15 Jun 2015

Six World Cup medals for NZ sailors

8:34 am on 15 June 2015

The New Zealand sailing team has won six medals at the World Cup in Weymouth including one gold, four silver and one bronze.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke pick up gold at the World Cup in Weymouth. 2015

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke pick up gold at the World Cup in Weymouth. Photo: onEdition

Olympic silver medallists Peter Burling and Blair Tuke extended their unbeaten run in the men's 49er class while Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski took silver to share the podium with their New Zealand team-mates.

Both New Zealand's women's double-handers crews won silver medals.

Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie were beaten on count-back only by long-time rivals Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills of Great Britain to finish second in the women's 470.

Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech won silver in the women's 49erFX after also being pipped in the final race by the class favourites.

The New Zealand team also collected two medals in the men's Finn class with Josh Junior winning silver and Andrew Murdoch taking bronze.

The Finn class will come to New Zealand in November this year to battle out their World Championship title.

Tuke and Burling finish strong

Despite a poor start at the regatta, Burling and Tuke were back in front in the men's 49er class and went into today's medal race with an 18 point buffer over team-mates Hansen and Porebski.

All went according to plan for Burling and Tuke and after a 6th place they collected the gold, extending their amazing unbeaten run to 17 straight victories at the major events in the class.

The pair were thrilled with their first win in Weymouth.

Hansen and Porebski were 7th in today's medal race and comfortably secured the silver medal, their best result for 2015 to date.

Taking the lead into today's medal race Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech were out performed by reigning world champions in the women's 49erFX class, Martine Soffiatti Grael and Kahena Kunze.

The Brazilian's struck out an early lead and never relinquished it finishing well ahead of the pack.

Maloney and Meech crossed in 9th and had to settle for silver.

The 49er and 49erFX fleets will sail their 2015 European Championship next month in Portugal, building towards August's Aquece Rio International Regatta (Olympic Test Event) and then the 2015 49er World Championship being staged in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November.

Aleh and Powrie enjoyed being back in Weymouth where three years ago they won Olympic gold, and came agonisingly close again finishing the regatta on equal points with victors Mills and Clark.

The New Zealanders were 5th in today's medal race, while the Brits were 4th and drawing equal on points the gold went to Mills and Clark because they placed higher in today's race.

Junior put up a good fight for gold in the Finn medal race, giving it everything he could to take victory off the in-form Giles Scott from Great Britain.

Junior recently won silver at the Finn European Championships in Split, Croatia and said that both he and Murdoch have made gains in the class.

Murdoch won bronze for his first Finn medal at an ISAF Sailing World Cup Regatta.

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