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Veerle ten Have has ambitions of being among the world's best and for one day last week got to experience that.
The 19-year-old from Tauranga punched out scores of third, second and sixth on the second day of racing at the RS:X world championships in Sorrento, Australia, and knows she had chances to win all three races.
"That was a good day," she said with satisfaction. "It was windy, which a lot of people struggled in, but it was flat water. It was kind of like Takapuna. I had good starts and came out with speed and was way faster than a lot of those girls. It was good to be leading those races, sometimes by a lot.
"I wasn’t as shocked as when I was leading a race [at the 2018 world championships] in Aarhus but on the first upwind I was still like, 'am I going to the right mark, did I start too early?' Once you’re in the front, it’s easier to race.
"It was a big confidence booster but there were things from that day that I know I can do better to actually bullet in all three races."
Ten Have finished midfleet in the rest of the racing to finish 26th overall out of a fleet of 46, and she was also second in the under-21 division and first among the Oceania contingent to qualify the class for New Zealand for this year's Tokyo Olympics.
Antonio Cozzolino also qualified the men's RS:X as the top Oceania sailor with his 54th placing overall, meaning New Zealand has now qualified all 10 classes for Tokyo, but not all will go given they haven't met the qualifying standards set by the New Zealand selectors.
The first batch of sailors to compete in Tokyo were announced on Wednesday, when seven sailors in four classes were named.
Ten Have knows her RS:X days are numbered, with windfoiling set to replace the RS:X on the programme for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and she's excited about the change.
"It's just so much fun," she enthused.
"When I started the RS:X, there were quite a few people involved. It was social. It’s turned into something quite individual in New Zealand. With foiling, there are heaps of people involved, which is cool, and everyone is excited about it. It’s fast, something new. It’s a clean slate for everyone so it's a big learning curve."
An illustration of the popularity of windfoiling is the fact about 50 or 60 sailors will compete at next weekend's Giltrap New Zealand windfoil championships at the Manly Sailing Club. Among the competitors will be a few recognisable names from the past, like Aaron McIntosh, JP Tobin and Bruce Trotter as well as a new breed of windsurfers.
Ten Have, who earlier this week was named in the 2020 Aon Fast Track squad, is still learning how to master windfoiling but thinks it could be a class that suits her, especially as she was always a little bigger than most of the lightweights typically at the front of the RS:X fleet.
"I know how to race, I know how to windsurf and I don’t think size will be as important in foiling. I think, if anything, being big will be an advantage."
- Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing.
