

1st FIN Sari Multala 3, 3, 1 (7 points)
2nd CHN Lijia Xu 9, 2, 3 (14 points)
3rd NZL Jo Aleh 1, 7, 10 (18 points)
4th GBR Charlotte Dobson 8, 9, 7 (24 points)
5th NZL Sara Winther 12, 6, 8 (26 points)

Tornado

1st AUS Daren Bundock and Glenn Ashby 3, 3, 7 (13 points)
2nd ESP Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz 2, 8, 9 (19 points)
3rd NED Mitch Booth and Pim Nieuwenhuis 7, 7, 6 (20 points)
4th USA John Lovell and Charles Ogletree 17, 1, 3 (21 points)
5th GER Roland Gaebler and Gunnar Struckmann 1, 5, 15 (21 points)

RS:X Men

1st NZL JP Tobin 5, 2, 2 (9 points)
2nd POR Joao Rodrigues 1, 7, 3 (11 points)
3rd GRE Nikos Kaklamanakis 2, 1, 10 (13 points)
4th SUI Richard Stauffacher 7, 5, 1 (13 points)
5th CAN Zachary Plavsic 8, 3, 7 (18 points)

RS:X Women

1st ESP Marina Alabau 1, 2, 2 (5 points)
2nd UKR Olga Maslivets 7, 1, 3 (11 points)
3rd GER Romy Kinzl 6, 5, 1 (12 points)
4th NZL Barbara Kendall 2, 3, 12 (17 points)
5th POL Anna Galecka 8, 4, 6 (18 points)

470

1st NZL Carl Evans and Peter Burling 1, 1, 4 (6 points)
2nd NZL Geoffrey Woolley and Mark Overington 3, 2, 2 (7 points)
3rd NZL Dan Wilcox and Chris Dawson 4, 3, 1 (8 points)

Laser Radial Men

1st NZL Blair McLay 2, 1, 3 (6 points)
2nd NZL James Sandall 1, 2, 8 (11 points)
3rd NZL Andrew Maloney 3, 5, 5 (13 points)

Laser Standard

1st NZL Josh Junior 1, 3, 1 (5 points)
2nd FRA Malo Leseigneur 3, 1, 2 (6 points)
3rd NZL Mathew Steven 2, 2, 4 (8 points)

420

1st NZL Marcus Hansen and Finn Drummond 26 points
2nd NZL Thomas Saunders and Chris Steele 32 points
3rd NZL Frankie Lardies and David Hazard 32 points

ends

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