Fickle winds off Marseille caused some frustration today for New Zealand’s sailors, especially for those whose events were reaching the business end.
The men’s and women’s windsurfers managed to get on to the water and complete their round of 13 races, both with satisfactory results.
Josh Armit had finishes of 3, 3, 11 today and finished in third place with 66 points, just behind Australian Grae Morris (60) and Israel’s Tom Reuveny (63). Armit was level with Poland’s Pawel Tarnowski, but was placed third because he won one race. It was a tight regatta and the Netherlands and Italy were close behind.
The wind surfing rules now dictate that the first place finisher (Morris) advances directly to the final. Positions 2 and 3 (Reuveny and Amit) advance to the semi-finals. Boats 4-10 race off in the quarter-finals.
In the women’s windsurfing, run under the same rules, New Zealand’s Veerle Ten Have had finishes of 2, 16 and 13 and breathed a sigh of relief when told she’d finished eighth. “Those last two results were not good and I was worried I might drop out of the top 10 and miss the quarter-finals,” she said. “It was a relief to hear I was through.”
The men’s skiff (49er) team of Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie, with a medal firmly in their sights, were eagerly looking forward to their double points final race today, but though the race was started twice, it had to be abandoned each time when the wind died away. It turned out to be a long, hot day in a boiling sun for the 49ers, without the satisfaction of actually completing a race. They’ll come back and do the business tomorrow.
So will Jo Aleh and Molly Meech in the women’s skiff (49er). Their late surge in form lifted them to seventh, with the top 10 able to compete in the double points race.
The women did not get on the water at all, but had to wait all day just in case.
The dinghy racing got under way today.
In the men’s competition, New Zealand’s Tom Saunders recorded placings of 11 and 17 and is 12th at this point in a field of 43.
Greta Pilkington, the New Zealand women’s dinghy representative, finished 21st in a field of 43 in the only race sailed.