Nacra pair find form at Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta

Nacra pair find form at Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta

Last year was a bit of a write-off for Liv Mackay and Micah Wilkinson because of injury so they hope their form so far at the Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta is a sign of better things to come.

The pair hold a slim lead in the small but competitive Nacra 17 fleet heading into tomorrow’s final day and a good breeze is expected to arrive at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club after two reasonably light and patchy days of sailing.

“We will try to hold it together in the breeze,” Wilkinson said. “Windy sailing is what we love.”

They've coped well enough in light conditions, winning three of the six races so far to sit two points ahead of Rio Olympians Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders, with newcomers Erica Dawson and Henry Haslett pushing their more experienced rivals.

It would be a significant result if Mackay and Wilkinson can take out the regatta, given it is their first since Mackay had hip surgery six months ago.

“It’s really important for us to show a bit of form after last season didn’t really happen,” Wilkinson said. “It will give us a bit of confidence to know we are still competitive after such a long break and we are just going to build from here. We would be really stoked if we could pull it together tomorrow and seal the deal.”

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are in prime position to take out the 49er class, with the Olympic champions adding another two wins to their scorecard to open up a six-point lead over Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie. They handled the conditions the best to stamp their class in their first event since the Rio Olympics

Defending champions Josh Porebski and Trent Rippey got the biggest cheer of the day when they rounded the top mark first in front of two boat-loads of young sailors from the Kohimarama Yacht Club who Rippey used to coach. The pair went on to win the race and are third, 10 points behind Burling and Tuke, illustrating the depth of the wider New Zealand 49er squad.

“There’s plenty of competition in the New Zealand squad and Pete and Blair are back and racing,” Porebski said. “It took them a while to get up to speed in training but they’ve pulled it all together in the racing. They are a class act and are making it hard for us to get in front of them.”

Rio Olympians Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox are doing the same in the 470 class, winning two of the three races today to hold a three-point lead over South Korea’s Jae wan Park and Han Cheol Kyu. New women’s crew Susannah Pyatt and Brianna-Reynolds Smith are only two points further behind in fourth overall and first female crew.

Dave Ridley holds a slim lead in the Laser, Luke Cashmore and Caleb Armit are tied on points at the top of the Laser Radial fleet and world champions Seb Menzies and Blake McGlashan hold the advantage in the 420.

Annabelle Rennie-Younger is the first female in the Laser Radial, five points ahead of Olivia Christie, Brayden Hamilton and Pat Morgan hold a one-point lead in the 29er and Sam Bullock has won every race in the kiteboarding.

Meanwhile, at the World Cup Series regatta in Miami, Alex Maloney and Molly Meech will go into the 49erFX medal race with a healthy 12-point advantage over the Olympic champions from Brazil and Sam Meech is second with two days remaining in the Laser.

Results after day 2 of the Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club today:

49er (16 boats)

1st: Peter Burling / Blair Tuke (NZL) 1 2 1 4 1 (5) 1 - 10 points
2nd: Isaac McHardie / William Mckenzie (NZL) 2 4 2 1 5 (6) 2 - 16 pts
3rd: Josh Porebski / Trent Rippey (NZL) 5 3 5 3 (10) 1 3 - 20 pts

49erFX (4 boats)

1st: Ben Paterson / Sean Paterson (NZL) (3) 3 1 1 1 1 1 - 8 pts
2nd: Emma French / Emma Stenhouse (NZL) 2 2 2 2 3 2 (5 UFD) - 13 pts
2nd: Crystal Sun / Olivia Hobbs (NZL) (4) 1 3 3 2 3 2 - 14 pts

29er (8 boats)

1st: Brayden Hamilton / Pat Morgan (NZL) 2 3 1 (4) 2 3 2 - 13 pts
2nd: Eli Liefting / Jack Frewin (NZL) 3 SCP 2 2 3 3 (4) 1 - 14 pts
3rd: James Barnett / Josh Schon (NZL) 4 (8) 3 1 1 2 5 - 16 pts

Nacra 17 (4 boats)

1st: Liv Mackay / Micah Wilkinson (NZL) (2) 2 1 1 2 1 - 7 pts
2nd: Gemma Jones / Jason Saunders (NZL) 1 1 2 2 (5 UFD) 3 - 9 pts
3rd: Erica Dawson / Henry Haslett (NZL) (3) 3 3 3 1 2 - 12 pts

Nacra 15 (4 boats)

1st: Helena Sanderson / Jack Honey (NZL) 1 1 1 1 1 2 (3) - 7 pts
2nd: Francesco Kayrouz / Carrington Brady (NZL) 2 3 2 2 (4) 1 1 - 11 pts
3rd: Hamish McLaren / Rebecca Morgan (NZL) 3 2 3 3 3 3 (4) - 17 pts

420 (16 boats)

1st: Seb Menzies / Blake McGlashan (NZL) (2) 1 1 2 1 2 - 7 pts
2nd: Mason Mulcahy / Andre Van Dam (NZL) (4) 3 3 1 2 1 - 10 pts
3rd: Donguk Kim / Yeongwoo Kim Busan (KOR) (17 DSQ) 4 2 4 5 4 - 19 pts

470 (7 boats)

1st: Paul Snow-Hansen / Dan Willcox (NZL) 5 1 1 1 1 (8 DNC) - 9 pts
2nd: Jae wan Park Han / Cheol Kyu Chungnam (KOR) 1 (6) 4 2 2 3 - 12 pts
3rd: Kidong Park / Shin Sang Min (KOR) (8 DNF) 2 2 4 4 2 - 14 pts

Laser (6 boats)

1st: Dave Ridley (NZL) (3) 2 1 1 1 2 - 9 pts
2nd: Sangkyu Kim (KOR) (7 OCS) 1 3 4 1 1 - 10 pts
3rd: Jing Hwan Lee (KOR) 1 3 2 2 2 (6) - 10 pts

Laser Radial (22 boats)

1st: Luke Cashmore (NZL) 2 1 2 1 (19) 7 - 13 pts
2nd: Caleb Armit (NZL) 4 (6) 1 3 2 3 - 13 pts
3rd: Harrison Baker (NZL) 5 2 4 2 (9) 5 - 18 pts

Kites (4 kites)

1st: Sam Bullock (NZL) (1) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 7 pts
2nd: Ben Turner (NZL) 2 2 3 2 2 2 (5 DNS) 5 (DNS) - 18 pts
3rd: Justina Kitchen (NZL) (4) 4 4 3 4 3 2 2 - 22 pts

Full results here

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