Kiwis lose 49er lead after protest by Aussie crew

New Zealanders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke relinquished their overall lead at the 2015 49er European Championships in Portugal after they were disqualified in the second race yesterday.

Three races were sailed by the 49er gold fleet off Porto and while the Kiwis’ results on the water placed them at the top of the standings, they were subsequently relegated to third overall after a successful protest by an Australian crew. Australia’s Nathan Outteridge and Ian Jensen lodged the complaint which was upheld meaning Burling and Tuke scored a DSQ for the second race.

It remains unclear what the complaint was about but it cost the Kiwis dearly.

After a less than impressive 21st in the third and final race, the Kiwis’ points lead evaporated and they are now five points behind Outteridge and Jensen.

‘‘We had a pretty tough day today,’’ said Burling. ‘‘There’s still plenty to play for, and these tough days are going to help us get to the end goal. We will take as many learnings as we can out of today first of all. There’s a lot of little technical tweaks you can do to the boat to make it suit the conditions, and then we’ve just got to go and race around the track slightly quicker than someone else.’’

While Outteridge and Jensen lead with 70 points, they were facing tough competition overnight with five crews within nine points and well in the hunt for the title and the podium.