49er and 49erFX Worlds – Maloney and Meech take the lead

Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech have taken the lead in the 49erFX fleet after day four of the 2013 49er and 49erFX World Championships on now in Marseille, France.

In the hunt for the 49er World title Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are lying 6^th and Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski are in 10^th after today’s racing.

After lights winds over the opening half of the regatta today stringer breeze kicked in, Maloney and Meech finding form and producing results which saw them rocket from 7^th to take the overall lead with two days remaining. Today they were 6^th, 2^nd, 6^th and 1^st in the women’s gold fleet races featuring the top twenty placed boats.

“Nice to win the last one,” said Meech. “It was a good day out there, and great to stretch the legs at last after three light days. We’re expecting more wind tomorrow too. It was quite tricky, shifty wind and a really nasty chop, so it was nice to finish on a good note.”

Points are extremely tight however with previous leaders Sarah Steyaert and Jule Boassard of France just three behind the kiwis on 52 points with Italian’s Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich just one further back on 53.

Many in the 49er gold fleet, including the New Zealanders, faced the challenge of consistency as the stronger breeze came with plenty of tricky gusts and shifts.

“Best wind of the regatta so far,” says Coach Hamish Willcox in France. “But it was far from straight forward. Seven knots building to 11 but getting more puffy and unstable during the four races. With a few clouds around and the deeper instability of the approaching bad weather we saw puffs (three knots variance) and shifts up to 20 degrees.”

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are now lying 6^th on 52 points after placing 7^th, 6^th, 16^th and 11^th in today’s quick fire gold fleet races.

After a 5^th, a black flag, a 14^th and an 8^thMarcus Hansen and Josh Porebski are now in 10^th overall.

Racing runs for two more days days with the world titles for the Olympic skiff classes set to be decided on Sunday 29^th September.

49er and 49erFX World Championships
New Zealand’s standings after day four

Men’s 49er -95 boats
6^thPeter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL Sailing Team) – 52 points
10^thMarcus Hansen and Josh Porebski (NZL Sailing Team) – 60 points
43^rd Ben Goodwin and Sam Bullock (23^rd in Silver fleet)

Women’s 49erFX – 53 boats
1^st Alex Maloney and Molly Meech – 49 points
41^st Erica Dawson and Ellie Copeland (21^st in silver fleet)

Links:
Regatta website
Event Schedule, Overview and Media Coverage information

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.

For more information contact

Jodie Bakewell-White
Communications Manager, Yachting New Zealand
E. jodie@yachtingnz.org.nz
M. 021 709 065