The class of Alex Maloney and Molly Meech came to the fore in racing at the World Cup final in Santander overnight (NZT) and it left the pair with an outside chance of claiming a medal.
That prospect seemed unlikely after the first day when they languished in 13th in the 15-boat fleet. The Olympic 49erFX silver medallists were loaded with a 50 percent penalty on their first three races after their boat was underweight when measured before the regatta began.
Maloney and Meech collected two seconds and a first in the three races overnight to climb to fifth. They need everything to go their way in tonight's double-points medal race to win bronze but the fact they are in contention is a good outcome.
"I'm sure we would be looking really good in the standings if we didn't have those added points but we can't look back," Maloney said. "Both Molly and I accepted it pretty well and realised it was our mistake.
"It seems silly in hindsight but we genuinely felt our boat was up to weight. There's not much we can do about it other than learn from it and make sure it never happens again because it's not the best of feelings and at bigger events we won't get away with it."
The pair have finished in the top three in six of the 12 races so far this week - including their last five - and won two. They had high hopes of winning the regatta in what is their first major event since last year's Rio Olympics and first since teaming up again with Nathan Handley as coach.
