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Their strong start to the competition has earned them a new nickname from locals, and Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie ensured that moniker was on everyone’s lips for the start of gold-fleet racing at the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 European championships in Portugal overnight.
The young New Zealand 49er crew, dubbed the “McKiwis” by fans and commentators in Vilamoura this week, won the first of two races - their third bullet of the regatta - to jump two places to second on the leaderboard.
They trail Austrian crew Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl by only four points with five more races scheduled in the finals series, before the double-points medal race.
After a wait of several hours due to light conditions, McHardie and McKenzie got off to a strong start, picking the left-hand side of a congested race course with the top 25 boats.
They led around the top mark and pulled away on the downwind leg to eventually win by a comfortable margin from Bildstein and Hussl.
Teammates Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn went the other way off the start line, gybing early in search of clean air – a move that shook off a handful of boats, with the Kiwis eventually coming home in eighth position.
Both crews settled back in the fleet for the final race of the day, McHardie and McKenzie finishing in eighth, and Dunning Beck and Gunn 14th.
The results saw Dunning Beck and Gunn continue their upward trajectory to climb to 13th overall and within sight of a spot in the finale. They are only four points behind Spanish crew Martin and Jaime Wizner in tenth.
No racing was possible for Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush (45th overall) and Sam and Pat Morgan (54th), the New Zealand 49er teams in the silver fleet.
Jo Aleh and Molly Meech also didn’t race after narrowly missing out on the 49erFX gold fleet 24 hours earlier.
The European championships are the first of two trials for Olympic selection for the skiff classes, with the 49er and 49erFX world championships in early March the other.
Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson are seventh overall in the Nacra 17 fleet. Photos / PROW Media
Meanwhile, New Zealand Nacra 17 pair Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson lost some ground with scores of 10, and 19 in their qualifying races in Vilamoura.
They are still comfortably in the top 10 on the leaderboard though – seventh overall – and on track for a place in the medal race, their fourth in successive international regattas this season.
Results and standings from day 4 of the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 European championships in Vilamoura, Portugal.
49er fleet (91 boats)
1st: Benjamin Bildstein/David Hussl (Aut) 2 6 6 1 10 6 7 2 (11) - 40 points
2nd: Isaac McHardie/Will McKenzie (NZ) 1 (19) 4 1 6 6 17 1 8 - 44 pts
3rd: Dominik Buksak/Szymon Wierzbicki (Pol) 6 5 6 5 4 12 3 4 (15) - 45 pts
13th: Logan Dunning Beck/Oscar Gunn (NZ) 16 9 1 (17) 1 14 8 8 14 - 71 pts
45th: Seb Menzies/George Lee Rush (NZ) 3 (23) 17 23 7 20 13 - 83 pts
54th: Sam Morgan/Pat Morgan (NZ) 9 20 22 18 13 11 (23) - 93 pts
49erFX fleet (55 boats)
1st: Helene Naess/Marie Ronningen (Nor) 3 4 2 5 4 7 7 1 (24) 7 - 40 pts
2nd: Jana Germani/Giorgia Bertuzzi (Ita) 1 1 6 4 3 3 5 2 (20) 19 - 44 pts
3rd: Támara Echegoyen/Paula Barcelo (Esp) 12 5 6 1 1 4 12 (17) 7 2 - 50 pts
34th: Jo Aleh/Molly Meech (NZ) 22 (23) 10 8 9 21 6 21 - 97 pts
Nacra 17 fleet (38 boats)
1st: Gianluigi Ugolini/Maria Giubilei (Ita) 2 4 1 (7) 3 2 2 6 4 - 14 pts
2nd: Ruggero Tita/Caterina Banti (Ita) 6 (9) 3 6 1 1 6 1 4 - 23 pts
3rd: John Gimson/Anna Burnet (GBR) 1 13 2 1 9 8 1 (14) 1 - 22 pts
6th: Micah Wilkinson/Erica Dawson (NZ) 10 8 5 5 15 12 10 10 (19) - 50 pts
Full results here.
