Junior back for Finn, Cup
There’s something about the month of June that leads Josh Junior to success. In 2017, he was part of the America’s Cup-winning Team New Zealand crew. A year on, he claimed his first regatta win since stepping back into the Finn in preparation for an Olympics Games bid.
Junior claimed gold in the Finn class at Kiel Week in Germany on Monday, beating fellow Kiwi and Team New Zealand team-mate Andy Maloney, who was fourth.
The 28-year-old Junior, who was a cyclor for Team New Zealand, said it was nice to get that first win heading into the world championships in Denmark next month after putting a lot of time into regaining his form in the dinghy.
“I’ve been working away hard over the past six months to try to get back into the boat to get used to it again, and learn to race against 80 different boats instead of pedalling on a bike. It’s quite different to the America’s Cup but it’s certainly a good challenge and something I enjoy,” Junior said.
Positive results at this year’s world championships will be the first step to securing an Olympic Games berth, with the top eight nations in the regatta qualifying for Tokyo in 2020. The New Zealand contingent look to be in a solid position heading to the event, with plenty of Kiwi sailors securing recent podium finishes.
“Each time we go out to a regatta, we keep seeing improvement,” Junior said.
And while Junior and Maloney can both secure a spot for New Zealand, only one can represent the country at the Games.
The pair will be in for a busy few years, having signed for Team New Zealand’s defence of the America’s Cup in Auckland in 2021. After next month’s regatta, they’ll step back into America’s Cup mode once more as Team NZ continue to develop their vessel.
“We switch back a little bit to the America’s Cup and trying to manage sailing the
America’s Cup boats and testing that, and also doing the Olympic campaign. It is going to work, it’s just about balancing it right,” Junior said of committing to both Olympic and America’s Cup campaigns.
“You don’t want to let either programme down. You want to do your best in both and just set up a plan that makes that work.
“It’s going to be challenging but it’s certainly something we’re pretty excited to do, and something we really want to do. We’ll make it work.” The initial entry period for America’s Cup challengers closes this weekend, with Luna Rossa, INEOS Team UK and the New York Yacht Club having entered, while Team France also look a likely challenger, confirming their intent to take part in the 2021 regatta late last year.
Late entries will be taken until November 30.