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New Zealand sailors battled more light breeze and quality competition to move up their respective fleets at the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 European championships, with Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie holding on to their lead in the men’s skiff competition.
The pair secured their second win of the regatta in the final race of an action-packed second day in Vilamoura, Portugal.
After several qualifying races were abandoned on the opening day, slightly more favourable conditions meant three races could be completed overnight, with the Kiwis adding to their bullet from the opening day’s only start.
After dropping a score of 19 and locking in a 4 in a tight contest with the French, Swiss and Danish crews in their second race, McHardie and McKenzie got off to a good start in their third – holding off the challenge of Austria’s Keanu Prettner and Jakob Flachberger, and Diego Botin and Florian Trittel Paul of Spain.
“We’re stoked to be sitting on top. It was super tricky racing, and we were stoked to get two good races. One, unfortunately, didn’t quite go our way,” McHardie said of the day’s racing in breeze of up to just 7 knots.
“Maybe we were a bit lucky. You’ve just got to keep racing to the very end of the race. There were a lot of passing lanes out there, so you had to make the most of every single passing lane there was.”
The regatta also doubles as the first of two Olympic trials for the Kiwis, who secured country spots in all three classes during August’s world championships in The Hague.
“The aim is to win the event or do the best we can,” McKenzie said. “We’ve got to keep on doing the simple things well and see how we go.”
Oscar Gunn and Logan Dunning Beck won their first qualifying race. Photos / PROW Media
Compatriots Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn improved their chances for Olympic selection by jumping 18 places to 25th on the leaderboard after taking out their penultimate race in the yellow group.
Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush (51st) and Sam and Pat Morgan (58th) round out the New Zealand contingent in the 49er competition.
Also showing significant improvement on their opening-day performances were Jo Aleh and Molly Meech, who punched in three top-10 results to move up to 34th overall in the 55-boat 49erFX fleet.
With another 11 qualifying races scheduled, Aleh and Meech will be hoping for more of the same to stay in contention for a second successive medal race, after their season-best sixth place in The Hague.
Jo Aleh and Molly Meech secured three top-10 results in light breeze. Photos / PROW Media
Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson are firmly in the medal mix in the early stages of the Nacra 17 competition.
The 2020 Olympic pair sit eighth overall, with back-to-back scores of 5 their best in four qualifiers overnight.
They’re 18 points off leaders, Italians Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei.
Results and standings from day 2 of the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 European championships in Vilamoura, Portugal.
49er fleet (91 boats)
1st: Isaac McHardie/Will McKenzie (NZ) 1 (19) 4 1 - 6 points
2nd: Keanu Prettner/Jakob Flachberger (Aut) 4 1 (16) 2 - 7 pts
3rd: Benjamin Bildstein/David Hussl (Aut) 2 (6) 6 1 - 9 pts
25th: Logan Dunning Beck/Oscar Gunn (NZ) 16 9 1 (17) - 26 pts
51st: Seb Menzies/George Lee Rush (NZ) 3 (23) 17 23 - 43 pts
58th: Sam Morgan/Pat Morgan (NZ) 9 20 (22) 18 - 47 pts
49erFX fleet (55 boats)
1st: Jana Germani/Giorgia Bertuzzi (Ita) 1 1 (6) 4 3 3 - 12 pts
2nd: Támara Echegoyen/Paula Barcelo (Esp) (12) 5 6 1 1 4 - 17 pts
3rd: Helene Naess/Marie Ronningen (Nor) 3 4 2 5 4 (7) - 18 pts
34th: Jo Aleh/Molly Meech (NZ) 22 (23) 10 8 9 21 - 70 pts
Nacra 17 fleet (38 boats)
1st: Gianluigi Ugolini/Maria Giubilei (Ita) 2 4 1 (7) 3 - 10 pts
2nd: John Gimson/Anna Burnet (GBR) 1 (13) 2 1 9 - 13 pts
3rd: Paul Kohlhoff/Alica Stuhlemmer (Ger) (14) 2 6 3 2 - 13 pts
8th: Micah Wilkinson/Erica Dawson (NZ) 10 8 5 5 (15) - 28 pts
Full results here.
