‘Happy’ Meech grabs silver

Sam Meech took silver in the Laser European sailing championships in La Rochelle.

The 27-year-old New Zealander grabbed bronze at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma and silver in the World Cup in Hyeres in the past few weeks, before adding another silver at the European championships.

Meech was third heading into the final day in La Rochelle but moved up a spot after finishing fifth in his first race of the day.

Matt Wearn, of Australia, took gold, with the final race of the meet cancelled due to time constraints.

‘‘I’m really happy with how the season is going so far,’’ Meech said.

‘‘I feel like I’m sailing well. I’m just making a few mistakes in each regatta that the person in front of me each time didn’t.

‘‘I just want to be in with a chance [of winning] going into the last race, so I’m confident with my speed and tactics. It’s just performing consistently that’s tricky.’’

Meech started the week well, winning four of his six qualifying races and added another race win on the first day of gold fleet.

But 15th and 17th place finishes in two of the races, as Wearn continued to bank low scores, meant the Australian pulled away heading into the final day.

‘‘We had a reasonable breeze by the time we got started and I managed to get a good start and be up there all the way around which was nice,’’ Meech said.

‘‘Unfortunately Matt Wearn won the race which put him a few more points in front so it was going to make it tricky [to catch him].

‘‘Then we had a few general recalls [as we tried to start the final race] and just ran out of time with the 5pm cutoff.’’

Meech now returns to New Zealand to prepare for the world championships in Denmark in August.