Lasers against the backdrop of Mallorca on Day 2. Image copyright Jesus Renedo/Princesa Sofia/MAPFRE.
by Jodie Bakewell-White
Racing continued for the Kiwi Olympic class sailors in Spain overnight sailing day two of the ISAF World Cup Regatta with very different conditions to those experienced on day one.
After some postponements a light and shifty 10-15 knot offshore breeze filled in and racing got underway. The change in conditions produced some shuffling across the leader boards.
The performance of the day from the NZL Sailing Team came from Jo Aleh and Bianca Barbarich-Bacher who mastered the light and came away with two guns on day two. This sees them climb from fourth up to second overall lying two points adrift of the Japanese pair in the lead.
New Zealand’s young duo in the Men’s 470 of Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders couldn’t repeat their double gun of day one, but sailed respectably finishing 13th and then fourth in race two. Not enough to retain their early lead the pair are lying fourth overall.
A third and a second on the water saw Dan Slater improve his standing in the Finn event overnight moving up to fifth overall after starting the day in 12th. On 20 points Slater is in easy reach of the two sailors lying third and fourth both sharing 19 points.
The other big mover was wind surfer Tom Ashley who went a long way to right his wrongs of day one returning to shore after adding a sixth and a win in the two races completed.
“As promised, a better day today!” says Tom Ashley. “Much more reasonable conditions, but more importantly I didn't sail like a ‘muppet’ so results were much more respectable”
“First race was sailed in a very shifty 11-15 knot offshore wind. Had a great start, headed to the right and then decided to cross to the left hand side about halfway up the first upwind. Not the best decision in the end as the right came good and all the guys who went that way beat me to the top mark. I rounded about 12th and then caught up as the race went on to finish 6th.”
Lack of wind interrupted the start of race two for the Men’s RS:X fleet, but after a long delay the race started at 4pm local time and Ashley won the race and climbs back into the top ten on the board.
“I got a great start and rounded the top mark first, then got away a bit on the first downwind so the rest of the race was relatively comfortable,” says Ashley. “I'm looking forward to the next few days of racing. Will keep you all posted on progress.”
New Zealand’s five Laser sailors played some leader board snakes and ladders with Andrew Murdoch now the best placed of the kiwis in fifth place. Mike Bullot is also inside the top ten with Andy Maloney and Sam Meech in 13th and 14th respectively.
Racing resumes late evening Wednesday (New Zealand time) with live updates and race news available from the regatta website. Another three days remain; the regatta finishes in Spain on Friday April 8th.
New Zealand’s current standings after day two
Men’s RS:X (59 entries)
9th Tom Ashley
Laser Radial (69 entries)
17th Sara Winther
Women’s 470 (40 entries)
2nd Jo Aleh and Bianca Barbarich-Bacher
Men’s 470 (74 entries)
4th Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders
Finn (66 entries)
5th Dan Slater
29th Matt Coutts
Women’s RS:X (33 entries)
25th Stephanie Williams
Laser (121 entries)
5th Andrew Murdoch
10th Mike Bullot
13th Andy Maloney
14th Sam Meech
57th Josh Junior
Women’s Match Racing
Koru Match: Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt (Group C: 4 wins/3 losses)
Coaches Mark Howard, Mark Orams, Nathan Handley, Hamish Wilcox and Dave Robertson are supporting the New Zealand sailors at Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia MAPFRE Regatta.
Yachting New Zealand
Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE
