KIWI SAILORS LEADING THE 420 WORLDS OPEN FLEET BY STAYING "CHILL"
“Stay chill, don’t get mad at each other,” Seb Menzies says is the secret to his top performance with crew Blake McGlashan (NZL) at the 2018 420 World Championships at Sail Newport.
This morning, we caught up with some of the front of fleet talent here at the 420 Worlds.
The Kiwi partnership is in first place with a comfortable lead in the 420 Open class going in to Race Day 5 in Newport. They have been sailing together for over a year, and but have found the groove with top speed and clean solid racing. They count three first place finishes of the six races so, to count a tidy 11 points overall.
“We need to keep starting well,” McGlashan added, "and think about our main priorities.”
The sailors were relaxed about the heavy rain and shrugged off the diffiicult sailing conditions over the past three days, because, “we’re used to it in New Zealand,” Menzies laughed. “It feels like home but warmer.”
The team said their 5th place finish in the 2017 Youth Sailing World Championship prepared them for the Worlds in Newport by teaching them to think about their main priorities on the race course. It’s clearly working for the Kiwi sailors whose worst finish has been a sixth place in a 73-boat fleet of the world’s top youth sailors.
In the U17 fleet, Jacobo Garcia /Antoni Ripoll (ESP) have trained hard and are coming off a win two weeks ago at the 420 Junior European Youth Championship.
"We’re trying to avoid problems and going with the fleet," Ripoll explained, before adding, "We’re not going it alone."
The pair are leading the 42 boat Under 17 Fleet with 31 total points after one race discard.
Only one point separates them from second placed team Melina Pappa/Maria Tsamoloulio representing Greece.
"We need to finish in the top seven today, and start well in every race," to hold on to their lead Pappa said.
Racing continues today and the last day of racing is tomorrow, 15 August 2018.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Follow the 420 World Championship via our daily reports, photos, video and 420 Class Championship APP.
Championship Website: 2018worlds.420sailing.org
Results - http://2018worlds.420sailing.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall
Photo Service – Daily photo galleries will be provide in high and low resolution on a daily basis free of rights for editorial use only. Team photo requests for editorial use should be made to: office@420sailing.org
All images used should include the official photograph credit as per the photo.
Championship APP - the 420 Class is running a Championship APP for the 2018 420 World Championship so you can keep up to date with all the racing action from your favourite sailors wherever you are
Video and Photos – daily videos and photos will be produced for social media and websites, which will be available on the Championship website and 420 Class social media.
Social – you can follow the 420 World Championship on:
Championship website - 2018worlds.420sailing.org
420 on Facebook - www.facebook.com/International420ClassAssociation
420 on Twitter - twitter.com/420class
420 on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/Int420Dinghy
Get social using #420Worlds #420Class
Media enquiries to: Kim.Cooper@sailnewport.org and office@420sailing.org
About the 2018 420 World, Women’s World and U17 World Championships
The 2018 420 World, Women’s World and U17 World Championships, 7-15 August 2018, is hosted at Sail Newport, Rhode Island, USA. 336 sailors from 18 nations are competing, with 71 boats in the Open fleet, 53 in the Women and 44 in the U17. The 420 Open teams are split into two fleets for a 6 race qualification series and 6 race final series, with a single race discard coming into play after race three. Teams contesting the Women and U17 World Championships race a single series of 12 races, with a single race discard after race three.
Nations competing: Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, USA and US Virgin Islands.
About the International 420 Class Association
The 420 is an established worldwide performance two-person trapeze and spinnaker racing dinghy which holds status as an International Class and Learn-to-Sail boat.
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