The celebrated pairing of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in the men’s 470 led the way for New Zealand in the Olympic sailing today.
Burling and Tuke, gold medallists in Rio in 2016, registered placings of 12th and 2nd in their two outings today and after six races now find themselves in fourth place overall in the fleet of 19.
“We had contrasting races today,” said Burling. “In the first race we got a good start and were going well, then made a mistake and had to fight hard just to get 12th. In the second race we made a bad start, then did very well to get all the way back to second.”
Tuke said it was a bit frustrating to again leave points on the table, but drew some encouragement from the fact that while they have made some mistakes, they are still there or thereabouts.
Josh Junior in the men’s finn fought hard today and managed 8th and 5th. After six races he has lifted himself into 7th place overall in the fleet of 19.
Junior has a rest day tomorrow and said he was looking forward to the break.
“We’re at the halfway point, with four races and then the medal race to go,” he said. “I need to start sailing well. I don’t feel I’ve been going that well and I’ve struggled at times. I need to sail smarter and up to my potential. I’ll take the break, reset, then attack the second half of the regatta.”
Men’s laser representative Sam Meech had his best showing yet, with 2nd in his first outing of the day, but dropped to 13th in the next race. Meech, a medallist in Rio, is 14th in the fleet of 35 after eight races and has just not been able to find the consistency he needs to press the leaders.
Mica Wilkinson and Erica Dawson in the Nacra placed 11th, 8th and 12th in their three races today and after six races are 12th overall.
The men’s 470 team of Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox recorded two 7th placings and find themselves 5th overall after four races.