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Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson are ready for the biggest race of their lives.
The mixed multihull crew will effectively battle it out with Argentina and Great Britain for a silver or bronze medal in the Olympic sailing competition in Marseille tomorrow, following the most nerve-wracking day of their campaign.
Wilkinson and Dawson will line up for the medal race in fourth, level on points with the British, and within reach of New Zealand's second sailing medal of Paris 2024.
The day started promisingly for the Kiwis when Italy was disqualified in the first race, opening an opportunity to gain valuable ground on the runaway fleet leaders. Instead, the Auckland duo were buried on the first leg and couldn't recover, eventually finishing 17th, with Argentina's Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco winning, and John Gimson and Anna Burnet of Great Britain fifth.
Wilkinson and Dawson struck back almost immediately, crossing the second race in third before rounding off yet another weather-delayed day with a seventh-place finish.
"We had a shocking start, but we came back strongly. We were quite relaxed in the boat, but I can imagine my family aged about 20 years watching that first race before we pulled it back," Wilkinson said.
"To come back with two decent scores the way we did was very encouraging. We're in a good position for a medal, and now it all comes down to one final race. We'll be ready to give it everything."
Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson will start the mixed multihull medal race in fourth place. Photos / World Sailing
After Majdalani and Bosco's stellar performance yesterday, Gimson and Burnet were the pick of the fleet today - following up their fifth in the opening race with first and third places to edge the Kiwis into the bronze-medal position ahead of the double-points decider.
New Zealand and Great Britain are both on 47 points, six behind the Argentinians, who trail Tita and Banti by 14 points.
"The British were fantastic all day, but I'm proud of how we managed to hang in there and of how we've sailed all week," Dawson said.
"If you had offered this position to us at the start of the week, we definitely would have taken it."
Fickle conditions again caused lengthy delays, with racing in most of the other fleets either severely curtailed or postponed altogether.
Another slight breeze is forecast for tomorrow, but after more than two months preparing in Marseille in the lead-up to the Games, the Kiwis know that when it comes to the conditions, the only thing to expect is the unexpected.
Asked if they would do anything differently for the biggest race of their careers, Wilkinson joked that he "has had some pretty serious races for the Ngaroto club champs before".
"Seriously though, we won't do much different at all. We'll have a good debrief with our coach [Anton Paz], followed by a team meal and a game of cards with housemates [and men's skiff silver medallists] Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie," Wilkinson said.
"It's the same way we've prepared for every race this regatta, and there's no reason we'll be changing that tonight. We can't wait to just get out there and send it. We're in the ideal position - we have nothing to lose and everything to gain."
Also hoping to be in action tomorrow is Tom Saunders, whose medal race in the men's dinghy was postponed due to the light winds.
The former world champion will start the race in seventh after his final two qualifying races were cancelled yesterday. He is 18 points short of a podium place and has only an outside chance of winning bronze.
Lukas Walton-Keim had his best result of the regatta, claiming ninth place in the day's first race. Photos / World Sailing
Earlier, Lukas Walton-Keim enjoyed his best result in the men's kite event in the first of two completed races.
Walton-Keim was ninth and followed it up with an 18th to sit 15th overall in the 20-board fleet.
Justina Kitchen is 17th overall in the women's competition.
Tomorrow's schedule:
12 pm (10 pm NZT): Women's kite - Justina Kitchen (5 races)
12.20 pm (10.20 pm NZT): Men's kite - Lukas Walton-Keim (5 races)
1.10 pm (11.10 pm NZT): Men's dinghy - Tom Saunders (medal race)
2.40 pm (12.40 am NZT): Mixed multihull - Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson (medal race)
Latest results and standings from day 10 at the Olympic sailing event in Marseille:
Men's dinghy fleet (43 boats)
1. Matt Wearn (Aus) 12 2 1 (18) 1 2 10 10 - 38 pts
2. Pavlos Kontides (Cyp) 17 5 (27) 5 10 5 3 7 - 52 pts
3. Stefano Peschiera (Per) 1 14 11 (20) 14 12 4 - 62 pts
7. Tom Saunders (NZ) 11 17 10 7 19 3 (44BFD) 13 - 80 pts
Mixed multihull fleet (19 boats)
1. Ruggero Tita/Caterina Banti (Ita) 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 6 6 (20UFD) 5 2 - 27 pts
2. Mateo Majdalani/Eugenia Bosco (Arg) 2 2 5 10 6 6 3 2 2 1 2 (12) - 41 pts
3. John Gimson/Anna Burnet (GBR) 8 4 6 3 4 9 4 5 4 5 1 3 - 47 pts
4. Micah Wilkinson/Erica Dawson (NZ) 5 3 7 2 2 3 2 4 9 (17) 3 7 - 47 pts
Men's kite fleet (20 boards)
1. Toni Vodisek (Slo) 2 5 1 3 (10) 1 (12) - 12 pts
2. Max Maeder (SGP) 5 1 2 (21DNF) 3 (11) 4 - 15 pts
3. Valentin Bontus (Aut) 1 2 5 (8) 4 5 (20) - 17 pts
15. Lukas Walton-Keim (NZ) 12 (18) 13 10 17 9 (18) - 61 pts
Women's kite fleet (20 boards)
1. Lauriane Nolot (Fra) 2 1 (12) 2 6 1 - 12 pts
2. Eleanor Aldridge (GBR) 1 2 2 3 4 (21DNS) - 12 pts
3. Daniela Moroz (USA) (7) 3 4 1 2 7 - 17 pts
17. Justina Kitchen (NZ) 9 10 (21DNF) 16 18 21DNS - 74 pts
Full results here.
