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New Zealand sailors are renowned for enjoying stronger breezes but many of this country's top Olympic campaigners are hoping for some lighter winds at the French Olympic Week regatta in Hyeres to mix things up.
It's not that they're struggling in stronger winds - and the breeze built in strength during day two in Hyeres - with five boats inside the top 10 of their respective fleets and others lurking not far off the pace.
Veerle ten Have continues to impress in the women's iQFoil and is fourth overall, Tom Saunders and George Gautrey are fifth and sixth respectively in the ILCA 7 (Laser), Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson are sixth in the Nacra 17 and Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie ninth in the 49er.
There will be one more day of qualifying tonight (NZ time) before the top sailors in their respective fleets move into gold fleet for three more days of racing. They'll likely face different conditions on day three, with onshore winds and bigger waves replacing gusty offshore breezes and flat water.
Saunders banked two more good scores today, including a race win, to be well placed in the ILCA 7 but there's very little in it at the top with only 10 points separating the top 10.
"It was another windy day of qualifying and everyone keeps converting low scores," Saunders said. "I had two more good starts today so I'll look to keep that going.
"I got a little lost towards the top mark of the second race and let a few boats through but I’m otherwise happy with where I’m at and how I’m sailing. I’m holding out for some light winds to mix it up."
Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn expressed a similar sentiment after three more races in the 49er fleet today. The pair notched their first win of their 2022 international campaign before the breeze really kicked in for the afternoon and are now 12th overall in a congested fleet.
"We finally had a couple of light-wind races, which we have really been hanging out for," Dunning Beck said. "We didn’t get a chance to race in anything other than full power in Palma [a couple of weeks ago] so the first race today was our first lineup and we were pleasantly surprised with how we were going.
"We made a few mistakes around the course but in the first two races in light or moderate winds we came away with a couple of good results. We finally bagged a win thanks to the Dutch being over [at the start] so first win of the trip, which is always good. The breeze really kicked in for our third race and it was difficult to say the least."
Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson also scored their first win of the European campaign in the first race of the day in the Nacra 17 but were a little too conservative in their next two starts before rounding off their afternoon with a sixth to keep them in the hunt.
Jo Aleh and Molly Meech produced a mixed bag in the 49erFX but illustrated their potential with a second and a fourth among their scores in their four races today. The pair are competing in their first international regatta together and Aleh's first in a skiff and are presently 16th. Fellow Kiwis Alex Maloney and Olivia Hobbs won their last race of day and are 11th overall.
"Obviously we are still very much learning as we go," Aleh said. "We're happy that we're putting a few things together but obviously a little way off being consistent."
Results and standings after day 2 of the French Olympic Week regatta in Hyeres:
49er (61 boats)
1st: Dominik Buksak / Szymon Wierzbicki (POL) 3 1 1 3 (4) 1 - 9 points
2nd: Nevin Snow / Max Agnese (USA) 1 (4) 3 1 2 3 - 10 pts
3rd: Erwan Fischer / Clament Pequin (FRA) 1 1 14 4 (19) 1 - 20 pts
9th: Isaac McHardie / William McKenzie (NZL) 2 (11) 4 8 11 3 - 28 pts
12th: Logan Dunning Beck / Oscar Gunn (NZL) 12 6 7 8 1 (13) - 34 pts
41st: Sam Bacon / Henry Gautrey (NZL) 14 15 12 (29) 23 22 - 86 pts
49erFX (38 boats)
1st: Helene Ness / Marie van Ronningen (NOR) 5 (13) 1 1 1 1 4 - 12 pts
2nd: Lara Granier / Maelie Riou (FRA) 1 5 3 (8) 6 1 - 16 pts
3rd: Vilma Bobeck / Rebecca Netzlar (SWE) 1 1 (14) 6 2 9 - 19 pts
11th: Alex Maloney / Olivia Hobbs (NZL) 3 10 5 (11) 10 1 - 29 pts
16th: Jo Aleh / Molly Meech (NZL) 6 12 (16) 4 15 2 - 39 pts
Nacra 17 (32 boats)
1st: Ruggero Tita / Caterina Banti (ITA) 1 (5) 4 4 1 - 10 pts
2nd: John Gimson / Anna Burnet (GBR) 3 (16) 3 1 5 - 12 pts
3rd: Sinem Kurtbay / Akseli Keskinen (FIN) (14) 11 1 3 2 - 17 pts
6th Micah Wilkinson / Erica Dawson (NZL) 7 1 12 (16) 6 - 26 pts
Women's iQFoil (32 boards)
1st: Hélène Noesmoen (FRA) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (2) (6) 1 - 8 pts
2nd: Maja Dziarnowska (POL) (6) (6) 5 2 3 2 2 3 4 2 - 23 pts
3rd: Delphine Cousin (FRA) 2 3 (6) (6) 2 4 3 4 2 6 - 26 pts
4th Veerle ten Have (NZL) (9) 4 2 5 7 3 4 5 (8) 4 - 34 pts
29th: Brianna Orams (NZL) 27 28 26 28 (30) (30) 29 25 25 25 - 213 pts
Men's iQFoil (57 boards)
1st: Nicolas Goyard (FRA) (10) 2 2 (6) 2 1 1 1 1 1 - 11 pts
2nd: Sebastian Koerdel (GER) (11) 1 6 4 3 2 4 3 (18) 2 - 25 pts
3rd: Clément Bourgeois (FRA) 2 3 3 1 6 (58 DNF) 8 2 (14) - 28 pts
15th: Josh Armit (NZL) 15 13 13 (28) 7 10 (17) 9 11 5 - 83 pts
30th Eli Liefting (NZL) 27 36 (47) 20 20 31 24 32 31 (40) - 221 pts
56th: Thomas Crook (NZL) (DNC 58) (DNC 58) DNC 58 DNC 58 DNC 58 DNC 58 DNC 58 DNC 58 DNC 58 DNC 58 - 464 pts
ILCA 7 (129 boats)
1st: Matt Wearn (AUS) (2) 1 1 1 - 3 pts
2nd: Philipp Buhl (GER) 1 (3) 1 1 - 3 pts
3rd: Jean-Baptiste Bernaz (FRA) 1 2 (8) 1 - 4 pts
5th: Tom Saunders (NZL) 2 3 1 (4) - 6 pts
6th: George Gautrey (NZL) (9) 2 2 2 - 6 pts
80th: Luke Deegan (NZL) (35) 17 31 25 - 73 pts
109th: Luke Cashmore (NZL) (44 DNF) 26 28 41 - 109 pts
ILCA 6 (65 boats)
1st: Agata Barwinska (POL) 8 2 1 (17) - 11 pts
2nd: Louise Cerevera (FRA) 5 9 (22) 7 - 21 pts
3rd: Emma Plasschaert (BEL) 6 7 (10) 8 - 21 pts
46th: Olivia Christie (NZL) 32 33 (40) 39 - 104 pts
