Issue date
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, NZ's London 2012 bound 49er Sailors, have achieved a second consecutive silver medal at the 49er World Championships.
The 19 years old kiwi duo Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski also had a fantastic result, not only making it into the medal race for the first time at a 49er World Championships, but also taking the race victory in this higher intensity double point race.
Peter and Blair reported on the event:
It’s a great feeling to have defended our Silver Medal. The racing was extremely close with even the smallest mistakes punished.
We were initially happy with how we sailed in gold fleet, including our first race win, and moved to within striking distance of the leader - our Australian friends Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen.
Racing on the last day didn’t totally go as we had hoped, meaning we had to turn our focus to staying in front of the French so we could secure the silver.
Not quite the finish we were hoping for, but still an awesome week and great to come away with the Silver Medal at the 2012 World Championships. Congratulations to Nathan and Iain for retaining their World 49er title for the fourth time.
Congrats also to Marcus and Josh, making the medal race for the first time in a major regatta, with a fantastic result finishing sixth overall. Having another good boat at home will help our training through to the Olympics.
Watch Peter & Blair’s TVNZ interview from ONE Sports News here.
Up next for both teams (and the rest of the NZL Sailing Team) is the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta at the Olympic venue, Weymouth click here.
