Sailing: 'Hopeless' Soling crew in top flight

By SUZANNE McFADDEN 9:30 PM

Rod Davis put his mates in an Olympic keelboat a year ago, and together they were hopeless.

According to Davis, they could not sail a Soling to save themselves. They finished last at the pre-Olympics, and got sent home halfway through.

Yet today, Davis, Don Cowie and Alan Smith have made the cut into the top echelon of the Olympic Soling regatta one day early.

If they hold on to their second place overall by the end of today, they will get a free ride straight to the last stage of matchracing.

The New Zealand trio were afraid they would not survive the first phase after their harrowing dress rehearsal 12 months ago.

"We were a mess, just hopeless. We had no idea how to start," said Davis yesterday. "We'd been sailing America's Cup boats for too long."

All three sailors were coaches for Italian challenger Prada and tried to sneak a bit of Soling practice in between Cup races.

It was not as if they were novices, either. Davis won gold in the Soling, for the United States, in 1984, and later teamed up with Cowie to win silver in the Stars for New Zealand in 1992.

But when they came to Sydney for the pre-Olympic event last year, they bombed out - not even getting as far as the matchracing. When they came home to Auckland, they were heavily criticised and rival skipper Russell Coutts called for an Olympic trial.

"It was a tough thing for us to live through," Davis recalled. "Ever since, I've worried that we wouldn't make the cut at the Olympics.

"Every day I've been too afraid to look at the results."

No need to worry now, Rod. A year of sailing at spots around the globe, and the Kiwis are through.

Yesterday they had an average 10th placing followed by an outstanding second to get them past the dreaded fleet phase with two races to go.

They sit comfortably one rung from the top of the most star-studded ladder in the Olympic sailing fleet.

Eight of the 16 yachts carry former Olympic medallists. And some are in serious danger of missing the boat.

This year's world Soling matchrace champion, Danish skipper Jesper Bank, is wallowing in 15th place, one place ahead of Spanish gold medallist Domingo Manrique.

Three-time Olympic champion Jochen Schuemann salvaged his chances yesterday with a couple of top-seven placings, but he knows he cannot cancel the early plane home yet.

At the end of today, four skippers will be knocked out. The complicated Soling schedule gives bonus prizes to skippers who finish in the top three in fleet racing - they get two days off while the other nine fight for survival.

The Tornado fleet have a more straightforward regatta - 11 races and at the end, a winner. Yesterday, they were fighting to keep their wits about them as they floated around for five hours without a race. New Zealand Tornado crewman Glen Sowry, sitting in seventh place, described the wait for the sea breeze as frustrating, but he was in no way angry.

"The race committee did the right thing to hang tough and not panic. We haven't come this far for a lottery," he said. "We're in no hurry. We came here to win a medal, and we'll stay for as long as that takes."