Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams, New Zealand's Star representatives in Qingdao. Image copyright Juerg Kaufmann, Go4Image
SailRaceWin is grateful to Juerg Kaufmann and Go4Image for exclusive provision of images of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Regatta.
by Jodie Bakewell-White
New Zealand sailors in four classes were on the water off Qingdao today returning some solid results despite the extremely light air conditions.
Just one race was sailed in the Laser Radials, Jo Aleh continuing with her great form from yesterday returning another 2nd place in today’s race. Now at the halfway point, the Laser Radial sailors discard their worst score, working in favour of Aleh who moves up into the lead spot.
Star class sailors Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams sailed two races today adding a 9th and a 2nd to their scorecard which improves their overall standing. The pair lie 2nd overall in the fleet of 16 boats, now three races into their ten race opening series.
It was young 470 skipper, Carl Evans', birthday today and the day produced a mixed bag for the boys who got a win on the water in race nine, only to later miss out on the top ten medal race cut. At the conclusion of race ten the boys finished an agonizingly narrow two points off the crew ahead of them who scraped into the medal race.
Wind was light and shifty across all five courses today and racing was long and slow. On course A the Finn class sailed into the last leg of their medal race only to see the race abandoned as the wind dropped away to nothing and the tidal current of Qingdao meant sailors were all but going backwards.
Tom Ashley and Barbara Kendall didn’t sail today.
New Zealand’s Standings Summary
1st - Jo Aleh, Laser Radial (after 5 races)
2nd - Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams, Star (after 3 races)
4th - Tom Ashley, Men’s RS:X (after 5 races)
6th - Barbara Kendall, Women’s RS:X (after 5 races)
13th - Andrew Murdoch, Laser (after 5 races)
11th - Carl Evans & Peter Burling, Men’s 470 (Final result - after 10 races)
12th Dan Slater, Finn (Final result)
STAR
It was day two for the Star class who endured two long races today both around 80 minutes in length the wind strength marginal in both.
In race two of the series the kiwi sailors, Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams were 9th to finish, bouncing back with a 2nd place in the second race of the day. Now three races into the ten race series, Pepper and Williams lie in 2nd place.
John Dane of the USA moved into the lead today just two points clear of the New Zealand crew just behind. Overnight leader Fredrik Loof (SWE) didn’t fare so well on the water today and has slipped to 7th overall after a 4th and a 15th.
See Carl Williams' blog for his report of the day's racing.
Star top five (provisional) after 3 races
1st USA John Dane & Austin Sperry - 14 points
2nd NZL Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams - 15 points
3rd POR Afonso Domingos & Bernardo Santos - 16 points
4th GER Marc Pickel & Ingo Borkowski - 17 points
5th FRA Xavier Rohart & Pascal Rambeau - 18 points
LASER RADIAL
Jo Aleh racked up another top result in Laser Radial race five. In the very light wind conditions in Qingdao just one race was completed despite best efforts to get race six underway and concluded it never eventuated.
In a race that played out for the Kiwi in similar fashion to yesterday’s race four, Aleh was 7th around mark one, but gained ground as the race progressed to finish 2nd. After this race the discard came into play for the Radial sailors, and Aleh, now able to drop the 22nd from race one, climbs up to lead the Laser Radials at the halfway point in their opening series.
Aleh has 10 points with Lithuanian sailor, Volungeviciute, who won today’s race, close behind in the overall standings on 13 points. Overnight leader Anna Tunnicliffe of the USA remains consistent returning a 6th place in today’s race, but has slipped to third place overall with the introduction of the discard lifting Aleh and Volungeviciute.
Click here for Jo Aleh's own view of the racing.
