Day three of the London 2012 Olympic Sailing competition was as tricky as could be with the full works of weather conditions experienced and the Kiwis made gains.
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, sailing the 49er high performance skiff, opened the day with a race win, clocking boat speeds of up to 20kn downwind.
The breeze built a lot in the first race and we were a little bit over powered but the whole fleet was said Peter after racing.
Amongst the chaos of wind, waves and tide, Peter and Blair followed up with a seventh place finish in the next race, and sit second overall after the first four races.
Were pretty happy and still have a few things we want to iron out for later on in the regatta he continued.
JP Tobin opened his first Olympic regatta with a fifteenth and a fourth place finish in his two races, so currently sits ninth overall with eight races remaining before the medal round for the top ten competitors.
He commented on his races: In the first one I just got a bit stuck really and just got a bit dictated to by the guys around me so but the second race changed that around and got into the leading group and once youre in there it can be anything top five or so, you just got to get clear in this fleet.
After their fifth race early this afternoon, the Finn and Star classes were able to discard their worst score to date. Dan Slaters fifth race was the one to be dropped, but he followed this up with an 11th, and is still 7th overall with four races remaining before the top ten progress to the double point medal race.
Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner improved their overall standing as they produced two good races (5th and 6th) and are now positioned eighth overall and only three points behind the fourth placed boat.
In the womens match racing, Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt continued with their consistent form, winning their first race and losing their second race against the only yet undefeated Australian team. At the half way mark of the round robin, they are ranked 6th equal.
Tomorrow (August 1st) will be the first day of racing for Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders in the Mens 470, and a rest day for the Finn and Star. The Womens Match Racing continue with two more round robin matches, while the 49er, RS:X Men, Laser and Laser Radial have two more races each .
Standings- Day 3- July 31st 2012
2nd - Peter Burling & Blair Tuke (49er) 9, 7, 1, 7
7th - Dan Slater (Finn) - 7, 12, 1, 6, 17, 11
8th - Hamish Pepper & Jim Turner (Star) - 15, 7, 1, 13, 6, 5
13th - Andrew Murdoch (Laser) - 12, 8, 17, 18
9th - JP Tobin (RS:X)- 15, 4
23rd - Sara Winther (Laser Radial)- 31, 23, 21, 15
6th = Womens Match Racing- Round Robin: Three win, Three loss
