NZL Lasers lead Hyeres fleet

After the second day of racing at the 2012 Semaine Olympique Francaise Regatta, the NZL Sailing Team’s top Laser Sailors are showing their class at the front of the fleet.

It was a long day on the water for the sailors, needing to catch up on missed races from yesterday’s windy start to the regatta.

Andy Maloney is leading the competitive as always Laser fleet after these first four races, with two race wins under his belt he sits just one point ahead of reigning World Champion Tom Slingsby.

Andrew Murdoch is only one point further behind of that in fourth place after winning the first race of today. The top seven boats are just five points apart, and Sam Meech currently sits in seventh place, not by any means out of striking distance of the top few.

In the Finn class, Dan Slater is on pace and is currently in third place overall. His win in the first race of today helped his case, as he now has a five point buffer on top of Australia’s Brendan Casey in fourth.

The 49ers had to make up on lost ground from yesterday’s lost races due to extreme winds, and sailed four races today. Peter Burling and Blair Tuke came roaring out of the gates to winning the first race, however dropped down the pack in overall standings from just one bad race at the end of the day.

Natalia Kosinska in the Women’s RS:X sailed all four of her races to finish in the top 10, and currently sits 8th overall. 

Tomorrow after one more race the Finn, Lasers, 49er and RS:X will drop their worst score, and this may see the NZL Sailing Team progress up the leader board. 

The Women’s Match Racing Crew of Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt are half way through the first round robin, today sailing seven matches. They and Lucy Macgregor (GBR) are both carrying a one point penalty for being involved in a collision that caused damage during Flight 11 Match 2 today. There are still eight matches remaining for this crew to catch up.

The Semaine Olympique Francaise, or simply Hyères as it is commonly known, is one of the major regattas in the International Olympic Sailing Circuit and is the fourth of seven regattas in the 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup series.

Racing started in France on Sunday April 22nd, and runs for six days with medal races and prize-giving planned for Friday April 27th.

New Zealand’s top crews in the Mens and Womens 470, Laser Radial and Star are not competing at this event. All of these crews will be racing at their class World Championships in May.

Further updates on the NZL Sailing Team will be available via media releases and on the NZL Sailing Team’sFacebook Page, twitter @NZLSailingTeam and Website.

Full results and Hyères regatta news is available on the regatta website.

2012 Semaine Olympique Francaise /  Hyeres
New Zealand’s Standings after Day 2

Laser (106 entries)
1st- Andy Maloney- 7 pts
4th – Andrew Murdoch- 9 pts
7th Sam Meech- 12 pts
30th Thomas Saunders- 52 pts
94th Michael Cate- 118 pts

49er (56 entries)
11th Peter Burling and Blair Tuke- 31 pts
31st- Josh Porebski / Marcus Hansen- 66pts

RS:X Women (40 entries)
8th Natalia Kosinska- 35 pts

Finn (41 entreis)
3rd Dan Slater- 18 pts
14th Matt Coutts- 75 pts

Women’s Match Racing (17 entries)
2 wins, 5 loss. Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen, Susannah Pyatt

These sailors are supported by a coaching team of Jez Fanstone, Mark Howard, Phil Douglas and Caroline Brisebois