SEIKO 49er & 49erFX Worlds at Marseille, France - Day 5
by Andy Rice 28 Sep 2013 23:55 BST
24-29 September 2013
Team New Zealand Boys & Girls dominate in strong winds
New Zealand crews sit at the top of both leaderboards going into the final day of the Seiko 49er & 49erFX World Championships in Marseille.
In the 53-boat women's FX fleet, Alex Maloney and Molly Meech took a firmer grip on the Seiko yellow jerseys after a masterful display of strong-wind boathandling in four Semi-Final races on a gusty, shifty course close to the shore.
The Kiwi girls scored 15,3,3,1, moving them further ahead of France's
Sarah Steyaert and Julie Bossard. Inspired by the girls' performance,
Pete Burling and Blair Tuke went out on to the same race course for
four men's 49er races and racked up 2,1,9,2. This moved them into the
lead of the 97-strong men's division, 12 points in front of another
Kiwi crew in 2nd place, Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski.
Good to stretch our legs today and a couple of opportunities to do
better today, but all in all a good day," said Tuke. "We're just
getting the boat shipshape and ready for tomorrow. We're happy with
how we're going in theatre-style racing and how we're sailing. We're
both really excited about the chance of winning a world championship.
We haven't won a world title since our junior days so we're very
motivated."
The Kiwis were good today, but the Australians were better, and they
needed to be. Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen started the day in
18th place, a long way from the 9th place or less that would guarantee
their place in the Final. As it was, a score of 1,3,3,1 rocketed them
up to 6th overall. The Aussies' downwind speed also earned them the
purple jerseys for Kings of the Downwind, coming in at almost a minute
faster than the second boat across all of today's eight downwind legs.
"It was a massive snakes and ladders day," said Outteridge. "Every
race was very different in terms of where you had to go, so there was
no pattern to it, which we like." But with 25 points still to make up
on the Kiwi leaders, can Outteridge really hope to make Marseille his
fifth 49er World title? "I think with the format we've got I'd say
anything is possible. We haven't done any of the theatre style racing,
but it's three double-points races. If you get it wrong you get 60
points. Pretty easy for it to go bad.
"I think tomorrow will be lighter, will be shifty and ugly racing, and
we're going to have to fight pretty hard. But at least we might have a
chance of fighting back enough to get on the podium."
If Burling and Tuke look a little out of reach for the reigning World
and Olympic Champions, the others look very catchable. The second Kiwi
team are just 13 points ahead of Outteridge, with France's Manu Dyen
and Stephane Christidis 3 points further back in 3rd overall. In the
game of snakes and ladders, the previous series leaders slid down more
snakes than they would have liked. Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign have
slipped to 4th overall. "A day we don't really want to remember but
still one you have to learn from," said Sign. "You have to debrief
from it, pick up a few points then bounce back tomorrow. Today,
everything was happening pretty quickly and we weren't that great at
reacting to that today. Tomorrow we've got to come back fighting and
show we can win a world championship."
It was far worse for another British team, John Pink and Simon
Wheeler, who started the day in 3rd. Some sub-par performances saw
them drop down the rankings to the point where they were in danger of
missing top 9 qualification. In the final race they surged into the
lead, and although Outteridge caught them on the final beat, they were
second as they gybed for the finish line. Then, a massive gust and a
capsize saw them tumble to 13th in that race, and down to 11th
overall. "A bit gutting," said Pink. "I think that puts us in the
repechage." Tomorrow the teams from 10th to 21st overall compete in
the Petit-Finals for one coveted place in the Final. So Pink might yet
find redemption from that capsize. "We have it all to do again
tomorrow, a mini-series to get ourselves back in the Final, and see
where we go from there."
For the women, that Petit-Final might allow sailors like Australia's
Olivia Price and Caitlin Elks to get back into the Final. Like Pink,
they capsized in today's really tough conditions, and the Olympic
silver medallist Price will be working hard to get back in for the FX
Finals.
The crucial, final day of racing will be live streamed on 49er.org from 12pm local time on Sunday.
49er.org/event/2013-world-championships
Kiwis lead in both 49er and 49erFX going into the final day (from Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting New Zealand)
New Zealand dominated on day five of the 2013 49er and 49erFX World Championships and the kiwi team goes into the final day of the regatta lying 1st and 2nd in the 49er and 1st in the 49erFX.
