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NZL Sailing Team: Pre-Olympics - Kiwi 49er crew tops leaderboard after Day 4

by Eduan Roos/Yachting New Zealand 13 Jul 2023 11:47 NZST 13 July 2023
Isaac McHardie/William McKenzie (NZL) - 49er - Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Test Event, Marseille, France. July 12, 2023 © Vincent Curutchet / World Sailing

It didn’t take long for Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie to go from being in the hunt for medals at the Olympic test event to having a target on their backs.

The young 49er duo moved into the gold-medal position halfway through fleet racing in Marseille overnight but had to dig deep after an early setback.

A 20th place in the penultimate race threatened to derail their campaign, but McHardie and McKenzie fought back with a win to round out day four in the picturesque French city.

“It was another extremely tricky day and in the second race. We were deep in the trenches, and we couldn't really dig ourselves out, which was unfortunate,” McHardie said.

“It meant a pretty high score, but we managed to come together as a team and sort of figure the racetrack out and come into the next race guns blazing. We worked bloody hard to win that last one.”

McHardie and McKenzie have enjoyed a rich vein of form since claiming bronze at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Spain in April but with the Swiss and Croatian crews breathing down their necks in Marseille, there's plenty to do before any thoughts of another podium.

“Obviously, we’re pretty happy with how the day went and we're stoked to be sitting on top but there’s two more days of fleet racing, and it’s all to play for,” McHardie said.

While they are the sole Kiwi crew atop the leaderboard, McHardie and McKenzie aren’t the only ones firmly in medal contention.

Nacra 17 pair Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson have moved into third overall, following two top-three results bookending an 11th.

They are tied on 18 points with second-placed Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer of Germany and are only six points behind Italian leaders Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei.

“Today was another good day. It was really tricky so we're pretty happy to get two out of three good races,” Dawson said.

“It was very patchy on the water, so it was all about linking the pressure and I think we did an OK job of that.”

Wilkinson and Dawson are also pleased with the improvement they’ve shown since their 10th place at the World Cup in Hyères in May.

“Hyères exposed a bit of a weakness in the light air for us and it's something we've been working on a lot recently,” Dawson said. “We're happy to see today that we have made gains in our light-wind technique.”

The fickle breeze was also top of mind for New Zealand’s two windfoilers – with Veerle ten Have and Josh Armit managing only one race.

While Armit started his ascent up the men’s leaderboard with a second place to take him to 14th overall, ten Have battled to just get on the foils.

“Today was definitely more floating than foiling. It was a long day of waiting, about five hours ashore, and when we were sent out it was pretty light - maybe five to seven knots,” ten Have said.

“Only about six girls got foiling off the start, and I got a DNF (did not finish) because I timed out in that race.

“It’s all part of learning though and, luckily, we only had one race in that light stuff.”

Ten Have remains third overall, one point adrift of China’s Xianting Huang in second.

Justina Kitchen is also on track for a spot in the medal series. She is ninth overall in the women’s kitefoil after finishing with a fifth place last night.

Lukas Walton-Keim climbed one spot to 15th in the men’s event.

Elsewhere, Jo Aleh and Molly Meech had a tough day in the 49er FX with scores of 12, 20 and 18 to sit 18th in the 49er FX standings.

Conditions are expected to improve tomorrow, in time for the return to action of George Gautrey (sixth) and Olivia Christie (24th) in the ILCA 7 and ILCA 6 competitions, following a rest day.

According to Yachting New Zealand’s high performance director Ian Stewart, the test event is proving invaluable as preparation for next year’s Olympic Games which will be sailed at the same venue.

“Racing conditions certainly have been testing but that's what we're here for. It does give us a decent look at what next year will provide,” Stewart said.

“It is also encouraging to see our sailors win a few races and put themselves in the hunt. Plenty of performance gaps have also been identified, but again, that makes it exciting and there is lots of room to move.”

