Issue date
Melbourne has turned the breeze up during the last few days, pushing Sailing World Cup Final competitors in St Kilda to their limits.
Yesterday sailors remained ashore as huge winds strengthened to 40 knots across Port Phillip with just the kiteboarding fleet able to race. Today all fleets were able to complete at least one race, with just the 49erFX sailors being held ashore.
As the only New Zealander in the Formula Kite fleet, Sam Bullock (pictured above, Sailing Energy/World Sailing) says conditions have been “intense”.
“Yesterday the breeze had built to 25 knots plus for the first two races, and for me the racing was very much about survival. I had my nine-meter kite completely depowered, and still had too much power. A six or seven-meter kite would have been the go,” he explains.
He says although the conditions are definitely challenging, the kite foils are “surprisingly well equipped” to handle the big breeze and waves.
Conditions today saw sailors contend with a south westerly wind in excess of 20 knots, and a big sea state.
Over in the Nacra 17 fleet kiwi pair Olivia Mackay and Micah Wilkinson produced some great results, winning two out of three races and placing third in the other.
“It’s been great racing here in Melbourne. We’ve had some good tussles with Olympic silver medallists Jase and Lisa, and we’re learning a lot,” said Micah before heading out on the water today.
“We are going fresh into the last two days of racing and the plan is to start consistently winning races after what we have learnt in the last two days,” he added.
The RS:X, 49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17 and Formula Kite fleets will conclude their competition on Saturday 10 December with the remaining fleets to sail their final races ahead of Medal Races on Sunday 11 December.
New Zealand sailor’s standings after day four at the Sailing World Cup Final in Melbourne
Laser
7th Andrew McKenzie (6,26,22,6,3,0)
16th Matthew Kempers (16,20,17,16,16,12)
Laser Radial
10th Susanna Pyatt (9,11,7,12,9,8)
49er Mens
4th Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie (1,1,11,7,5,1,20[DNC])
5th Josh Porebski and Trent Rippey (2,5,4,3,7,9,5)
9th Nick Egnot-Johnson and Jack Rogers (3,11,7,12,12,6,20[DNF])
470 Mens
10th Sam Barnet and Zak Berton (8,8,14,10,7,11)
12th Markus Somerville and Taylor Balogh (10,13,12,8,13,12)
Nacra 17
2nd Olivia Mackay and Micah Wilkinson (3,3,2,2,3,1,3,1,1)
Formula Kite
7th Sam Bullock
RESULTS
For a full list of results please click here.
SAILING WORLD CUP
The Sailing World Cup is a World-class, annual series of Olympic sailing for elite and professional sailors. Over 2,000 of the World's leading sailors, representing over 75 nations have competed in the Sailing World Cup which offers a definitive guide to the best-of-the-best in the Olympic sailing world.
Contact:
Hana Hielkema
Email: hanahielkema@gmail.com
Tel: +64212842662
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