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The RS:X
windsurfing Open and NZ National Championships has just concluded after four
days of racing in Auckland, New Zealand. Attracting some top international
riders in both the women's and men's divisions the competition was fierce.
Tom Ashley came out on top in the
Men's with an overall win giving him the Open and New Zealand national championship
titles for 2007. Ashley, representing Takapuna
Boating Club had a strong and consistent regatta, with four wins and three
2nd places on home waters to seal the title, over Maksym
Oberemko (UKR) in second, and Jon-Paul Tobin (NZL)
in third.
“It’s been really great. We had some
light winds during the regatta, which I’ve been targeting my training
towards,” says Ashley. “To sail well in the light breeze was the main
positive that I’ve taken out of this regatta.”
Top international wind surfers have come to New Zealand for this event and
the up-coming ISAF Grade 1 Sail Auckland regatta, as part of the down-under
circuit.
“We’ve had a really good fleet,” says Ashley. “Maksym
Oberemko has an ISAF ranking of number two, and he
was 6th at the Worlds last year. He always sails well, and he sailed well
here in the light. It was great to have him and the other internationals
here.”
Alessandra Sensini, current World Champ and three
time Olympic medallist from Italy beat our own Olympic legend Barbara Kendall
in the women's event. Sensini was strong with five
wins from ten races, and Kendall was delighted to have the tough competition
to line up against.
“To sail against Alessandra has
shown me where I’ve got to get to beat the current World Champ,” says
Kendall. “I made a couple of mistakes and have identified a couple of
weaknesses, so the tough competition has been really useful for me. It’s
given me some things to go away and improve on.”
While Sensini wins the Open Women’s title, Kendall
takes the New Zealand national champion title after finishing in second
place, and the highest placed kiwi. Olga Maslivets
of the Ukraine was third.
“It has been a fantastic regatta with a real variety of conditions. We’ve had
from the really, really light right through to extremely windy today, so it’s
been a very fair regatta because of that,” says Kendall.
“The quality of sailors here was awesome, it’s just been fantastic. The
international girls know that we’ve got a good group of girls here who sail
and race consistently. Some of the kiwi girls are better in the light, and
some are better in the heavy winds, so they know they’re going to get good
competition whatever the conditions.”
Sail Auckland starts ten days from now, and the internationals are sticking
around to line up again, making it the strongest wind surfing fleet New
Zealand has seen in a while. Another six international board sailors from
Italy, France and Bulgaria are expected in Auckland for the ISAF Grade 1 Sail
Auckland regatta which will be sailed off Kohimarama
Yacht Club.
Top Ten Final Results - Open Men's Championship
1. Tom Ashley, NZL, 17 points
2. Maksym Oberemko, UKR,
19
3. Jon-Paul Tobin, NZL, 20
4. Byung Gun Lee, KOR, 51
5. Michael Lichtwark, NZL, 64
6. Michael Lancey, AUS, 70
7. Chris Blake, NZL, 75
8. Dmytro Davydenko, UKR,
81
9. Scott Davies, NZL, 82
10. Anton Shelikhov, RUS, 86
Top Ten Final Results: Open Women's Championship
1. Alessandra Sensini,
ITA, 15
2. Barbara Kendall, NZL, 28
3. Olga Maslivets, UKR, 29
4. Allison Shreeve, AUS,
37
5. Hayley Thom, NZL, 52
6. Kate Ellingham, NZL,
53
7. Maayan Davidovich,
ISR, 54
8. Wiebke Snadnick, GER,
62
9. Steffanie Williams, NZL, 64
10. Justina Sellers, NZL, 67
Report by Jodie Perkins - Yachting New
Zealand.
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