Issue date
Yachting New Zealand is pleased to announce that three more sailors have been confirmed to the London 2012 New Zealand Olympic Team.
Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner in the Men’s Keelboat (Star) and Dan Slater in the Men’s One Person Heavyweight Dinghy (Finn), were confirmed to the team today by the New Zealand Olympic Committee selectors.
“We’re honoured to be named to the New Zealand Olympic Sailing Team” said Star sailor Jim Turner after his selection. “It’s an important milestone to tick off on our way to the big one”.
Although London 2012 will be Turner’s first stab at the Olympic Games, he is not new to the high performance sailing world with six world championships to his name. The new combination in the Star Class with Pepper is proving successful with the duo proving competitive and on-pace at recent events.
Turner continued; “Every time we sail we are learning something and getting better. From now on it’s all about Weymouth and the games themselves”.
Both Hamish Pepper and Dan Slater have represented New Zealand at the Olympic Games in the past and are still at the top of their sport.
Pepper sailed in the Men’s One Person Dinghy (Laser) to a 10th place finish at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, 7th place finish at Athens 2004, and then 9th at Beijing 2008 in the Star Class.
Dan Slater raced at the Sydney 2000 Olympics in the 49er skiff class with current Olympic 470 coach Nathan Handley and finished 8th before switching to the Men’s One Person Heavyweight Dinghy (Finn) for 2008 and finished 12th. This season, Slater has had two fifth place finishes at World Cup regattas, and a good track record of previous results from the 2012 Olympic venue.
“In many ways, the Weymouth venue is similar to Murrays Bay where I learnt to sail and have been sailing since I was ten” Slater said. “It feels close to home”.
The sailors were nominated and selected following performances at this month’s World Championships and ongoing ISAF Sailing World Cups results.
There are now fifteen sailors attending the London 2012 Olympic Games, representing New Zealand in nine of the ten Olympic sailing disciplines. The team includes: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (49er), Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (Women’s 470), Andrew Murdoch (laser), Jon Paul Tobin (RS:X), Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders (Men’s 470), Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt (Women’s Match Racing), Sara Winther (Laser Radial), Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner (Star) and Dan Slater (Finn)
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For more information:
Kristine Lederis
Communications Manager
Yachting New Zealand
021 871 301
kristine@yachtingnz.org.nz
