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Eli Liefting and Rose Dickson won the RS Feva world championships in the Netherlands overnight (NZ time), despite the fact Dickson sailed the final two days with fractured fingers.
Photo: Chris Dickson
The pair started the final day one point behind the British combination of Henry and Rupert Jameson but took pole position when they won the first race of the day. It meant they simply needed to finish ahead of their nearest rivals in the last race of the championships to claim the title.
Liefting and Dickson, who is the daughter of former Team New Zealand helmsman Chris Dickson, finished fifth and the Brits were 10th, meaning the New Zealanders won the title by six points. Pierce Harris and Alfie Cogger from Great Britain took bronze, 21 points behind the winners.
Liefting and Dickson's win was not without drama. Dickson got her hand caught in a halyard on the penultimate day, leaving her with three suspected fractured fingers and in considerable pain. The pair finished 15th in that race, their discard as their worst performance, but were otherwise very consistent, never finishing outside the top seven in the 59-boat gold fleet - every other team had at least two scores in double figures.
"I would like to thank our coach Chris [Dickson] who put so much time and effort into us and was a loyal supporter," Liefting said. "I would also like to thank my crew Rose for sailing two days with fractured fingers. It was really good."
The two-time national Feva champions from Royal Akarana Yacht Club also did it despite deciding only two weeks before the world championships they would compete and despite a variety of conditions thrown their way. They contended with light, fickle winds right through to strong winds and lumpy waters and proved themselves to be the best combination.
It was an improvement on their fourth at last year's world championships but they have shown good form this year, taking out the Endeavour Regatta in Bermuda held during the recent America's Cup, and both clearly have promising futures.
Cameron Todd and Danny Su, also from Akarana, were 37th in the silver fleet.
Results and standings at the RS Feva world championships in Medemblik, Netherlands:
Gold fleet (59 boats)
1st: Eli Liefting / Rose Dickson (NZL) 1 7 7 2 3 (15) 4 1 5 - 30 points
2nd: Henry Jameson / Rupert Jameson (GBR) 4 2 1 (13) 12 1 3 3 10 - 36 points
3rd: Pierce Harris / Alfie Cogger (GBR) 19 1 2 1 (24) 10 11 6 1 - 51 points
Silver fleet (59 boats)
37th: Cameron Todd / Danny Su (NZL) 86 11 32 31 48 41 (55) 23 39 - 311 points
