NZ sailors make their move

With the Olympic sailing contests approaching the business end, several New Zealand teams moved towards medal positions today.

The men’s 49er team of Blair Tuke and Peter Burling, gold medallists in Rio, had three good races today, finishing 3rd, 6th and 2nd. Their efforts lifted them to near the top of the overall points table, on the same points as Britons Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell, who have the lead.

Both teams have 34 points, with their worst performance discarded. There are three races plus the medal race remaining.

Burling said they were happy to get through the day with three low scores. “The boat is going well and we’re right in the hunt now.”

Tuke said he felt they had been having to fight hard throughout the regatta and had made some errors. “That’s been keeping us out of the front group. We’ve dropped points we shouldn’t have, but we’re  more satisfied now. We just want three more low ones tomorrow.”

In the men’s 470, Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox finished 5th and 7th in their two races and finished the day in third place overall with four races plus the medal race remaining.

“It was a good day for us,” said Willcox. “We kept the boat moving well. It’s just a matter of keeping our noses clear and staying in touch with the medals.”

Sam Meech had a topsy-turvy day in the laser contest. Needing two big performances he could manage just 11th in his first race, but bounced back really well to finish 3rd when he got back on the water. The results leave Meech in eight position in the fleet of 35 with just the medal race remaining.

Alex Maloney and Molly Meech, medallists in Rio in the women’s 49er, were busy today and placed 8th, 3rd and 19th. Until the final race they were climbing back up the standings, but now with three races plus the medal race to come, they are in 11th position overall.