It's been a tough day at the sailing world championships in Denmark for New Zealand, with Josh Junior missing out on a medal on countback in the Finn class after finishing fourth in the medal race.
New Zealand sailor Josh Junior. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 28-year-old finished level on points with Pieter-Jan Postma but the Dutchman secured bronze by virtue of having finished ahead of Junior in the final race.
It was a disappointing outcome for Junior, who led overall heading into the yesterday's race which was struck by a massive squall that caused chaos in the fleet.
Junior was one of a handful to capsize and saw his lead evaporate in a barrage of wind and rain.
He still had a good chance of winning gold in today's top 10, double points medal race, but so did five others. Hungary's Zsombor Berecz won the race to snatch gold from Sweden's Max Salminen, with Junior crossing in fourth.
"It was always going to be a close one with six of us pretty much tied on points," he said.
"When it's like that, it takes a bit of luck. I sailed a good race to finish fourth but not enough to get a medal so I'm a bit gutted."
Junior and fellow Kiwi Andy Maloney, who finished 10th in the medal race and 10th overall, have made significant progress since getting back in the Finn after helping Team New Zealand win the America's Cup.
"There have been some huge improvements since we got back in the boats," Junior said.
"Andy and I are working really closely together and we are making some big gains, especially in this light, shifty stuff that we didn't normally sail well in. We can take that forward and keep improving."
Sam Meech had visions of contesting for a medal in tomorrow's Laser medal race and was fourth overall but was later disaqualified from today's only race after an incident with British sailor Elliot Hanson on the final downwind leg.
Meech was deemed to have not given Hanson enough room after establishing an overlap as the pair were engaged in a real dogfight and has now slipped back to fifth overall, 15 points off third.
"I was trying to move forward in the fleet and he was really trying to hold me back pretty much the whole race," said Meech, who won his first three races in qualifying.
"Not only was I back in the pack trying to catch up but I also had someone trying to stop me. It was a really difficult race."
It hasn't gone to plan for Alex Maloney and Molly Meech, either, with the Olympic silver medallists struggling all week. But the pair have qualified ninth for the 49erFX medal race and done enough to also qualify the boat for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn lost some ground in the 49er and are now sixth after starting the day in second.
-RNZ
