NZL Sailing Team Update: Kiwis looking good for double podium in Palma

The NZL Sailing Team looks assured of two podium finishes at ISAF Sailing World Cup Palma with just one day of the regatta remaining. Peter Burling and Blair Tuke hold a strong lead in the 49er while Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (pictured above) are in 2^nd place in the Women’s 470.

A further three New Zealand crews will be back in the water tomorrow for medal races including Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox (Men’s 470) and Laser sailors Andy Maloney and Sam Meech.  

49er and 49erFX: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke continue to dominate in the 49er class and after chalking up another two race wins today, along with a 9^th place, the on-form pair go into the medal race stage in great shape for the overall victory here at ISAF Sailing world Cup Palma.

"Was a tricky day with the weather changing as we went through the three races, with a lot of left-over swell," says Blair Tuke at the end of the day. "We sailed pretty well, making a few mistakes in the middle race but other than that, a good day"

"Three medal races tomorrow, it’s always good fun racing in the final ten boats so we are excited"

Unlike the other events, the skiffs will sail three medal races each worth single points (the other classes sail one medal race worth double points) so overall there are 30 points up for grabs tomorrow on the final day. Burling and Tuke are 21 points out in front of Jonas Warrer and Peter Lang (DEN) in 2^nd place with Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign (GBR) 14 points further back in 3^rd.

Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski conclude the regatta in 32^nd place, while the third kiwi crew of Ben Goodwin and Sam Bullock have wrapped things up in 57^th.

49erFX World Champions Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech had a good day on the water today with a couple of top four race results however it wasn’t quite enough to pull them up into the top ten and the pair narrowly miss the medal race cut and have to settle for an 11^th place finish.

470 Women and Men: After no racing yesterday the 470 fleets sailed three today and Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie have used the opportunity well climbing into 2^nd overall as they progress to the last of the regatta with just the top ten medal race remaining.

Provided they make it around the course tomorrow the kiwis, on 34 points, can’t do any worse than silver from here as the British crew of Saskia Mills and Hannah Clarke are 26 points adrift in 3^rd place. To claim the gold they have to make up seven points on the overall leaders Camille Lecointre and Helene DeFrance of France who have barely put a foot wrong all week.

The medal race, featuring only those boats now placed in the top ten, is worth double points and cannot be discarded from the crew’s total points.

“Wow what a day... Everything from torrential rain and 25 knots of wind, to sun and no wind... All accompanied by huge ocean swells though. We had a pretty good start to the day, once again a few missed opportunities (or self combustion moments) but still came away with a 3rd.”

“The next race the wind was all over the place... We had a rather average start, but managed to play our way up the middle of the first leg to round the top mark in 1st, then after a few 'ahhh' moments as the wind looked like it might drop out - or bring everyone past us, we managed to keep our cool and finally take a race win.”

 “We made a bit of a hash of the first downwind leg of the last race (we were in about 5th), missed the gybe opportunity and rounded the bottom mark well in the late teens. We pulled it together after that, worked our asses off and scraped back to a 6^th.”

In the Men’s 470 Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox have earned a medal race spot and go into tomorrow’s race lying 6^th overall. Sailing three races today in Palma the men placed 23^rd, 20^th and 7^th with a twelve point gap to close if they want to better their overall position on the final day.  

Laser: Both Andy Maloney and Sam Meech will sail the Laser medal race tomorrow. Despite mixed results in their three races today they now sit 8^th and 9^th respectively and are assured of a top ten result.

Thomas Saunders has closed out the regatta in 25^th place, while the fourth New Zealander in the 144 strong fleet, Andrew McKenzie, has placed 65^th.

Finn: Josh Junior and Andrew Murdoch were denied their final chance to make the top ten on the penultimate day with no racing for the Finns today. Their day four standings saw Junior in 16^th and Murdoch in 25^th and this will now stand as their final results for the regatta.

Nacra 17: Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders have finished the regatta in 14^th place after placing 21^st, 18^th and 5^th in racing today.

Women’s RS:X: Natalia Kosinska sailed three races today finishing just outside the top ten in each (11, 13, 13) which sees her slip out of the top ten in the overall standings to 12^th place which will stand as her final result.  

The schedule for ISAF Sailing World Cup Palma…
31^st March – 4^th April: Qualifying and Finals Races
5^th April – Medal Races

ISAF Sailing World Cup Palma; New Zealand’s standings after day five
Full results here

Women’s 470 (47 boats)
2^nd Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie - NZL Sailing Team (9, 17, 4, 5, 4, 2, 3, 1, 6)

Men’s 470 (78 boats)
6^thPaul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox – NZL Sailing Team (9, 9, 11, 12, 2, 6, 6, 23, 20, 7)
49er (79 boats)
1^stPeter Burling and Blair Tuke – NZL Sailing Team (16, 1, 29, 2, 2, 2, 14, 1, 1, 5, 1, 1, 9, 1)
32^ndMarcus Hansen and Josh Porebski – NZL Sailing Team  
53rd (1st in bronze fleet) Ben Goodwin and Sam Bullock
49erFX (49 boats)
11^thAlexandra Maloney and Molly Meech – NZL Sailing Team, 49erFX (15, 5, 8, 23, 8, 8, 11, 10, 15, 13, 2, 4, 11)
Finn (92 boats)
16^thJosh Junior – NZL Sailing Team, Finn (26, 6, 8, 4, 5, 9, 2, 35, 32)
24^thAndrew Murdoch – NZL Sailing Team, Finn (7, 14, 28, 22, 6, 20, 32, 9, 24)
Laser (144 boats) no racing today
8^thAndy Maloney – NZL Sailing Team (15, 13, 14, 1, 2, 13, 1, 12, 5, UFD, 39)
9^thSam Meech – NZL Sailing Team (14, 2, 7, 10, 1, 20, 8, 28, 13, 17, 37)
25^thThomas Saunders – NZL Sailing Team (7, 11, 6, 3, 2, BFD, 15, 20, 37, UFD, 21)
65^th Andrew McKenzie (32, 23, 12, 25, 18, 15, 15, 16, 17, 7, 4)
Women’s RS:X (56 boards)
12^thNatalia Kosinska – NZL Sailing Team, RS:X Women (11, 1, 21, 27, 6, 11, 8, 11, 13, 13)
Nacra 17 (73 boats)
14^thGemma Jones and Jason Saunders – NZL Sailing Team (27, 26, 8, 1, 13, 18, 1, 8, 14, 21, 18, 5)

Coaches and support: Jez Fanstone, Nathan Handley, John Cutler, Hamish Willcox, Steve Erickson, Peter Evans and Will Howden

About the NZL Sailing Team

The NZL Sailing Team includes New Zealand’s top Olympic campaigners who have made the top 20% in their most recent (respective) class World Championships or pinnacle event and have shown consistency of performance over the year including other significant Championships.

Yachting New Zealand’s High Performance Programme is focussed on winning medals at the Olympics in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

NZL Sailing Team sailors all started out at grass roots yacht clubs around the country and with commitment, dedication and drive have risen to be world class athletes; they work hard in the gym, train long hours on the water and are supported by great coaches.

For more information

Jodie Bakewell-White
Yachting New Zealand Communications Manager
Tel. 021 709 065
Email. jodie@yachtingnz.org.nz

Links

Regatta website
ISAF Sailing World Cup website
NZL Sailing Team sailor profiles