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James Barnett and Sam Street have a better idea of what they need to do if they are to compete at the top level following a busy period of two world 420 competitions in the last six weeks.
James Barnett and Sam Street were 19th at last month's youth sailing world championships in China. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing.
The pair were the best placed of the New Zealand crews (21st) at the recent 420 world championships in Freemantle, Australia, and were also 19th at last month's youth sailing world championships in Sanya, China.
Each regatta offered vastly different conditions, with Sanya serving up light and shifty breezes and Australia being seen to by the Freemantle Doctor which provides steady and consistently winds.
It was a good learning opportunity for the 15-year-old Barnett and Street, who is 17, and they're now intent of translating that into success.
"It's really motivated us," Barnett said. "We have been performing well in New Zealand, which has been a confidence booster, and now we have been able to judge our level overseas. A few top-10 results have shown we are definitely up there and that we can put some good races together and do well.
"The youth worlds was our first international regatta together in the 420 and gave us some key experiences in big fleets that really helped us at the 420 worlds. Both of those regattas showed us what we need to do to put us in the top 10 at the next 420 worlds."
Those will be held in Newport, USA, in August. In the meantime, Barnett and Street have their eyes on next month's Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta at Murrays Bay as well as March's 420 nationals in Christchurch which are both being used as selection regattas for this year's youth sailing world championships in the US in July.
Barnett and Street will soon resume their rivalry with Seb Menzies and Blake McGlashan, who had a disappointing 420 world championships and were 41st overall.
The two crews will train together as often as they can but this is often difficult with Barnett in Auckland and Street in New Plymouth. Street ventures to Auckland most weekends and Barnett is also planning to head to New Plymouth for the opportunity to train in stronger winds and larger waves.
New Zealand was represented by 10 crews in Freemantle and they performed reasonably well, especially given their relatively young age in what is an open class.
Andre Van Dam and Fin Georgeson (23rd) and Robbie McCutcheon and Jono Weston (25th) also qualified for gold fleet. Cara Higinbottom and Alice Haslett were the best placed of the New Zealand sailors in the women's fleet in 22nd with Lucia Rapley and Alice Floyd not far behind in 25th.
"It was good to see a large fleet of Kiwi sailors over there as well as a good representation of sailors from around New Zealand, with sailors from Christchurch to Auckland," Yachting New Zealand youth co-ordinator Stu Thomas said. "We're looking forward to seeing the class continuing their progression over the summer, particularly at the Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta which is an important regatta for us."
The Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta is this country's premier Olympic and youth classes event and will be held at Murrays Bays Sailing Club on February 3-5. Entries can be made here.
Results and standings from the 420 world championships in Freemantle, Australia:
Open 420
1st: Enrique Lujan / Pablo Lujan (ESP) 1 1 3 6 3 5 8 4 (9) 1 3 6 - 41 points
2nd: Albert Torres / Francisco Mulet (ESP) 4 3 7 2 4 2 2 3 (13) 2 10 9 - 48 pts
3rd: Carlos Balaguer / Antoni Massanet (ESP) 5 1 3 1 1 3 3 6 2 12 13 (BFD) - 50 pts
21st: James Barnett / Sam Street (NZL) 15 11 5 17 5 10 (30) 19 19 22 22 12 - 157 pts
23rd: Andre Van Dam / Fin Georgeson (NZL) 8 10 19 14 8 11 10 (28) 27 10 26 22 - 165 pts
25th: Robbie McCutcheon / Jono Weston (NZL) 14 19 13 19 11 11 21 24 (31) 18 23 18 - 191 pts
Silver Fleet
39th: Daniel Winsley / Ryan Tait (NZL) 20 21 17 16 16 (29) 7 6 12 5 10 11 - 141 pts
41st: Seb Menzies / Blake McGlashan (NZL) (DNC) 27 18 20 18 18 4 8 3 22 8 3 - 149 pts
53rd: Hamish Edwards / Alex Edwards (NZL) 11 28 23 31 26 (UFD) 12 17 29 18 24 24 - 243 pts
Women's 420 (39 boats)
1st: Nia Jerwood / Monique De Vries (AUS) 1 1 (9) 4 1 1 3 1 2 3 1 7 25 pts
2nd: Laura Harding / Eleanor Grimshaw (AUS) 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 2 (4) - 25 pts
3rd: Arianna Passamonti / Giulia Fava (ITA) 9 5 11 1 9 6 (18) 9 3 1 9 6 - 69 pts
22nd: Cara Higinbottom / Alice Haslett (NZL) (DNC) 25 18 21 23 23 21 22 20 18 19 21 - 231 pts
25th: Lucia Rapley / Alice Floyd (NZL) 19 18 32 23 20 (RET) 31 23 28 35 15 25 - 269 pts
26th: Darby Georgeson / Helena Terry (NZL) 23 28 26 26 26 33 25 30 26 27 22 23 - 282 pts
28th: Kirah Willems / Marina Kenton-Smith (NZL) 29 26 30 22 22 19 (DNF) 25 32 33 30 30 - 298 pts
Full results can be found here.