After four days of super light and tricky winds in Marseille, France the breeze finally kicked in for the penultimate day of the six day regatta and the kiwis truly came to the fore.
At the end of the day Peter Burling and Blair Tuke lead the 49er fleet with a 12 point gap to team-mates Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski in 2nd place. Meanwhile Alex Maloney and Molly Meech retain the lead in the 49erFX with a nine point margin, and the New Zealanders are in the hunt for two Olympic class World Championship titles.
But the schedule prescribes three double points medal races on the final day of the regatta, so there are plenty of points on offer and the kiwis will really need to stay on their game.
Men's Coach Hamish Willcox reports on the 49er Gold fleet racing; "There was lots of action with some of the less experienced teams who had made it into the finals during the light wind period really struggling today! We saw a lot of capsized boats."
Burling and Tuke had a 2, 1, 9, 2 scorecard today, Hansen and Porebski went 6, 6, 1, 10. Willcox continues, "The kiwi boys really rose to the occasion and managed to have the second and third best days of any crews (after the Aussie Olympic champions), winning a race apiece on the way."
"Both teams stayed out of trouble and their boat skills were awesome. 20 minute target races meant for fast and furious racing with little rest in between."
Alex Maloney and Molly Meech had their poorest race of the series in today's opening race, but the young up-and-comers recovered quickly to return three top three finishes after that and hold their overall lead as they go into the medal race day.
Their Coach in Marseille, Nathan Handley reports; "Four races today the first one in five to ten knots with the wind moving around a lot. The girls had a 15th -not such a good start for the day but really hard conditions."
"Then the Wind came up eight to 13 knots had a 3rd, 3rd, then a 1st, so all up pretty good day. Medal racing tomorrow and the girls have a nine point lead which means not much as we have three medal races with double points and no discards. Anything could happen!"
Outteridge and Jensen on the move at 49er World Championships (from Craig Heydon, Yachting Australia)
Australian sailors Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen have shot up the leader board on the penultimate day of racing at the 2013 49er and 49erFX World Championships in Marseille, France.
Outteridge and Jensen started the day in 18th and reveled in the stronger winds that greeted crews on Saturday, moving up to seventh overall and putting themselves in contention for a podium finish.
The defending World Champions and London 2012 gold medallists began the day with their first win of the week, going on to finish third in the next two races and round the day out with another win.
The results leave the pair in seventh, just 25 points off the lead with three double point theatre style races to be contested on Sunday.
"It was a massive snakes and ladders day," said Outteridge. "Every race was different in terms of where you had to go, so there was no pattern to it, which we like.
"We haven't done any of the theatre style racing, but it's three double points races," he said. "If you get it wrong you get 60 points. Pretty easy for it to go bad.
"I think tomorrow will be lighter, will be shifty and ugly racing, and we're going to have to fight pretty hard," said Outteridge. "But at least we might have a chance of fighting back enough to get on the podium."
David Gilmour and Sam Phillips are currently 10th in the repechage fleet, with Will Phillips and Rhys Mara just behind in 14th.
In the silver fleet Luke Parkinson and Fang Warren are third, ahead of George Davies and Jack Lloyd in 27th. Peter Kendall and Harry Bethwaite ended the day third in the bronze fleet.
Australia's three 49erFX crews will be fighting for the final position in the medal races on Sunday, with Olivia Price and Caitlin Elks missing out on automatic qualification by one place.
Price and Elks finished the day 10th overall on equal points with the 9th placed Danes, with the top nine going straight through to the theatre style races. The pair will now race against positions 10 through to 20 for the final spot in the final.
Price and Elks began the day with a seventh and a fifth, before finishing the day with a pair of 13ths.
Fellow Australians Tessa Parkinson and Chelsea Hall are also in the running for the final spot and currently sit in 13th. Parkinson and Hall finished Saturday's four races with a third, ninth, 16th and a ninth.
Haylee Outteridge and Nina Curtis are just one place further behind in 14th following a 13th, 14th, seventh and 11th.
All three crews will be pushing hard to get themselves into the medal races on Sunday afternoon.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au and follow the Team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.