Jo Aleh and Olivia (Polly) Powrie have finished fourth at the 470 World Championships which ended overnight in Barcelona, Spain.
The pair of Aucklanders went into the final double point medal race for the top ten competitors ranked third with only one point separating them from the lead boat. A seventh place finish in that race brought them 14 points, and as such the championship was given for the first time to a British team, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clarke.
In the previous two world championships the girls medalled a silver and bronze, and this fourth place finish validates that they still belong at the front of the pack. In thirteen races at the 2012 World Championship they only had two races where they finished outside the top ten. Last years World Champions from Spain finished 17th.
In the 470 Mens event, Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders took part in one final gold fleet race (for those not in the medal race) and finished second. With this clean finish to their regatta, they moved up one more position to 21st overall.
Sara Winther also moved upward after two more races at the Laser Radial World Championships in Germany, now placed 30th as they head in to the last two races of the regatta tomorrow. At this event, the Laser Radials will not sail a medal race.
Jo Aleh with Olivia Powrie, Paul Snow Hansen with Jason Saunders and Sara Winther will all be representing New Zealand at the 2012 Olympic Games ten weeks from now. New Zealand has qualified a nations spot for the Finn but a selection decision has not yet been confirmed.
May 20th final standings
470 Womens World Championship
54 boats, after 13 races
4th- Jo Aleh & Olivia (Polly) Powrie
470 Mens World Championship
95 boats, after 13 races
21st - Paul Snow Hansen & Jason Saunders
May 20th current standings
Laser Radial World Championship
133 boats, 10 races
30th - Sara Winther
The RS:X World Championships were sailed in March, and JP Tobin came away with a Bronze medal, setting the bar high for the team to follow. Andy Maloney grabbed up a bronze medal at the Laser World Championships which finished on May 10th. One day later, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke finished the 49er World Championships with a silver medal.
