Kiel Regatta concludes
The ISAF Grade One Kiel Regatta concluded Sunday night in Germany with three kiwis making the medal races and finishing inside the top seven in their fleets.
Kate Ellingham in the women’s RS:X and Men’s 470 pair Geoff Woolley and Mark Overington both finished 5th, while Andrew Murdoch was 7th in the Laser.
Woolley and Overington sailed with consistency in the 54 strong men’s 470 fleet, their scorecard highlighted with one win and two 2nd places in the 11 race series. They finished one point adrift of 4th place and just two points back from a podium spot making the most of the opportunity for a top result while some of those who are Olympic bound chose to sit this one out.
Similarly in the Women’s RS:X, New Zealander Kate Ellingham recorded her career best grade one result easily making the medal race and finishing 5th overall in the fleet of 41 windsurfers.
Andrew Murdoch was in top form over the first half of the regatta with three bullets on the board after four races sailed for the 156 strong Laser fleet. His overall position suffered however with a couple of poorer performances and despite crossing the line 3rd in the medal race his overall position was 7th.
In the Laser Radial class Jo Aleh penalised with two black flags during the course of the event meant she dipped out of the top ten in the fleet and missed the cut for the medal race and finished in 12th place. With a win, a 2nd and a couple of 4th placings on the water at this event, Olympic representative Aleh can take some positives from her performance in Germany.
For the first time ever women’s match-racing was included in the schedule at Kiel Week with a New Zealand team led by Samantha Osborne taking up one of the ten spots on offer. Final results of the match-racing are unavailable on the regatta website at the time of writing though the kiwis had four wins from nine races in the round robin.
Both Aleh and Murdoch are now heading to Qingdao, China for a training stint at the Olympic venue.
NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team sailors who competed at Kiel, Josh Nixon, Jazmine Lynch, Sam Meech and Cushla Hume-Merry are counting down to the start of the ISAF Youth World Championships in Arhus, Denmark. Racing kicks off on Saturday, 12th July.
For full results visit the regatta website through the link below.
Laser
Andrew Murdoch – 7th
Josh Junior – 31st
Max Andrews – 45th
Matt Coutts – 47th
Sam Meech – 69th
Men’s 470
Geoff Woolley & Mark Overington – 5th
Laser Radial
Jo Aleh – 12th
Cushla Hume-Merry – 42nd
Men’s RS:X Windsurfing
Antonio Cozzolino – 11th
Josh Nixon – 20th
Women’s RS:X Windsurfing
Kate Ellingham – 5th
Jazmine Lynch – 26th
Women’s Match racing (10 crews)
Sam Osborne & crew - final results unavailable