Issue date
The Semaine Olympique Francaise ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta in Hyeres came to a close on April 28th with two of the NZL Sailing Team on the podium.
Andy Maloney finished with a silver medal and Andrew Murdoch bronze after the final medal races were sailed in extremely strong winds at Hyeres, France.
Andy Maloney had a fantastic finish to his regatta in the Laser class, finishing second both in the medal race and overall standings to Philipp Buhl of Germany. Australian Tom Slingsby, who previously led the regatta, broke his mast during the medal race and as such, the NZL Sailing Team member Andrew Murdoch’s fifth place finish allowed him to stay in third overall.
Dan Slater’s medal race was up next and a fifth place finish saw him remain in fifth overall. New Zealander Matt Coutts placed eighth in the final race and ninth overall. Peter Burling and Blair Tuke finished the regatta in 13th overall after they were pushed out of the top ten and the final medal race when they lost a protest lodged by Manu Dyen and Stephane Christidis of France yesterday.
Natalia Kosinska also just narrowly missed the medal round; her two 18th place finishes in the last races have left her in 11th overall at the end of the regatta
The Womens' Match Racing event was only able to complete one round robin, and the NZL Sailing Team lead by Stephanie Hazard finished 14th.
2012 Semaine Olympique Francaise
NZ's Final Standings
Laser
2nd - Andy Maloney
3rd- Andrew Murdoch
13th - Sam Meech
40th- Thomas Saunders
91st- Michael Cate
Finn
5th- Dan Slater
9th –Matt Coutts
49er
13th- Peter Burling and Blair Tuke
29th - Josh Porebski / Marcus Hansen
RS:X Women
11th Natalia Kosinska
Women’s Match Racing
14th- Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen, Susannah Pyatt
