The massive turnaround in fortunes of Jo Aleh and Molly Meech in the women’s skiff (49erFX) class was the talking point in the New Zealand sailing camp.
Aleh and Meech have not had huge success yet together as a 49er team but both are vastly experienced and showed it on the third day of Paris Olympics sailing in Marseille on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ Time).
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But on the first two days of this Olympic competition, sailed in extremely light winds, they recorded placings of 15th, 17th, 20th, ninth, 17th and eighth in a field of 20, leaving them 19th overall.
But in much stronger winds on day three, the two New Zealanders were outstanding and recorded finishes of third, second and first to lift themselves from the tail of the field into eighth, bringing a medal within reach.
“It was special to go across the line first,” said Meech, who has an Olympic silver medal. “We’ve worked hard and sacrificed a lot to get here. After those first couple of days we wanted to pick ourselves up and make ourselves and New Zealand proud and we did that, so that’s pretty cool.”
Aleh, an Olympic gold and silver medallist, said they enjoyed the heavy conditions far more.
“We like to stretch our legs. We think we can get good boat speed and we felt much better out there today.”
The New Zealand men’s skiff (49er) team of Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie, by contrast, had a forgettable day, after lighting up the event over the first two days.
Going into day three, they held a clear lead over Ireland and Spain, but things turned around when the New Zealanders placed 11th, 18th and 16th in the windier conditions.
They relinquished their lead in the contest and are now in a dogfight for the medals. Spain lead with 35 points from Ireland (46) and New Zealand (49). Britain (56) and Poland (58) are also within challenging distance.
In the men’s windsurfing, Josh Armit had a mixed time of it with placings of 18th, first, 14th, eighth and a DQ. After six races, he lies in 10th position in the field of 24 and with serious work to do to get back into medal contention.
Veerle ten Have has been having a tough time in the women’s windsurfing and recorded finishes of 16th, eighth, 18th, fifth and 12th on day three, which means that after seven races she sits in 16th.
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