Olympic sailors set for world champs

Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson are getting used to curveballs been thrown at them at inopportune times in their sailing partnership.

Last year Dawson suffered a broken leg during training only five weeks before the Tokyo Olympics – she recovered in time for the pair to finish 12th – and this time around it was Wilkinson’s turn for misfortune when he came down with Covid on the eve of this week’s Nacra 17 world championships in Canada.

He took himself out of circulation, isolating in a caravan, and had to watch from a distance as their rivals went through their final preparations on Margaret Bay in Nova Scotia.

‘‘We had been saying all season, because Erica and I were fortunate to have not had Covid until we got here, that it would probably hit at the worst time,’’ Wilkinson said. ‘‘Luckily it wasn’t quite the worst time. I was fortunate that it didn’t affect me too badly.

‘‘We have had a bit of adversity but we are both healthy now, the boat is good, the team is good and we are ready to roll.’’

Wilkinson and Dawson are among six New Zealand combinations who will line up at the 49er, 49erfx and Nacra 17 world championships when racing gets under way today.

‘‘We have done some big hours, worked hard. We have some good pace and had some good racing so, as long as we sail well, we should be competitive,’’ Wilkinson said.

The same can be said for Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn as well as Isaac Mchardie and William Mckenzie in the 49er. Both crews have the potential to finish on the podium at their pinnacle event of the year and have showed good speed in practice racing.

There’s been a period of transition in the 49erfx with two new Kiwi combinations in 2022 – Jo Aleh teamed up with Molly Meech, and Alex Maloney partnered with Olivia Hobbs – and both crews will be looking to finish the year strongly with the Paris Olympics less than two years away.