Yachting: Gold, silvers for NZ sailors

Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie. Photo / Richard Robinson

New Zealand's hopes of yachting medals at next year's Olympic Games have been boosted after they claimed a gold and two silver medals at the Sail for Gold yachting regatta in England.

The 470 women's crew of Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie won gold after a fifth place on the final day of racing at Weymouth, the venue for 2012 Olympics.

The pair ended 18 points clear of the second-placed Great Britain to cap a remarkable run of results for Aleh who has also claimed wins this year at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Spain and the International 470 Spring Cup in France.

Boardsailor Jon-Paul Tobin, who started the day with a one point advantage over local sailor Nick Dempsey in the race for the RS:X title, had to settle for silver after Dempsey finished second in the medal race, edging out Tobin by four seconds to take the title by a solitary point.

"The gold simply came down to who beat who," said Tobin who achieved his best result in a world cup regatta. Defending Olympic champion Tom Ashley was ninth.

New Zealand's second silver came courtesy of Laser sailor Andrew Murdoch, who finished behind Australia's Tom Slingsby. It was another impressive result for Murdoch who claimed bronze at the world championships last year. Murdoch, along with Aleh and Powrie, has already been named in the New Zealand team to return to Weymouth in August for the Olympic Test Event where only one crew can start in each of the 10 Olympic classes.

The three medals ensured New Zealand, who had a total of nine crews achieve top 10 finishes, was the third best performing nation at the regatta, behind Great Britain and France.

Selected New Zealand results from the Sail for Gold yachting regatta in Weymouth:

470 Women: Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie 1; RS:X Men: JP Tobin 2, Tom Ashley 9; Laser Andrew Murdoch 2, Andy Maloney 8, Sam Meech 19, Josh Junior 23, Mike Bullot 29; 470 Men: Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders 2; 49er: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke 12; Finn: Dan Slater 6, Matt Coutts 26, Bradley Douglas 52; Radial: Sara Winther 9, Miranda Powrie 29; RS:X Women: Natalia Kosinska 16, Stephanie Williams 22; Star: Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk 9; Women's Match Racing: Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt 19; 2.4 metre: Joshua McKenzie-Brown 21; SKUD18: Tim Dempsey and Jan Apel 8.

- NZPA