by Jodie Bakewell-White
A strong contingent of New Zealand’s Olympic class sailors are in Palma de Mallorca, Spain for the third of seven regattas which make up the prestigious ISAF Sailing World Cup.
Racing starts on Sunday April 3rd (in the Elliott 6 metre) and Monday April 4th (in all other classes) at the Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia MAPFRE Regatta with the medal winners set to be decided on April 8th.
Organisers are expecting fierce competition with a whopping 710 entries from 53 nations and many of the world’s best sailors back to defend their titles.
Twelve individuals or teams from New Zealand are on the entry list most of whom are NZL Sailing Team members – our nation’s best.
New Zealand’s hot five in the Laser – Andrew Murdoch, Mike Bullot, Andy Maloney, Sam Meech and Josh Junior – are all set to start in the men’s single-handed dinghy with over 130 entries. Sara Winther is the sole kiwi entry in the Radial division.
Olympic golden guy Tom Ashley opens his European season in Palma and will be New Zealand’s only board sailor at this regatta.
There’s one entry from New Zealand in both the Men’s and Women’s 470 fleets – Jo Aleh will sail with Bianca Barbarich-Bacher (standing in for Polly Powrie), and Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders line up in the Men’s fleet.
Dan Slater will sail in the Finn, and New Zealand’s Koru Match - Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt – are set to compete in the Women’s Match Racing.
The Women's Match Racing competition will start on Sunday, one day ahead of the other classes, scheduled to commence on Monday in Spain.
New Zealand Entries
Tom Ashley (Men’s RS:X)
Sara Winther (Laser Radial)
Jo Aleh and Bianca Barbarich-Bacher (Women’s 470)
Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders (Men’s 470)
Dan Slater (Finn)
Matt Coutts (Finn)
Mike Bullot (Laser)
Andy Maloney (Laser)
Josh Junior (Laser)
Andrew Murdoch (Laser)
Sam Meech (Laser)
Koru Match: Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt (Women’s Match Racing)
Coaches Mark Howard, Mark Orams, Nathan Handley, Hamish Wilcox and Dave Robertson will support the New Zealand sailors at Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia MAPFRE Regatta.
Yachting New Zealand
Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE
