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Hard-fought gains on the first day of gold-fleet racing have elevated one New Zealand crew from top-10 contenders to medal hopefuls at the Sailing World Championships overnight, as two other Kiwi sailors also mounted eye-catching comebacks.
Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie underlined their podium credentials by leapfrogging several top teams in the 49er fleet, but they feel there’s still plenty of room to improve.
"Overall, it was a pretty good day for us, even though we didn’t feel like we sailed super well,” McKenzie said.
“It was just such a tricky day that everyone was getting big scores, and we were pretty lucky to get away from the day mostly unscathed.”
Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie have their sights set on the leaders in the 49er fleet. Photos / Sailing Energy/World Sailing
Starting the final series in eighth, the pair followed up a second in their first race with 7 and 10 to move into fifth overall on 60 points – 20 more than leading Dutch duo Bart Lambriex and Floris Van De Werken.
They will be aiming for a better start in their remaining gold-fleet races, McKenzie said.
“Today we really had to try and pick the right side [of the racecourse] and get a good start. We felt like we did that most times, but it was getting off the start line where we struggled.
“We’re still a chance for a medal with one more big day of gold fleet and there’s plenty to play for.”
It was harder work for the country’s other veteran 49er crew of Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn, who dropped to 20th overall and likely out of contention for a place in Friday’s medal race.
Holding on to their top-10 spot in the 49erFX fleet despite three double-digit scores, were Jo Aleh and Molly Meech.
Jo Aleh and Molly Meech are on track for the 49erFX medal race. Photos / Sailing Energy/World Sailing
They are eighth overall and will be hoping for low scoring in their final three races to have a realistic podium chance in the double-points finale.
Meanwhile, George Gautrey showed that while he may be in a slower boat, his ascent of the ILCA 7 (Laser) leaderboard was no less swift than that of McHardie and McKenzie in the skiff.
The 25-year-old is back on track to add to his breakout international season, which already includes silver at the Princess Sofia Regatta and a fourth place at the Olympic test event.
Gautrey last night climbed 17 places to seventh following a disappointing first day of competition. He secured two top-four results in challenging currents of up to 50 metres per minute.
“I tried not to overcomplicate things because it is super tricky racing here,” Gautrey explained.
“It feels like you’re dodging bullets left, right and centre just to try and get through the racing clean.”
George Gautrey climbed 17 places on the ILCA 7 leaderboard. Photos / Sailing Energy/World Sailing
Britain’s Michael Beckett leads the fleet on six points, followed by Cypriot Pavlos Kontides (7) and Philipp Buhl of Germany (10).
Gautrey is on 22 points with compatriot and former world champion Tom Saunders in 10th on 26 points.
“Our biggest opponent at the moment is definitely the current and when you're only doing four, five knots upwind in the Laser, that's an equation for not going very fast, very quickly,” Gautrey said.
No racing was possible for Greta Pilkington and Olivia Christie in the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) due to on-water delays.
Also battling his way up the fleet after a subdued start was Josh Armit.
The 21-year-old Auckland windfoiler managed four top-10s, including a second place, in qualifying to improve his overall placing by 17.
“It was a hard day today with light, shifty winds but luckily I managed to find myself on the right side of some of them,” Armit said.
Josh Armit had four top-10 scores - including a 2 - on his second day of competition. Photos / Sailing Energy/World Sailing
Veerle ten Have will be hoping for a similar fightback when she returns to action tonight (NZ time).
Down on speed and surprisingly sluggish off the start line, ten Have struggled to put together a good first beat and had to settle for 30th after her first racing of the world champs.
Lukas Walton-Keim and Justina Kitchen both remain in contention for the gold fleet with one more day of qualifying in the men's and women's kitefoil.
Results and standings from day 5 at the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague.
