It was a very nearly day for many of the New Zealand sailing crews today but a number of them are still in medal
contention heading into the business end of the Olympic regatta.
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are fourth overall, only eight points off the lead, but could have made significant
progress up the standings save for a costly error when Burling fell off the boat through a manoeuvre.
Sam Meech was also having a great day, finishing second in his first race before capsizing when he got his leg stuck
under the hiking strap when contesting the lead in his second. The Rio bronze medallist has had a frustrating regatta to
date and now sits 14th overall in the Laser with two more qualifying races before the top-10 medal race.
And the men's 470 of Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox faced a late protest from the Spanish crew after provisionally
ending the day in fifth overall, only one point behind third.
Josh Junior is hanging in there in the Finn and will go into the rest day in seventh while Alex Maloney and Molly Meech
will return to action tomorrow in the 49erFX in ninth after a rest day today. Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson are 12th
in the Nacra 17 but are expected to climb in the standings when the wind drops over the next couple of days.
Burling and Tuke made an uncharacteristic error in their first race when Burling fell off the boat through a tack near
the top mark. The pair had been sitting in second at the time and did well to quickly recover and finish 12th to limit
the damage.
They followed that up with a second in their next race, despite a poor start, and feel ready to attack the last half of
the regatta.
"We are still well within touch but it’s been a little bit frustrating over the last couple of days," Tuke said. "The
positives out of that is that we are making mistakes and are still there or there abouts."
Burling added: "It was a little bit frustrating not to put two really low ones on the board but everyone seemed to have
a bit of an up and down one today. It would be nicer to be a bit closer to the front but we’re looking forward to the
next six races."
Junior is looking forward to a rest day in the punishing Finn class. The 31-year-old hasn't quite found the form that
won him the 2019 world title and knows he needs to string it together in his final four qualifying races.
"I need to sail to my potential, sail a bit faster, smarter and sail cleaner races," he said. "I think it’s a bit of
everything but it’s all achievable.
"The rest day is great timing. I’ll reset and hopefully attack the second half of the regatta."
It could look quite different in terms of conditions, with the moderate winds and wavy conditions giving way to lighter
sea breezes.
It's the sort of conditions Snow-Hansen and Willcox are looking forward to, with the 470 European champions hoping for a
range of wind strengths across their 10 qualifying races to mix up the fleet.
The Australian pair of Matt Belcher and Will Ryan banked two wins today to extend their lead at the top but it's
extremely tight among the rest of the top 10.
"It felt like a day where we could have got more but we could have also clocked up a lot of points so I guess we just
have to be happy," Snow-Hansen said before facing the protest. "We are very much in it and it’s exciting."Results and standings after day five of the Olympic sailing regatta in Enoshima:49er (19 boats)
1st: Dylan Fletcher-Scott / Stuart Bithell (GBR) 2 8 4 1 (14) 3 - 18 points
2nd: Diego Botin / Iago Lopez Marra (ESP) 5 1 2 5 5 (12) - 18 pts
3rd: Jonas Warrer / Jakob Jensen (DEN) 6 5 (10) 3 1 5 - 20 pts4th: Peter Burling / Blair Tuke (NZL) (12) 3 7 2 12 2 - 26 pts49erFX (21 boats)
1st: Charlotte Dobson / Saskia Tidey (GBR) 1 1 (6) 4 2 5 - 13 pts
2nd: Annemiek Bekkering / Annette Duetz (NED) (13) 8 2 1 6 1 - 18 pts
3rd: Tamara Echegoyen / Paula Martin (ESP) 2 10 (22 UFD) 2 3 3 - 20 pts9th: Alex Maloney / Molly Meech (NZL) 16 (22 UFD) 5 12 4 4 - 41 ptsFinn (19 boats)
1st: Giles Scott (GBR) (9) 9 1 1 1 1 - 13 pts
2nd: Joan Cardona (ESP) 3 3 (5) 3 2 3 - 14 pts
3rd: Zsombor Berecz (HUN) 2 2 (9) 4 6 7 - 21 pts7th: Josh Junior (NZL) (12) 10 3 7 8 5 - 33 ptsLaser (35 boats)
1st: Matt Wearn (AUS) 17 (28) 2 4 2 2 1 1 - 29 pts
2nd: Pavlos Kontides (CYP) 4 7 5 1 20 1 (36 DNF) 6 - 44 pts
3rd: Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR) 3 (18) 15 2 6 8 10 5 - 49 pts14th: Sam Meech (NZL) (19) 19 8 16 14 3 2 13 - 75 ptsLaser Radial (44 boats)
1st: Anne-Marie Rindom (BEL) 6 5 3 (13) 4 4 2 1 - 25 pts
2nd: Tuula Tenkanen (FIN) 9 6 14 (33) 5 3 6 3 - 46 pts
3rd: Josefin Olsson (SWE) (34) 15 8 4 1 6 4 9 - 47 ptsMen's 470 (19 boats)
1st: Matt Belcher / Will Ryan (AUS) 2 (5) 1 1 - 4 pts
2nd: Luke Patience / Chris Grube (GBR) 3 (8) 2 4 - 9 pts
3rd: Anton Dahlberg / Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE) 1 (15) 8 5 - 9 pts5th: Paul Snow-Hansen / Dan Willcox (NZL) 6 2 (7) 7 - 15 ptsWomen's 470 (21 boats)
1st: Agnieszka Skrzypulec / Jolanta Ogar (POL) 1 1 2 (5) - 4 pts
2nd: Hannah Mills / Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) 4 3 (7) 1 - 8 pts
3rd: Camille Lecointre / Aloise Retornaz (FRA) 3 2 4 (7) - 9 ptsNacra 17 (20 boats)
1st: Ruggero Tita / Caterina Banti (ITA) 1 3 1 2 (5) 1 - 8 pts
2nd: John Gimson / Anna Burnet (GBR) (7( 5 2 1 1 2 - 11 pts
3rd: Paul Kohlhoff / Alicia Stuhlemmer (GER) 5 1 7 3 3 (11) - 19 pts12th: Micah Wilkinson / Erica Dawson (NZL) 11 12 (13) 11 8 12 - 54 pts
Women's RS:X (27 boards)
1st: Lu Yunxiu (CHN) 2 9 (25) 2 2 1 4 2 1 2 3 2 - 30 pts
2nd: Emma Wilson (GBR) 5 2 6 1 4 2 1 1 (28 UFD) 6 1 5 - 34 pts
3rd: Charline Picon (FRA) 1 6 2 (9) 1 4 2 3 6 3 2 6 - 36 ptsMen's RS:X (25 boards)
1st: Kiran Badloe (NED) 5 7 1 1 (26 DSQ) 5 2 4 1 5 1 1 - 33 pts
2nd: Thomas Goyard (FRA) (13) 5 3 13 1 1 3 6 7 1 9 3 - 52 pts
3rd: Matia Camboni (ITA) 4 2 4 8 2 2 8 (13) 4 8 3 9 - 54 pts