Kiwis at Kiel Regatta

Kiel Regatta in Germany got underway last night for the Olympic class events with the women’s match racing set to start tonight. Sailors were greeted by a fine day and a 12 knot onshore breeze.

For Andrew Murdoch and Jo Aleh this is the final regatta in their lead-up to the Olympic Games in the Laser and Laser Radial events. Four members of the NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team are also competing at Kiel in preparation for the ISAF Youth World Championships in Denmark in two weeks.

Andrew Murdoch made an excellent start to the qualifying rounds with a win and a 2nd in the two races sailed overnight. With a massive 154 boats competing, the Laser class is split into three fleets for the initial rounds to decide gold, silver and bronze fleets for finals.

Murdoch’s start puts him on equal points with Tom Slingsby of Australia, with Gustavo Lima of Portugal out in front having scored two bullets on day one.

Josh Junior of Wellington is the second best placed kiwi in the Laser fleet back in 18th after day one, while Youth Team representative Sam Meech is sitting mid fleet in 81st in this top international open group.

470 pair Geoff Woolley and Mark Overington kicked off the regatta with a win in their first race, following that up with a 6th place in race two to hold 3rd overall in the Men’s 470 fleet. It’s a decent sized fleet of 54 boats, though some of the top named 470 sailors are not competing in Kiel. Tobia Etter and Felix Steiger of Switzerland hold the lead.

Over in the Laser Radial fleet Jo Aleh is lying 12th after day one with a 4th and a 9th on day one of the regatta. Youth Team sailor Cushla Hume-Merry is in 24th place in the fleet of 83 boats.

Racing continues tonight for the Olympic classes and gets underway for the women’s match racing – a new addition to the Kiel event in 2008. Racing concludes on Sunday 29th June.

Full results are available as they come to hand on the regatta website through the link below.

Laser
Andrew Murdoch – 2nd =
Josh Junior – 18th
Matt Coutts – 50th
Max Andrews – 73rd
Sam Meech – 81st

Men’s 470
Geoff Woolley & Mark Overington – 3rd

Laser Radial
Jo Aleh – 12th
Cushla Hume-Merry – 24th

Men’s RS:X Windsurfing
Antonio Cozzolino – 18th
Josh Nixon – 20th

Women’s RS:X Windsurfing – no results available at the time of writing

[ Kiel Regatta ]