Sunday 7 February 2010

Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland 2010: Day Three - More light airs make for very competitive racing!


Laser Radial – Molly Meech NZL. Supplied image.

by Sara Roberts

More light airs make for very competitive racing!

The race committee worked exceptionally hard on day three of Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland to complete three races for the 29er, 49er, 420 & 470 classes. The laser classes were next to leave the beach and completed an impressive four races to make up for no racing yesterday.

The RS:X boards were the final fleet away for the day and the race committee persevered with the dying breeze and got two races in.

29er
Alexandra Maloney and her crew Sam Bullock, continue to show their skill in the fast double-handed skiff adding yet another first place to their already perfect scorecard. Alexandra is undoubtedly the most experienced in the 29er fleet from competing at both the 29er Worlds and the Youth Worlds last year. With seven races now completed the fleet are able to drop their worst scores this causes the McKenzie brothers Andrew & Sam to move back into third spot and Matthew Spray and Tyler Russell jump back into their day one position of second.


29er – Alexandra Maloney & Sam Bullock. Supplied image.

420
Still leading the 420 fleet is James Turner and his crew Logan Dunning-Beck, representing the Murrays Bay Sailing Club who had a perfect 3 out of 3 scorecard today, showing their skill in the light airs. Still in second place overall is Alex Munro & Luke Stevenson. The mens Malaysian Sailing Team who were third yesterday are pushed back to fifth, after being overtaken by the female Malaysian team helmed by Khairunnissa Mohd Afendy.

49er
Peter Burling was joined by his regular crew Blair Tuke today and it was straight back to business for the dynamic pair adding another 3 wins to their perfect score, keeping Marcus Hansen and Andrew Clarke in second overall.


470 – Jo Aleh & Olivia Powrie NZL. Supplied image.

470
The results have dramatically changed in the 470 fleet as Yachting New Zealand Olympic Squad members Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie had a fantastic day in the light airs adding two wins and one third to their score to lead the fleet. The girls push the Singaporean team helmed by Roy Jun Hao Tay back into second place and Fancisco Lardies & Finn Drummond representing the Glendowie Boating Club appear in the top three for the first time in the series.

2.4m
A great day on the water for the 2.4m fleet with four races completed. Andrew May still leads with a total of 7 points with Josh McKenzie-Brown in second place on 11points overall.


Laser Radial – Tom Saunders NZL leads the fleet. Supplied image.

Laser Radial
Tom Saunders who won the Laser Radial Class National Championships a week ago held in Timaru, still leads the Radial Fleet clear ahead with 12 points overall. In second place overall is Chris Steele on 23points and French sailor Etienne Le Pen on 29points.

Sara Winther still holds the top female spot but is now back in fourth place overall just in front of Molly Meech.


Laser Radial – Sara Winther NZL. Supplied image.

Laser
After no racing yesterday the Laser fleet was well rested and current National Champion, and Olympic Squad member Andrew Murdoch still leads the 21 boat fleet with an impressive two wins and one second today. Chasing hard on his heels are two hard-working under 21 year old sailors Andy Maloney and Sam Meech on 18 and 19 points respectively.

RS:X 9.5
Kiwi Olympic Gold Medalist Tom Ashley and Dutch sailor Dorian Van Rijsselberghe are tied for first place in the RS:X boards with a total of 14 points each. Tom had a great afternoon on the water with a first and second place ahead of Dorian who had two fourth placings. Kiwi JP Tobin is just one point behind them on 15 points overall, making tomorrow morning racing, and then the final Medal race and pressure race for the top three!


RS:X 9.5 – Dorian Van Rijsselberghe NED. Supplied image.

RS:X 8.5
Young French sailor Thomas Goyard still holds onto the lead with 8 points after his second and third placings today. However Kate Ellingham was the Queen of the light airs winning both racers and propelling herself into second overall with 13 points. This pushes Italian sailor Laura Linares into third overall.


RS:X 8.5 – Thomas Goyard FRA. Supplied image.

The final days racing begins at 10am tomorrow (Sunday) with one race scheduled in the morning and then the Medal Race (which is worth double points) is scheduled to being at 1300hrs.

The medal race is for the Olympic Classes plus the men’s Laser Radial fleets.

Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland

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