YACHTING - Olympic spot in sights now that silver medal banked

Kerikeri Laser sailor Andrew Murdoch has been here before, agonisingly so, which is proving to be a sobering side to his latest success, a silver medal at the world yachting championships in Cascais, Portugal.
Murdoch was second in the Laser yesterday - behind Australian Tom Slingsby, who won the world title - giving New Zealand yet another Olympic Games yachting spot next in Beijing year.
But enjoying a world championship medal was soon replaced by the knowledge that his efforts don't necessarily mean he should send his measurements in for a New Zealand Olympic blazer.
Not just yet anyway.
And if he was starting to get excited about his Olympic prospects it would only take a call to his father Jim in Kerikeri to come thundering back down to earth.
"This has qualified New Zealand for the Olympic spot, but it does not mean it is Andrew's.
"We are not taking anything for granted, especially after last time," Jim Murdoch said.
Last time Murdoch did the same, qualifying New Zealand a spot in the Olympics, and was seemingly the man lined up to sail there as well. But he was controversially overlooked for final selection which led to an ugly series of ultimately unsuccessful appeals.
This time around, Murdoch is deliberately building a resume he hopes the New Zealand yachting selectors will find impossible to ignore.
The success in Portugal should be noted, particularly as it came in difficult conditions.
Next is a pre-Olympic regatta in China where Murdoch will get the chance to show he will be an Olympic medal contender on the Qingdao course to be used for the Beijing games.
"I had a great race, I always believed I could do it," Murdoch said.
"I went out there with a good positive attitude."
Going into the double points medal race, Murdoch was lying fourth, while Slingsby had a huge 12-point leading margin.
"It's always exciting to get on the podium, obviously I was hoping to win this regatta at the start of it, but it was always going to be a long-shot, so second was probably the best I could have done today."
The medal race course is shorter than in the elimination series and set closer to the shore to attract spectators.
With only the top-10 sailors in the race, it becomes a tactical battle. Murdoch, with his teams racing background, was well suited to the medal round in 16-20-knot conditions.
The medal round was sailed particularly well, his father Jim said.
"It was quite a difficult regatta. It was very, very shifty winds that you could could get caught on the wrong side of the course and get absolutely nailed for it," Jim said.
"It happened to everyone, it happened to Andrew, but he still managed to sail his way to a medal."
New Zealand's Olympic berths are now confirmed in the Star, Laser and Laser Radial classes.
Places in the Finn and Yngling classes are almost certain as well.