Dynamic duo claims podium, Olympic spot
‘‘We lost a couple more points so they had a big enough lead so we couldn’t get to him. For the rest of the day we just had to focus on holding the French back to secure the silver.’’
Another medal and another crew qualifying for the Olympics were highlights of a successful weekend for the New Zealand sailing team in Europe.
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke yesterday won silver at the 49er world championship off Zadar, Croatia, as their Olympic medal stocks continued to rise.
A day earlier, Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner finished seventh at the Star world championships in France, securing New Zealand’s qualification in the two-man keelboat class for the Olympics.
Their addition to the Olympic team is now a matter of when, not if, given their string of top-10 results in major regattas this year, and could come as early as this week.
Burling, 21, and Tuke, 22, entered the final two gold fleet races and the doublepoint medal race in second spot and that’s where they stayed, unable to make up the required ground to catch the crack Australian crew of Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, who defended their world title won in Perth last year.
As was the case in Perth, Burling and Tuke were second to their trans-tasman rivals, finishing with a comfortable 15-point margin over the bronze medallists from Denmark, Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang.
Winds were shifty and results streaky on the final day, but the Kiwis did enough to ensure their super consistent week in the 74-strong skiff fleet was duly rewarded.
‘‘We started with nine points to catch up on [Outteridge], but we tried a few things in the first race that didn’t quite work out,’’ Burling said.
‘‘We lost a couple more points so they had a big enough lead so we couldn’t get to him. For the rest of the day we just had to focus on holding the French back to secure the silver.’’
Outteridge became the first man to win four 49er world titles – Volvo Ocean Race skippers Chris Nicholson (Camper) and Iker Martinez (Telefonica) have both won three – as he and Jensen confirmed their status alongside Martinez as gold medal favourites for London, though the Burling and Tuke are not far behind.
It was also a top week for 19-year-old Kiwis Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski, who made their first gold fleet at a major regatta and finished sixth overall, winning yesterday’s medal race. They were 32nd at last year’s world championships.
New Zealand’s Olympic-bound 470 crews – Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie, and Paul Snow-hansen and Jason Saunders – were to begin their world championships in Barcelona overnight.
Dan Slater is also in action at the Finn world championships in Falmouth, England, where he’ll be looking to secure a spot on the Olympic team with a good week.