Three added to NZL Sailing Team

Three sailors have been added to New Zealand's elite sailing team to help them prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders (Nacra 17 mixed multihull) and Natalia Kosinska (women's RS:X boardsailing) both earned spots in the NZL Sailing Team with recent results and will receive funding and support from Yachting New Zealand and High Performance Sport New Zealand.

Yachting is a tier 1 targeted sport and was allocated $10.1m from HPSNZ in the four-year cycle leading up to the Rio Olympics.

Jones and Saunders were ninth at last month's Nacra 17 world championships sailed at The Hague, Netherlands. The Nacra 17 is a mixed multihull - Rio will be the first time a mixed gender discipline features in the Olympic sailing regatta.

Saunders finished fifth at the London Games with Paul Snow-Hansen in the men's 470. Jones twice represented New Zealand at the youth world championships in 2011 and 2012, when she placed fifth in the SL16 multihull.

"We are confident this help will enable us to move up the fleet further and ultimately reach our goal of a medal in 2016,'' Jones said. "The Nacra 17 class is new, therefore, it has been a huge learning curve for us - however we have enjoyed the challenge and it has been a fun journey and exciting times.''

The 32-year-old Kosinska was fifth at last month's women's RS:X European championship sailed at Brest, France. She also campaigned through the last Olympic cycle but missed out on a place in the team for London.