In The Medal Mix: NZ Crews In Finals Push In Palma

The appetisers are done. Now it’s time for the main course at the Princess Sofia Regatta.

And despite a demanding third day at the first top-level event of the European season, many of New Zealand’s leading sailors are hungry for medals with gold-fleet racing set to start.

After light winds saw many races abandoned on the first two days, sea breeze of around 15kn provided a different challenge in the Bay of Palma - and plenty of movement up and down the leaderboard.

ILCA 7 (Laser) sailors Tom Saunders and George Gautrey were two of the 36-strong Kiwi crew heading in the right direction.

Saunders managed two top-three results in his last qualifying heats for an overall seventh place heading into the finals while Gautrey climbed from 29th to 12th overall courtesy of a second place in his first heat of the day.

“It was a bit rough today and I spent too much time in the trenches battling my way through [the fleet],” Gautrey said.

“There were plenty of positives too, though – I’m going quick …. and we should see some epic racing tomorrow.”

Like Gautrey, Saunders had to play catch-up with only two races possible on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“It was physically quite demanding with three races today but it will be good moving into the finals and lining up with everyone else, so everyone’s on the same playing field,” Saunders said.

“I’m happy with how qualifying has gone even though there are always a few points you feel you’ve left out there.

“We have another three races again tomorrow… it’s going to hurt, so there will be plenty of pancakes on order in the morning!”

Also showing an appetite for silverware are New Zealand’s two leading 49er crews.

Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie qualified eighth overall with Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn climbing 11 places to 11th with a third, fourth and eighth place in their three heats.

With few wind shifts, boat speed was key throughout the day, McKenzie said.

“We were fast, but we felt like we weren’t quite fast enough to be right in the top three. We still managed to string together some good races and results.

“We have a few things we’d like to work on over the last two days of competition and hopefully we keep pushing and jump on that podium.” 

It was much harder work for the country’s three 49er FX crews with only Jo Aleh and Molly Meech, the overall leaders yesterday, advancing to the gold fleet race.

They dropped 20 places, however, with a best finish of 14th in qualifying on Thursday.

National champions Alex Maloney and Olivia Hobbs (30th), and Courtney and Brianna Reynolds-Smith (43rd) will compete in the silver fleet.

Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson, bronze medallists at the Lanzarote International Regatta earlier this year, find themselves 16th overall in the 54-boat Nacra 17 fleet, after some mixed results.

Josh Armit has continued his impressive display in the men’s iQFOIL (windfoiling) competition, with three top-10 finishes in his six qualifying races today placing him sixth overall, while Veerle ten Have is 11th in the women’s division.

Also managing a string of top-10s in qualifying – for an overall placing of 17th and a spot in the women’s kitefoiling gold fleet – is Justina Kitchen.

“I’m feeling okay out there, even though I am still settling into European racing and feel like I have a lot more to give,” Kitchen said.

Results and standings after day 3 of the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma de Mallorca, Spain:

49er FX (60 boats):
1st: Odile van Aanholt/Annette Duetz (Ned) (11) 6 2 3 1 2 - 14 points
2nd: Marla Bergmann/ Hanna Wille (Ger) 4 3 3 4 4 (19) - 18 pts
3rd: Isaura Maenhaut/Anouk Geurts (Bel) 3 8 5 (21) 1 2 - 19 pts
21st: Jo Aleh/Molly Meech (NZ) 5 1 (20) 19 14 14 - 53 pts
30th: Alex Maloney/Olivia Hobbs (NZ) 10 (18) 8 15 18 13 - 64 pts 
43rd: Courtney Reynolds-Smith/Brianna Reynolds-Smith (NZ) 13 6 21 (24) 20 21 - 105 pts 

49er fleet (99 boats):
1st: Robert Dickson/Sean Waddilove (Ire) 4 (11) 1 1 4 - 10 pts
2nd: James Peters/Finn Sterritt (GBR) 6 4 1 3 (13) - 14 pts
3rd: Bart Lambriex/Floris van de Werken (Ned) 4 1 4 5 (17) -14 pts
8th: Isaac McHardie/William McKenzie (NZ) 2 5 5 7 (8) - 19 pts
11th: Logan Dunning Beck/Oscar Gunn (NZ) 5 (12) 4 8 3 - 20 pts
37th: Sam Morgan/Pat Morgan (NZ) 7 12 (34) 14 12 - 45 pts
54th: Scott McKenzie/Blake McGlashan (NZ) (23) 15 13 23 12 - 63 pts
62nd: Campbell Stanton/Will Shapland (NZ) 17 8 (26) 23 26 - 74 pts
77th: Mattias Coutts/Henry Haslett (NZ) 18 19 (30) 26 25 - 88 pts 

