Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders have come away from day two of the ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta Skandia Sail for Gold with two race wins in the mens 470, jumping them up the overall leader board to second.
After yesterdays light winds, racing is now back on schedule at the Weymouth Olympic sailing venue and the kiwi presence is starting to shape up.
New Zealands Mens 470 Olympic representatives Paul and Jason made a good recovery to win the first race, taking the lead on the second downwind leg by making the most of a gust of wind overtake the World Champion Australians and fourth placed Croatians. Their second race was sailed more conservatively in the fog, being careful not to lose sight of the marks.
Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie also had a better day with a 3rd and 8th place finish in their two races they are up to fourth overall as they near the half way mark of the event.
They are showing some moments of glory but still have some things to work on. said Jo and Pollys coach Nathan Handley. They are just aiming to get their whole package together come games time.
One of the elements of the teams Olympic preperation is gaining an understanding of the local weather systems. On this second day of racing, conditions were much more favourable for sailing with higher wind speeds although most courses experienced fog and plenty of rain.
It was miserable to be honest continued Nathan. Cold and wet, but pretty good sailing conditions with relatively stable 12-18 kn winds
New NZL Sailing Team members Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski continue to stay on fine form in the 49er fleet, still completing every race inside the top 10, today carding a 7th 9th and 10th place finishes. World Championship silver medallists Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are on similar pace, only finishing one of yesterdays races outside the top ten. Today the NZ Olympic 49er representative crew finished 10, 7th and 8th in their three races.
As six races have been completed the 49er fleets have been able to drop their worst scores, leaving Marcus and Josh in 11th, and Peter and Blair in 19th. The fleet as always is very close in overall points, only 10 points separate 10th from 20th.
It was a long day on the water for the NZL Sailing Teams three laser men, only coming back to shore at 7:30pm after they and the Finn, Star and Skud had three races each. Andrew Murdoch claimed his spot inside the top ten, opening the day with a second place finish then a 10th and 5th to leave him 8th overall after four races.
Sara Winther picked up an unfortunate Black Flag penalty in her first race today for being over the start line too early. She will be able to drop this as her worst score after five races have been completed tomorrow.
Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner have stayed inside of the Star top ten overall, with finishing places of 7, 12,11 today, and Paralympic Kiwi Skud 18 team Tim Dempsey and Jan Apel have moved up to 7th place overall after three top ten finishes.
Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt will be completing their round robin tomorrow, for now they stand with 2 race wins and 7 loss.
The forecast for tomorrow includes more wind, potentially in the 20+ kn wind range, and more rain too. Two races are scheduled for all fleets, with the exception of the 49ers who will try for three again.
SAIL FOR GOLD STANDINGS- DAY 2
470 (mens)
2nd Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders (9, 4, 1, 1)
470 (womens)
4th Jo Aleh and Olivia (Polly) Powrie (5,15, 3, 8)
49er
11th Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski (7, 6, 1, 7, 9, 10)
19th Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (3, 10, 14, 10, 7, 8)
Finn
12th Josh Junior (10,19, 11, 23)
28th Matt Coutts (11,34, 32, 31)
38th Rob Coutts (19, 40, 39, 38)
Laser
8th Andrew Murdoch (15, 2, 10, 5)
13th Andy Maloney (15, 8, 17, 4)
19th Sam Meech (11, 17, 20, 8)
Laser Radial
54th Sara Winther (19, 26, BFD, 19)
RS:X (mens)
11th JP Tobin (19, 6,14,9)
RS:X (womens)
11th Natalia Kosinska (9, 10, 14, 17)
26th Steffanie Williams (25, 31, 21, 16)
Star
10th Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner (8, 7,12, 11)
Womens Match Racing
2 Win, 7 loss- Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen, Susannah Pyatt
