7 NZL Sailors in Medal Winning Position at Sail Melbourne Regatta
With today being day four of the Sail Melbourne International Regatta, the 40 plus NZL sailors are holding their own
against some of the worlds best.
Current women's World Mistral Champion, Barbara Kendall, is continuing her winning form by which she won the title last
month. Kendall's is in 1st place with (1,3,3,3) ahead of top boardsailor Jessica Crisp (AUS) and world-ranked no.1
Natasha Sturges from GBR.
In the Men's Mistral, Thomas Ashley is in second place, marginally trailing Michael Lancey of Australia. Ashley finished
in 10th place at the World Mistral Championship in Thailand a month ago, qualifying New Zealand for a place at the 2004
Olympic Games in Athens. He needs to continue his outstanding form to ensure a top 5 finish at the Cadiz Combined World
Championship in September to hold off fellow NZL boardsailors who are nipping at his heels every step of the way.
There are 10 NZL Laser sailors competing in the regatta. Andrew Murdoch is leading the fleet, just one point ahead of
fellow kiwi David Weaver. In the Laser Radial, Jake Bartrom is in first place with three bullets and a 6th place.
Europe sailor Sarah Macky is in 3rd place after 6 races (6,4,3,1,3,4).
470 sailors Shelley Hesson and Linda Dickson are in 2nd place trailing Sydney 2000 Gold medallist's Jenny Armstrong and
Belinda Stowell (AUS) by 4 points.
Yachting New Zealand's High Performance Manager, Peter Lester comments "This has been a great start for the kiwi team at
the only International Grade 1 event in Australasia. As a qualifying event for the Australian Olympic team we were
expecting competition to be tough."
The regatta ends on Thursday (16th January).
For a full list of all New Zealand results check the official regatta website: http://www.sailmelbourne.com.au