34 Breeze Magazine
Hot favourites in the 49er Class, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke’s Silver was New Zealand’s only sailing medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Sailing Energy / World Sailing Photo.
Hard lessons from Covid Games By Ivor Wilkins Just under half of New Zealand’s record 20-strong medal haul at the Tokyo Olympic Games came from watersports, primarily rowing with three golds and two silvers, and kayaking with three golds. Sailing’s contribution, however, was confined to a single silver medal. The customary review that will follow the Tokyo result will reflect on why an experienced group (only the Nacra pair were making their Olympic debut) produced the worst sailing result since 2004 in Greece when sailing produced no medals at all; Barbara Kendall, competing in her fourth of five Olympic appearances, produced the best sailing result at Athens with a 5th place in boardsailing. “We will be doing a debrief with our athletes, our coaches and our management team,” said Yachting New Zealand CEO David Abercrombie, who acknowledged there was
no hiding from the disappointing result. “We will debrief properly and try to determine where the gaps were and where we need to step up.” “Our sailors had prepared well, despite the challenges brought about by Covid, and came in with high expectations,” added YNZ High Performance Director Ian Stewart. “We saw some clinical performances in classes and our sailors had their moments. However, inconsistencies cost points and our team will naturally go home with the feeling of what might have been.” Yachting commentator Peter Lester, who attended the Games in Tokyo, said New Zealand’s traditional weakness in light air sailing was evident once again at Enoshima, but a failure to capitalise when the breeze was up proved costly. He also questioned whether leaping into the SailGP circuit straight after the America’s
Cup impacted the results of Burling and Tuke in the 49er and Josh Junior in the Finn. “Nobody admires the talents of Burling and Tuke more than I do,” said Lester, “but some poor starts and Burling falling off the boat in Race Five point to uncharacteristic mistakes that suggest not enough time on the boat.” Burling and Tuke were the defending Olympic champions and reigning world champions, but came away with the silver medal after a tight battle in the final medal race. “A question for the debrief is what impact did SailGP have on their preparation. I would say it was considerable,” said Lester. Josh Junior’s 5th place result in the Finn was two better than his 7th at the 2016 Rio Games, but well below expectation. Following the unprecedented Finn Gold Cup performance in Portugal earlier this year – when Andy Maloney won the title and Junior was 3rd – New Zealand came into the class’s Olympic
