KEY POINTS:
Kiwi boardsailing legend Barbara Kendall believes her quest for Olympic glory in Beijing has taken a huge leap forward after "exorcising her medal race demons" at the Sail Auckland regatta.
Kendall collected silver in the RS:X class at the ISAF grade one event after two strong performances on the final day. The 40-year-old, who will be attending her fifth Olympics this year, took out the medal race after a thrilling battle with Spain's Marina Alabau. Despite winning the finale, Kendall could not quite overhaul Alabau's overall lead, with the young Spaniard winning by a healthy seven-point margin.
Nevertheless, Kendall said she was thrilled to perform so well when the pressure was on, particularly after missing out on the world title in Takapuna last month following a disastrous performance in the medal race.
"We had a really good battle. The lead changed three or four times during the race so it was good to finally get one up," she said.
"I had that little glitch at the start of the world champs so I really wanted to get rid of those medal race demons so it was really good."
New Zealand also claimed silver in the men's RS:X class, Jon Paul Tobin having an impressive final day to lift himself up to second position, just three points behind gold medallist Nikos Kaklamanakis of Greece. With Tobin having missed out to world champion Kiwi boardsailor Tom Ashley for a spot at the Beijing Games, the silver medal would have been a satisfying finish to the season.
It was a disappointing day for world number one Jo Aleh, who finished well off the pace in the Laser Radial. Aleh, who was in striking distance of a podium finish, slipped back to sixth overall after a 29th placing in the final regular race.
The tornado was the only class not to feature a Kiwi crew in the medal race. Olympic boardsailing medallist Aaron McIntosh and Mark Kennedy missed out on the finale after finishing in 13th position after the 11 regular races. The pressure is now on the Kiwi pair to produce a top finish at the Tornado World Champs in Takapuna next week if they are to seal their place at the Beijing Games.
Australians Darren Bundock and Glen Ashby confirmed their favourite status for next week's worlds, easily taking out the tornado class. The pair finished with an incredible 17-point buffer over German's Roland Gaebler and Gunnar Struckmann.
As expected, Beijing-bound youngsters Carl Evans and Peter Burling took out the 470 class, but it was not as comfortable as most would have predicted after a farcical medal race nearly cost them the title. The Kiwi duo were one of four crews in a fleet of six that copped the maximum penalty of 14 points for either being over the start line when the race began or disqualified.