Laser Radial top five (provisional) after 5 races
1st NZL Jo Aleh - 10 points
2nd LTU Gintare Volungeviciute - 13 points
3rd USA Anna Tunnicliffe - 20 points
4th CHN Lijia Xu - 24 points
5th CRO Mateja Petronijevic - 26 points
LASER
Following on the same course area as the Radial’s Andrew Murdoch wasn’t able to emulate his team-mate Aleh’s performance. A 24th place in race five for the Lasers puts Murdoch in 13th place overall with some work to do in the remaining half of the opening series to climb the standings.
Laser top five (provisional) after races
1st ITA Diego Romero - 24 points
2nd SWE Rasmus Myrgren - 25 points
3rd SLO Vasilij Zbogar - 26 points
4th GBR Paul Goodison - 27 points
5th FRA Jean Baptiste Bernaz - 28 points
13th NZL Andrew Murdoch - 51 points
MEN’S 470
Carl Evans and Peter Burling have narrowly missed out on the Men’s 470 medal race finishing in 11th overall just two points behind the Japanese crew in 10th place. In an action packed day for New Zealand’s youngest ever Olympic sailors, the boys sailed three races even winning one of them.
The race win for the Kiwi boys came in race nine of the series for the men’s 470 and will serve as somewhat of a consolation birthday present for skipper Evans, who turns 18 today, despite missing out on the top ten medal race cut.
In their other two races sailed today the boys were 12th and 7th – their final result for the Games will be 11th place – impressive for their age and the experience and talent of the 28 boat fleet they compete in.
The top ten placed sailors will sail their medal race on Monday 18th. Australians Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page appear to have an unassailable leading margin on their nearest competitors – with a 22 point buffer the gold medal is almost assured.
Men’s 470 (provisional) top five after 10 races
1st AUS Nathan Wilmot & Malcolm Page - 42 points
2nd NED Sven Coster & Kalle Coster - 64 points
3rd FRA Nicolas Charbonnier & Olivier Bausset - 66 points
4th GBR Nick Rogers & Joe Glanfield - 69 points
5th ESP Onan Barreiros & Aaron Sarmiento - 79 points
11th NZL Carl Evans & Peter Burling - 95 points
MEN’S RS:X
No races were sailed today in the Men’s RS:X. Sharing course area B with the 49er class the windsurfers were scheduled to start at 2pm, however the 49er races dragged on and the boards didn’t get started.
Tomorrow’s schedule has three races planned for the Men’s RS:X with a midday start to competition.
Men’s RS:X (provisional) top five results after five races
1st ISR Shahar Zubari - 8 points
2nd HKG King Yin Chan - 14 points
3rd GBR Nick Dempsey - 15 points
4th NZL Tom Ashley - 17 points
5th FRA Julien Bontemps - 20 points
WOMEN’S RS:X
No races were sailed today in the Women’s RS:X. Sharing course area B with the 49er class the windsurfers were scheduled to start at 2pm, however the 49er races dragged on and the boards didn’t get started.
Tomorrow’s schedule has three races planned for the Women’s RS:X with a midday start to competition.
Women’s RS:X top six results after five races
1st CHN Jian Yin - 6 points
2nd AUS Jessica Crisp - 10 points
3rd ESP Marina Alabau - 15 points
4th ITA Alessandra Sensini - 16 points
5th GBR Bryony Shaw - 24 points
6th NZL Barbara Kendall - 25 points
ISAF Olympic website results Clicking on a race gives more information on weather, course and mark rounding positions.
Sunday racing for the Kiwi team
Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams – Star
Current position: 3rd (after three races)
3 races – Races 4, 5 & 6
Start time: 1200
Course area E
Andrew Murdoch – Laser
Current position: 13th (after five races)
3 races – Races 6, 7 & 8
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area C
Jo Aleh – Laser Radial
Current position: 1st (after five races)
3 races – Races 6, 7 & 8
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area C
Tom Ashley – Men’s RS:X
Current position: 4th (after five races)
3 races – Races 6, 7 & 8
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area B
Barbara Kendall – Women’s RS:X
Current position: 6th (after five races)
3 races – Races 6, 7 & 8
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area B
Yachting New Zealand
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