IQFOIL Europeans: Kiwis In Finals Push As Medal Series Looms

New Zealand’s leading windfoilers are set for a final push up the leaderboard as the race for silverware at the iQFOIL European championships in Greece heats up.

Two Kiwis – Josh Armit and Thomas Crook – are still in contention for a podium place but will be hoping it all comes together in the last gold-fleet races tonight (NZ time) after a slightly disappointing day of slalom competition.

The pair have shown good speed all week but have struggled off the start line on occasion. The changing conditions haven’t helped their cause while plenty of general recalls last night made it hard to get their gear dialled in correctly.

“It was a long day on the water – we spent about seven hours out there after some delays,” coach Nathan Handley said.

“The boys just didn't quite nail it today and we felt, as a team, like we were a bit off our game. We could have done better, got out of the starts better.”

Handley is confident of a solid finish to the finals series ahead of the shootout for medals.

“We’re still in touch [with the top of the fleet], with Josh and Thomas in similar positions to what they were yesterday,” he said.

Armit leads the Kiwi charge in Patras, as he has done for most of the regatta, and is in ninth overall after two top-five finishes and a ninth place on the short course.

He is on 75 points, 29 ahead of Crook, whose best finish was an 11th in the first of his four races.

Young Eli Liefting celebrated his 21st birthday with a ninth place in his second race of the day – his best finish in the gold fleet so far – to move up to 38th overall.

Patrick Haybittle is in 45th.

German world champion Sebastian Koerdel remains perched at the top of the fleet on 22 points, followed by Dutch duo Luuc van Opzeeland and Huig Jan Tak.

The fleet leader at the end of gold-fleet racing tonight will advance straight to the three-board medal race, with competitors four to 10 battling it out in a quarterfinal, before a semifinal showdown with foilers numbers two and three from the gold fleet.

Meanwhile, Veerle ten Have endured another frustrating day in the women’s competition.

The bronze medallist from last month's Princess Sofia Regatta in Spain slid from 17th to 26th on the leaderboard – and out of contention for the medal series – following a string of disappointing results including a black-flag disqualification in the last race.

Sharon Kantor (Israel) has retained her comfortable lead - she is 17 points clear of compatriot Shahar Tibi, with Pilar Lamadrid Trueba of Spain third.

Results and standings after day 4 of the iQFOIL European championships in Patras, Greece:

Women’s fleet (89 boards)
1st: Sharon Kantor (Isr) (15) (10) 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 (27) (7) 7 3 - 23 points
2nd: Shahar Tibi (Isr) 7 1 (14) 5 (11) 4 4 4 3 (5) 2 3 (41) 5 1 1 - 40 pts
3rd: Pilar Lamadrid Trueba (Esp) 6 5 5 6 (8) 1 1 (DNC46) 2 1 3 (15) 5 7 (41) 9 - 51 pts
26th: Veerle ten Have (NZ) 8 2 7 4 (11) 6 7 (17) 26 17 32 18 (37) RDG37 27 (BFD47) - 191 pts

Men's fleet (114 boards)
1st: Sebastian Koerdel (Ger) 2 (9) 2 1 (7) 3 2 5 2 (11) 1 1 1 (11) 1 1 - 22 pts
2nd: Luuc van Opzeeland (Ned) 3 2 2 3 (9) (7) 5 1 1 3 (7) 2 1 3 3 (15) - 29 pts
3rd: Huig Jan Tak (Ned) (5) 3 1 (12) 2 2 2 2 4 7 9 7 (21) 1 (BFD39) 1 - 41 pts
9th: Josh Armit (NZ) (10) 5 6 3 2 4 (10) 2 12 16 (21) 6 5 (23) 9 5 - 75 pts
12th: Thomas Crook (NZ) 6 2 5 (17) (18) 9 11 15 7 5 2 16 11 (19) (25) 15 - 104 pts
38th: Eli Liefting (NZ) 14 (19) 18 (22) 17 12 12 11 (BFD58) (49) 22 40 27 9 33 25 - 240 pts
45th: Patrick Haybittle (NZ) 16 (30) 8 9 19 22 28 (30) 28 30 25 27 (BFD39) RDG32.30 25 (33) - 269.3 pts

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