49er (83 boats)
1st: Bart Lambriex/Floris Van De Werken (Ned) 1 4 5 2 1 1 3 5 2 10 (13) 6 - 40 points
2nd: James Peters/Fynn Sterritt (GBR) 3 8 7 2 5 8 5 5 1 1 1 (23) - 46 pts
3rd: Sebastien Schneiter/Arno De Planta (Sui) 3 4 3 9 7 5 2 1 6 (25) 9 4 - 53 pts
5th: Isaac McHardie/Will McKenzie (NZ) 2 (15) 8 7 2 6 6 6 4 2 7 10 - 60 pts
20th: Logan Dunning Beck/Oscar Gunn (NZ) 2 (29UFD) 12 10 2 1 4 17 3 20 14 20 - 105 pts
42nd: Campbell Stanton/William Shapland (NZ) 16 5 (26) 16 10 20 22 14 13 18 2 14 - 150 pts
79th: Sam Bacon/Cailen Rochford (NZ) 12 29UFD 18 16 15 7 29DNC 29DNC 29DNC (30DNC) 30DNC 30DNC - 244 pts
49erFX (59 boats)
1st: Vilma Bobeck/Rebecca Netzler (Swe) 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 3 (19) - 19 pts
2nd: Olivia Price/Evie Haseldine (Aus) 1 4 2 3 2 5 3 10 9 3 12 (23) - 54 pts
3rd: Stephanie Roble/Maggie Shea (USA) 1 6 8 14 1 7 2 2 (16) 9 4 1 - 55 pts
8th: Jo Aleh/Molly Meech (NZ) 4 7 3 13 5 2 12 1 10 (15) 10 11 - 78 pts
49th: Courtney Reynolds-Smith/Brianna Reynolds-Smith (NZ) 21 14 25 24 23 22 23 (28) 22 23 24 19 - 240 pts
Nacra 17 mixed (49 boats)
1st: Ruggero Tita/Caterina Banti (Ita) 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 9 (12) 5 - 24 pts
2nd: John Gimson/Anna Burnet (GBR) 3 2 2 3 3 1 3 5 5 1 (20) 4 - 32 pts
3rd: Emil Jarudd/Hanna Jonsson (Swe) 2 7 3 4 6 4 6 1 (17) 2 7 1 - 43 pts
8th: Micah Wilkinson/Erica Dawson (NZ) 5 (26UFD) 7 3 2 5 3 4 4 7 6 11 - 57 pts
470 mixed (64 boats)
1st: Keiju Okada/Miho Yoshioka (Jpn) 1 4 1 (6) 3 2 5 1 - 17 pts
2nd: Simon Diesch/Anna Markfort (Ger) (18) 9 1 5 3 1 4 18 - 41 pts
3rd: Tetsuya Isozaki/Yurie Seki (Jpn) 6 8 12 1 2 11 6 (13) - 46 pts
48th: Derek Scott/Rebecca Hume (NZ) 27 (28) 27 21 23 17 7 6 - 128 pts
61st: Brittany Wornall/Sam Street (NZ) 29 24 12 19 26 (32UFD) 32RET 30 - 172 pts
62nd: Annabelle Rennie-Younger/Blake McGlashan (NZ) 26 32 (33RET) 25 24 12 24 31 - 174 pts
ILCA 7 (138 boats)
1st: Michael Beckett (GBR) (3) 1 3 2 - 6 pts
2nd: Pavlos Kontides (Cyp) 4 2 (19) 1 - 7 pts
3rd: Philipp Buhl (Ger) 3 (17) 6 1 - 10 pts
7th: George Gautrey (NZ) 15 (16) 3 4 - 22 pts
10th: Tom Saunders (NZ) 10 13 (21) 3 - 26 pts
82nd: Luke Deegan (NZ) 43 23 (50) 30 - 96 pts
94th: Caleb Armit (NZ) 39 (56) 51 22 - 112 pts
ILCA 6 (109 boats)
1st: Maria Erdi (Hun) 5 1 3 (7) - 9 pts
2nd: Carolina Albano (Ita) 4 2 4 (22) - 10 pts
3rd: Anne-Marie Rindom (Den) 2 (12) 8 3 -13 pts
59th: Greta Pilkington (NZ) 23 (46) 31 14 - 68 pts
72nd: Olivia Christie (NZ) 19 44 17 (55) - 80 pts
Men's windfoil (93 boards)
1st: Luuc Van Opzeeland (Ned) 1 5 1 3 (6) 1 3 (21) - 14 pts
2nd: Nicolo Renna (Ita) (15) 3 3 5 (9) 5 1 1 - 18 pts
3rd: Sebastian Kordel (Ger) 10.7RDG 3 1 1 4 (31) (27) 1 - 20.7 pts
12th: Josh Armit (NZ) 7 (19) 9 (31) 6 9 7 3 - 41 pts
38th: Eli Liefting (NZ) (51BFD) 11 (27) 15 17 19 21 9 - 92 pts
47th: Thomas Crook (NZ) 15 9 21 (51DNC) 18 29 (35) 17 - 109 pts
70th: Patrick Haybittle (NZ) (51BFD) 15 (39) 33 31 39 31 23 - 172 pts
Women's windfoil (88 boards)
1st: Emma Wilson (GBR) (4) 3 2 1 2 - 8 pts
2nd: Helene Noesmoen (Fra) 5 (7) 3 1 1 - 10 pts
3rd: Zheng Yan (Chn) 1 5 4 (8) 1 - 11 pts
30th: Veerle ten Have (NZ) (25) 18 10 17 8 - 53 pts
51st: Aimee Bright (NZ) 25 25 22 (38) 16 - 88 pts
76th: Stella Bilger (NZ) 30 (40) 36 33 39 - 138 pts
Men's kitefoil (84 boards)
1st: Maximilian Maeder (SGP) 1 1 1 (2) - 6 pts
2nd: Toni Vodisek (Slo) 1 1 1 (3) - 7 pts
3rd: Axel Mazella (Fra) (16) 1 1 (4) 2 3 2 (1) - 10 pts
26th: Lukas Walton-Keim (NZ) 9 5 7 (15) 4 10 (12) 10 - 45 pts
Women's kitefoil (53 boards)
1st: Lauriane Nolot (Fra) (7) 1 1 2 (28DNC) 1 1 1 - 7 pts
2nd: Eleanor Aldridge (GBR) (13) (28DNF) 2 2 2 1 2 1 - 10 pts
3rd: Lily Young (GBR) (28DNF) 2 2 1 2 (28DSQ) 2 3 - 12 pts
25th: Justina Kitchen (NZ) 4 11 (28RET) 10 8 (14) 8 9 - 50 pts
Full results here.
