Yacht medal hopes rest on race six

Press, 26 September 1988, Page 21

Yacht medal hopes rest on race six

NZPA Pusan New Zealand yachting medal hopes depend on top performances in today’s sixth race in Suyong Bay.

The board sailor Bruce Kendall, narrowly holding his over-all lead after battling to eighth place in Saturday’s stormy seas, is feeling the heat from a talented pack just a few points behind him. The Los Angeles bronze medallist needs to put boats between himself and the second-placed Jan Boersma, of the Dutch Antilles and Mike Gebhardt, of the United States. Another three boats are within striking distance. “I’ve got to have a really good one next time,” Kendall said. “I’m much more vulnerable now.” But he was thankful for a day off yesterday, when race organisers postponed racing for all but the Flying Dutchman and Star class. The 24-year-old came off the water bruised and grazed after struggling with the over-powered sailboard in winds up to 30 knots and giant waves steepened by a fast current. He had a booking with the team physiotherapist, Marion Thorgerson, for treatment yesterday. All but 18 of 45 starters dropped out of the race, and those that survived the course were exhausted by frequent spills. Even thrill-seeker Kendall found the conditions too much and reckons he was blown into the water about 15 times. The Lechner boards carrying 6.5 square metres of sail were seriously over-powered in the

strong winds and very hard to handle for Kendall, who is relatively light at 65kg. The Aucklander said he would have expected to carry about 3.5 sq m on a short board jn those conditions. “If I’d been out there on one of my fun boards, it would have been great,” he said. “I just didn’t think it was going to be that winjdy.” While Kendall kept his gold hopes alive, the defending Olympic Tornado champions, Rex Sellers and Chris Timms, saw their chances all but dashed when they finished sixth and dropped back to third over-all. Way out in front are the flying Frenchmen, Jean Yves Le Deroff and Nicolas Henard, promoted to first on Saturday when the winner, United States, was disqualified. With a 1-2-2-1-1 record, the French cannot lose unless disaster strikes in the last two races. Sellers and Timms and second-placed Brazil are just a few points apart vying for silver, but another three crews just behind them will be pressing hard for the medals. They had trouble just keeping the boat upright in Saturday’s 25-knot winds and towering 10foot . waves. The race leader, Great Britain, broke its mast and two others capsized in conditions Timms said were the most frightening he had ever sailed in. “It went beyond racing,” he said. “It was just

a matter of surviving.” Another to see hopes of gold take a hammering was the Finn sailor, John Cutler, who capsized. The Aucklander’s boat flipped coming off a huge wave and by the time he recovered he had lost contact with the leaders. He finished eighth and dropped from second over all to sixth. His big slide down the rankings was due in part to the change in scoring system, which now gives over-all places with the worst result left out. New Zealand’s Soling and men’s 470 crews revived their .medal prospects in Saturday’s atrocious sailing conditions while the other crews were taking a pounding. Peter Evans and Simon Mander had their best result, finishing second to get back into sixth place over-all in the 470. They need to finish well up today to stay in the hunt. Revelling in the rough weather of the fifth race, they were disappointed when racing was called off yesterday in similar conditions. The Soling crew — Tom Dobson, Aran Hansen, and Simon Daubney — are back with a good chance after their third placing on Saturday moved them up to fourth over-all from ninth. However, playing safe probably cost the Flying Dutchman crew its gold medal prospects yesterday when it finished thirteenth in a disastrous fifth race.