ILCA 6 (107 boats):
1st: Charlotte Rose (US) 3 2 1 2 (4) - 8 pts
2nd: Zoe Thomson (Aus) 6 2 1 3 (17) -12 pts
3rd: Marit Bouwmeester (Ned) 3 1 3 (14) 5 - 12 pts
35th: Olivia Christie (NZ) (32) 13 18 25 12 - 45 pts 

ILCA 7 (184 boats):
1st: Daniel Whiteley (GBR) 2 (21) 1 1 1 - 5pts
2nd: Philipp Buhl (Ger) 3 (63) 1 1 1 - 6 pts
3rd: Tonči Stipanovic (Cro) 1 2 (34) 4 4 -11 pts
7th: Tom Saunders (NZ) 3 5 2 3 (6) - 13 pts
12th: George Gautrey (NZ) (25) 1 2 12 9 - 24 pts
80th: Luke Cashmore (NZ) 19 27 18 (47) 27 - 91 pts
91st: Luke Deegan (NZ) 26 25 (37) 26 28 - 105 pts
100th: Caleb Armit (NZ) 39 20 31 (41) 24 - 114 pts 

Nacra 17 mixed (52 boats):
1st: Vittorio Bissaro/Maelle Frascari Diotallevi (Ita) (3) 3 1 1 1 - 6pts
2nd: John Gimson/Anna Burnet (GBR) (6) 1 3 3 2 - 9 pts
3rd: Ruggero Tita/Caterina Banti (Ita) 6 (8) 3 1 1 - 11 pts
16th: Micah Wilkinson/Erica Dawson (NZ) 1 (13) 12 5 9 - 27 pts 

470 mixed (72 boats):
1st: Simon Diesch/Anna Markfort (Ger) (6) 5 1 4 1 - 11 pts
2nd: Camille Lecointre/Jeremy Mion (Fra) (7) 5 5 1 2 - 13 pts
3rd: Keiju Okada/ Miho Yoshioka (Jpn) (9) 7 1 3 3 - 14 pts
54th: Brittany Wornall/Sam Street (NZ) 26 31 - 57 pts 

iQFOIL men (136 boards):
1st: Nicolas Goyard (Fra) 1 (47) 1111 3 - 8 pts
2nd: Sebastian Koerdel (Ger) 1 3 1 3 2 1 (4) - 11 pts
3rd: Luuc van Opzeeland (Ned) (9) 1 3 8 1 3 1 - 17 pts
6th: Josh Armit (NZ) 1 1 3 (18) 11 6 9 - 31 pts
45th: Thomas Crook (NZ) 27 (47) 19 13 10 24 26 - 119 pts
48th: Patrick Haybittle (NZ) – 19 9 (40) 17 30 19 31 - 125 pts 
70th: Eli Liefting (NZ) 9 27 34 27 (42) 41 30 - 168 pts
135th: Antonio Cozzolino (NZ) - 47 DNC 47 DNC (69 DNC) 69 DNC 69 DNC 69 DNC 69 DNC - 370 pts 

iQFOIL women (98 boards):
1st: Sharon Kantor (Isr) 1 (23) 1 1 3 (19) 1 1 3 - 11 pts
2nd: Pilar Lamadrid Trueba (Spa) 3 1 3 (45) (4) 2 2 2 1 -14 pts
3rd: Emma Wilson (GBR) (9) 3 1 1 4 1 4 1 (5) - 15 pts
11th: Veerle ten Have (NZ) 7 5 (39) 3 10 4 (24) 10 6 - 45 pts

Formula kite women (53 boards):
1st: Lauriane Nolot (Fra) (5) 1 (28) 1 1 1 1 2 - 7 pts
2nd: Daniela Moroz (US) 3 1 (28) 3 (20) 1 1 1 - 10 pts
3rd: Katie Dabson (GBR) 1 (3) 2 1 1 (3) 3 3 - 11 pts
17th: Justina Kitchen (NZ) 12 (15) 7 9 7 6 (15) 7 - 48 pts

Formula kite men (115 boards):
1st: Axel Mazella (Fra) (2) 1 (3) 1 1 1 1 1 - 6pts
2nd: Maximilian Maeder (Sgp) 1 (30) 2 2 1 (3) 1 1 - 8 pts
3rd: Toni Vodisek (Slo) (2) 1 1 2 2 (30) 1 1 - 8 pts
64th: Lochy Naismith (NZ) 11 (23) (30) 14 16 14 13 18 - 86 pts

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