Issue date
Sailing conditions improved for day two of the Olympic test event in Marseille and with it, the New Zealand team’s fortunes.
Three of the Kiwis in action snagged top-10 results overnight to move up their respective leaderboards, with ILCA 7 (Laser) sailor George Gautrey's third place in his second race of the day the pick of the bunch.
Gautrey, the Princess Sofia Regatta silver medallist, finished behind Pedro Luis Fernandez and Jean Baptiste Bernaz but beat fleet leader Michael Beckett to improve his overall position by two places to seventh.
It went some way toward recovering from an earlier penalty that cost Gautrey valuable points in the star-studded fleet.
"I could have come away with a prettier-looking scorecard but I got caught up in the first race with a flag on the first bottom mark,” he explained.
“It wasn't a disaster at the time, but it meant I had to go right which, on a left-hand track, was a hard one to deal with. It turned what could have been (scores of) 5 and 3 into (12) and a 3.”
With the competition approaching the halfway stage of qualifying, Gautrey is hoping to strengthen his position for a tilt at the medal race.
“I feel like I'm sailing well, so I’ll just keep plugging away and try to make my way up towards the medals," he said. “I gave myself a bit of a task but there’s plenty of racing to come.”
George Gautrey finished third in the second race of the day to move to seventh overall in the ILCA 7 fleet. Photos / World Sailing
Also making steady progress is Olivia Christie.
The 24-year-old moved from 36th to 21st on the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) leaderboard, courtesy of scores of 8 and 18 after finishing near the back of the fleet in both races on the opening day.
It was a just reward for Christie’s hard work following a tough start to her European season.
“It felt really good to get some solid results on the board, particularly after a bit of a shocker yesterday. I feel like I was sailing to my ability a lot more today compared to how I've been racing recently,” Christie said.
“It’s still early days in the regatta, but it's a good confidence boost. Today wasn’t necessarily conditions that I have always found easy, so it was good to get some keepers."
ILCA 6 sailor Olivia Christie also managed a top-10 result. Photos / World Sailing
The 8-12kn sea breeze was enough for the kitefoilers to catch up on several of the races postponed due to fluky wind on day 1 - and Justina Kitchen made the most of it with four top-10s in five races to sit 10th overall.
Lukas Walton-Keim is 19th in the men’s event.
“I’m stoked with today after yesterday waiting on the beach for wind that never came,” Kitchen said.
“I definitely had a few opportunities to get some top-fives that were missed, unfortunately, but I know I have a lot more to give and, hopefully, we'll see a bit more of that for the rest of the week.”
Light breeze also ruined Kitchen’s best-laid plans for her previous major regatta – the Hyères World Cup in April.
“It's nice to be back in France and racing again. Hyères was pretty disappointing for me – everything I was doing seemed to go wrong - but here it seems like we've turned things around.”
Part of the reason for the turnaround has been teaming up with new coach Antonio Cozzolino, Kitchen said.
“It’s been good to lock in a consistent coach, which I haven't had for quite a long time," she said.
"Antonio has been simplifying everything and we're working really well together. I’m looking forward to what comes next.”
The competition is set to ramp up at the Marseille Marina from tonight (NZ time) with the remaining classes starting their campaigns.
Jo Aleh and Molly Meech start their 49er FX campaign tonight (NZ time). Photos / World Sailing
Among them are 49er FX duo Jo Aleh and Molly Meech, who have spent the past month training on French waters.
“It's been a good build-up and we’ve had lots of time at the venue. It’s key for us in terms of understanding the venue and learning how to sail the boat here as it's pretty different to anywhere else,” Aleh said.
Also in action from tonight are Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie (49er), Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson (Nacra 17), and windfoilers Veerle ten Have and Josh Armit.
Results and standings from day 2 of the Olympic test event in Marseille:
ILCA 6 (38 boats)
1st: Viktorija Andrulyte (Ltu) 9 (10) 2 1 - 12 points
2nd: Maud Jayet (Sui) 6 4 4 (14) - 14 pts
3rd: Chiara Benini Floriani (Ita) 1 9 (15) 5 - 15 pts
21st: Olivia Christie (NZ) (36) 30 8 18 - 56 pts
ILCA 7 (42 boats)
1st: Michael Beckett (GBR) 2 (5) 2 4 - 8 pts
2nd: Pavlos Kontides (Cyp) (20) 2 3 5 - 10 pts
3rd: Jean Baptiste Bernaz (Fra) (11) 8 1 2 - 11 pts
7th: George Gautrey (NZ) (15) 9 12 3 - 24 pts
Women's kitefoil (20 boards)
1st: Lauriane Nolot (Fra) 2 1 (7) 1 1 - 5 pts
2nd: Eleanor Aldridge (GBR) 1 2 (11) 2 4 - 9 pts
3rd: Daniela Moroz (USA) (12) 5 3 3 2 - 13 pts
10th: Justina Kitchen (NZ) 6 9 (15) 10 8 - 33 pts
Men's kitefoil (20 boards)
1st: Axel Mazella (Fra) 1 5 (DNF) 1 2 2 - 11 pts
2nd: Connor Bainbridge (GBR) 2 4 3 (16) 4 3 - 16 pts
3rd: Maximilian Maeder (SGP) 14 1 (16) 3 3 5 - 26 pts
19th: Lukas Walton-Keim (NZ) (17) 14 13 13 17 15 - 72 pts
