Sailing: It's a breeze now for cool Kendall

By MARK GEENTY

New Zealand sailing's golden girl, Barbara Kendall, is chasing an unprecedented Olympic feat as the yachties try to write another chapter in their proud history of medal-winning next week.

Should Kendall follow her well-worn path to the dais in the Mistral class which starts on Sunday (NZT), she would become the first New Zealander to win a medal at four Olympic Games.

Currently she, equestrian Mark Todd and rowing cox Simon Dickie are the only New Zealanders to win medals at three different Olympiads.

A focused Kendall, three weeks short of her 38th birthday, was avoiding interviews this week as she zipped around the idyllic Games venue at Agios Kosmas, her home for the past two months.

But she admitted earlier in her preparation that the pressure of a nation's expectation, as one of just a handful of genuine medal chances in the team of 151, wasn't an issue.

"I've been dealing with that since 1992 and it doesn't faze me in the slightest any more," Kendall said.

"I'm doing this for myself, not for any prestige. I just really love competing."

As with all the sailing events - New Zealand line up in eight classes in the next week - there is an element of luck involved and there are no certainties in what are expected to be light winds.

"I could go out and win the gold medal or I could go out and finish eighth, it's that close," she said.

Physically, Kendall said she felt as good as ever going into her Athens build-up, with no sign of the stress injury that caused her arms to cramp up during her second placing at the world championships in Turkey in April.

Family are important to Kendall - she followed her brother Bruce into boardsailing at 17 - and she has been accompanied by her parents, husband/coach Shayne Bright and daughter Samantha, 2, at her base just up the road from the venue.

New Zealand team manager Don Cowie, who won silver in the Star class at Barcelona in 1992 when Kendall captured gold in her first Olympics, said Kendall was well on track.

"She's pretty happy with where she's at, for sure ... she's just having a bit of space but is feeling very relaxed about it all."

Yachting has been New Zealand's second-most successful Olympic sport behind track and field, with 15 medals, including six gold.

Peter Mander and Jack Cropp won New Zealand's first gold in the Sharpie class in Melbourne in 1956, and sailors have won medals in the past five Games.

On rankings, Kendall and Europe dinghy sailor Sarah Macky are New Zealand's best chances.

Macky finished a disappointing ninth in the world championships in Sardinia last month, having previously been ranked fifth in the world, and won bronze at the pre-Olympic regatta here a year ago.

The other two big hopes in Cowie's mind are America's Cup skipper Dean Barker in the Finn and Hamish Pepper in the Laser.

Barker re-entered the Finn class only last October at the urgings of gold-medal favourite and recent Team New Zealand addition, Briton Ben Ainslie.

"For a guy to jump into a Finn in November, come out and place 12th in the worlds then fourth in the Europeans, shows you the calibre of the sailor that Dean is," Cowie said.

The other New Zealand crews are men's boardsailor Thomas Ashley, Andrew Brown and Jamie Hunt in the men's 470, Linda Dickson and Shelley Hesson in the women's 470, and Sharon Ferris, Kylie Jameson and Joanna White in the Yngling.

Each class race 11 times, with the finals next weekend.

YACHTING

Sunday to August 26, and August 28

Barbara Kendall (women's Mistral) and Thomas Ashley (men's Mistral)

Dean Barker (Finn)

Hamish Pepper (Laser)

Andrew Brown and Jamie Hunt (men's 470)

Sharon Ferris, Joanna White, Kylie Jameson (Yngling)

Sarah Macky (Europe)

Shelley Hesson and Linda Dickson (women's 470)

Venue: Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre

- NZPA