Issue date
The 2014 International Federation for Disabled Sailing World championships were held in Halifax, Canada, from the 15th until the 24th of August. New Zealand had four entries covering all three Paralympic classes; Brett Willcock and Paul Francis in the single-handed 2.4mR; Tim Dempsey and Gemma Fletcher in the two-person Skud18 and Richard Dodson, David Barnes and Andrew May in the three-person Sonar.
The teams had all competed in pre-worlds regattas with some impressive performances and they were feeling confident going into the worlds.
The competition kicked off with some great racing in the first couple of days, but with extremely shifty conditions and the breeze averaging around 2-4 knots for the remainder of the regatta, it definitely was not smooth sailing, and all the teams drifted back in the results table.
Unfortunately, with the final results none of the teams were able to achieve national qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympics, but with one more chance at the Melbourne IFDS worlds in December 2015, and all the teams hungry for their next opportunity, there should be some very impressive competition coming up.
“Although our end result doesn't show it, we had some really great races that we are extremely proud of and learnt an abundance of knowledge which was definitely priceless,” the Kiwi SKUD Sailing team reports. “We are feeling extremely motivated and inspired after our trip and are dedicating a lot of time to training to help secure qualification at the next Worlds.
“SKUD training is at least twice a week, Gemma is doing Liberty sailing to increase her experience and time on the water, which looks to be another two times per week, plus we are putting a strength and conditioning plan in place to improve ourselves in that area too. We would like to take this opportunity to extend a huge thank you to all our supporters, we are truly grateful for your support and we wouldn’t be where we are without you all.”
New Zealand's Final Results
2.4mR (49 entries)
Brett Willcock - 13th
Paul Francis - 22nd
SKUD 18 (14 entries)
Tim Dempsey/Gemma Fletcher - 11th
Sonar (18 Entries)
Richard Dodson/David Barnes/Andrew May - 14th
