Beashel and Smyth just miss qualifying the 49er

Beashel and Smyth just miss qualifying the 49er

Beashel and Smyth narrowly missed qualifying the 49er class at the World Championships sailed off Athens, finishing 9th in the Silver Fleet. They fell short of qualifying by 6 points from Sweden.

It was bad luck for the Kiwi’s who had to race the Worlds using a chartered boat after their boat went missing in shipping. To top it off, the pair had to change the chartered boat they had been using in training a day before racing started. ‘It meant we weren’t able to focus solely on sailing the boat but rather had to get to learn the equipment on the chartered boat.’ Says Beashel.

Beashel and Smyth only teamed up in December last year, and went on to win the Australian National Championship earlier this year.

Simon Wickham, Yachting New Zealand’s CEO, says ‘With a team that shows so much potential, it’s a very disappointing result. Unfortunately in sailing it’s a tough qualification process, similar to the Games where you have to put it all together for one regatta.’

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