Beijing looks far away

SAILING - NORTHLAND Yngling sailors Sharon Ferris and Raynor Smeal face an uphill battle to qualify for this year's Beijing Olympics after a poor finish at the Miami OCR Regatta yesterday.
The Northland pair, who blooded new crewmate Olivia Powrie for the first time in competition at the regatta, were hoping for a top-five finish but in the end finished in a distant 19th place in the 28-strong fleet.
The poor showing at the event, which was a warm-up for the all-important world championships to be held at the same venue next week, puts pressure on the team to hit their straps for the upcoming regatta.
The crew, with former tactician Shandy Buckley, was fifth at last year's world championships in Portugal, and is currently ranked 11th in the world. They have been told that they must finish in the top five to claim an Olympic nomination and need a big turnaround in the next few days if they are to achieve that.
The event frontrunners were the Dutch crew skipped by Mandy Mulder won the race ahead of a Russian crew, with another Dutch crew third.