Results and standings from Day 4 of the Olympic test event in Marseille:

49er (29 boats) 1st: Isaac McHardie/William McKenzie (NZ) 14 4 3 5 20 1 - 27 points 2nd: Sebastien Schneiter/Arno De Planta (Sui) 6 2 5 14 4 10 - 27 pts 3rd: Sime Fantela/Mihovil Fantela (Cro) 1 3 15 8 13 5 - 30 pts

49er FX (23 boats) 1st: Odile Van Aanholt/Annette Duetz (Ned) 3 6 3 (22) 1 1 - 14 pts 2nd: Vilma Bobeck/Rebecca Netzler (Swe) 13 1 1 1 2 (14) - 18 pts 3rd: Stephanie Roble/Maggie Shea (USA) 1 5 (15) 7 3 2 - 18 pts 18th: Jo Aleh/Molly Meech (NZ) 11 (22) 7 12 20 18 - 68 pts

Nacra 17 (18 boats) 1st: Gianluigi Ugolini/Maria Giubilei (Ita) 2 7 8 1 1 1 - 12 pts 2nd: Paul Kohlhoff/Alica Stuhlemmer (Ger) 1 1 2 6 8 9 - 18 pts 3rd: Micah Wilkinson/Erica Dawson (NZ) 3 3 7 2 11 3 - 18 pts

ILCA 7 (42 boats) 1st: Michael Beckett (GBR) 2 5 2 4 (7) 1 - 14 pts 2nd: Jean Baptiste Bernaz (Fra) (11) 8 1 2 2 6 - 19 pts 3rd: Matt Wearn (Aus) 1 7 5 (10) 5 2 - 20 pts 6th: George Gautrey (NZ) (15) 9 12 3 1 4 - 29 pts

ILCA 6 (38 boats) 1st: Marit Bouwmeester (Ned) 2 2 11 (12) 2 7 - 24 pts 2nd: Maud Jayet (Sui) 6 4 4 (14) 5 5 - 24 pts 3rd: Chiara Benini Floriani (Ita) 1 9 (15) 5 10 2 - 27 pts 24th: Olivia Christie (NZ) (36) 30 8 18 23 20 - 99 pts

Men's windfoil (24 boards) 1st: Nicolo Renna (Ita) 1 1 9 4 (15) - 15 pts 2nd: Nicolas Goyard (Fra) 12 2 1 1 (21) - 16 pts 3rd: Noah Lyons (USA) (25BFD) 5 4 3 8 - 20 pts 14th: Josh Armit (NZ) 8 19 (21) 17 2 - 46 pts

Women's windfoil (23 boards) 1st: Emma Wilson (GBR) 3 1 1 1 (8) - 6 pts 2nd: Xianting Huang (Chn) (24DSQ) 8 2 4 1 - 15 pts 3rd: Veerle ten Have (NZ) 6 3 5 2 (24DNF) - 16 pts

Men's kitefoil (20 boards) 1st: Axel Mazella (Fra) 1 (5) 2.2RDG 1 2 2 1 2 2 (3) (3) - 13.2 pts 2nd: Connor Bainbridge (GBR) 2 (4) 3 (16) 4 3 4 3 1 1 (12) - 21 pts 3rd: Maximilian Maeder (SGP) (14) 1 (16) 3 3 5 2 1 10 (21DNF) 2 - 27 pts 15th: Lukas Walton-Keim (NZ) (17) 14 13 13 (17) 14 14 11 14 6 (17) - 99 pts

Women's kitefoil (20 boards) 1st: Lauriane Nolot (Fra) 2 1 (7) 1 1 (4) 1 1 3 1 (7) - 11 pts 2nd: Eleanor Aldridge (GBR) 1 2 (11) 2 4 (9) 3 (6) 1 2 1 - 16 pts 3rd: Daniela Moroz (USA) (12) 5 3 3 2 1 (9) 2 4 3 (9) - 23 pts 9th: Justina Kitchen (NZ) 6 9 (15) 10 8 7 10 11 (21DNF) (12) 5 - 66 pts

For full results and updates from the 2023 Olympic test event, click here.

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