Snakes and ladders at the 2013 49er and FX Europeans

Yachting New Zealand

Media Release

Snakes and ladders at the 2013 49er and FX Europeans

New Zealand sailors are in 2nd, 3rd and 9th overall as the 2013 SAP 49er European Championships hit the midway mark and the standings continue to change dramatically day to day as nearly all crews struggled for consistency in light winds on day three at Arhus,
Denmark today.

Today’s official report from Denmark says; “A tricky day with the light wind forcing fleets to hold ashore, until the breeze filled in enough for racing. But only the lightest of breezes filled in, with puffs occasionally getting above six knots.”

Today windsurfers at the 2013 RS:X European Championships (Brest, France) enjoyed a rest day. Natalia Kosinska remains in 2nd overall as the regatta gets set to resume with three days remaining. 

Skiff pair Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski (pictured above) has slipped from the lead into 2nd place in the Men’s 49er gold fleet after a 17th and a 10th in racing today. They kiwis were overtaken on the leader-board by Brits Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign who took a race win and a 7th to leapfrog the kiwis and extend an 11 point lead.

Alex Maloney and Molly Meech improved their position in the Women’s 49erFX fleet from 5th overall up to 3rd and just one point off 2nd place. This is despite recording their poorest result yet, the New Zealanders drawing on their consistency over the first two days racing and discarding a 17th from today’s second race. They were 7th in their first race.

“It was pretty light and really shifty again today,” commented Meech. “The first race went okay for us, but we missed a big shift on the right up the first beat, but managed to come back from that on the next few legs and finish that off quite nicely,” she added, referring to their 7th place in race 7. “They were really tricky conditions, so everyone was quite up and down.”

“The next race the wind dropped off so much,” said Meech. “It was so light out there and really tricky on the last downwind. We missed out unfortunately on a massive gust. But it is just skiff racing I guess.”

If Maloney and Meech, who are the world #1 team, continue to deliver consistently they will carry the advantage, as the majority of the other top teams are already carrying multiple high point scores.

Even local knowledge failed women Nielsen and Olsen who recorded their worst day with a 14th and an 11th. Despite this they still lead the fleet with Grael and Kunz of Brazil in 2nd and Maloney and Meech ten points adrift in 3rd.

“Coming from New Zealand, we sail by ourselves down there, so it is nice to come over and train against all the other girls and just line up with the rest of the world and see how we are fitting in,” explained Meech. “We are looking forward to the next couple of days, the fleet getting a bit smaller. We hope to make it to the medal race and have a go at the stadium style races.”

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are back in 9th after a DSQ from day two retrospectively affected their reported standing and day three produced mixed results for the returning campaigners. Today they were 18th and then 3rd in the two races sailed.

Both regattas run over six days with final results set to be decided on Sunday 7th July.

2013 SAP 49er European Championships
New Zealand’s standings after day three
3rd Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech (10, 9, 6, 2, 10, 3, 7, 17)
(Women’s fleet full results)
2nd Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski (4, 22, 2, 1, 1, 2, 17, 10)
9th Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (18, 9, 1, 9, DSQ, 1, 18, 3)
15th Silver Fleet Ben Goodwin and Sam Bullock (6, 8, 15, 22, 25, 20, 13)
(Men’s fleet full results)

2013 RS:X European Championships
New Zealand’s standings (rest day today)
2nd Natalia Kosinska (Women) (2, 5, 7, 6, 4, 4)
30th Xanthe Bowater (Women Youth)
42nd Alexander Hart (Men Youth)
(Full results from France)

Links:

Yachting New Zealand website
NZL Sailing Team on Facebook
NZL Sailing Team sailor profiles

About the NZL Sailing Team

NZL Sailing Team includes New Zealand’s top Olympic campaigners who share the ultimate goal to win Olympic medals for New Zealand at the Rio Games in 2016.

NZL Sailing Team sailors all started out at grass roots yacht clubs around the country and with commitment, dedication and drive have risen to be world class athletes; they work hard in the gym, train long hours on the water and are supported by great coaches.

ENDS

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