Kiel Week
2008
29 June
Kiel Day 5
Andrew Murdoch 3rd in Medal Race
at last Regatta before the Olympics
New Zealand's Olympic Representative in
Men's Single Handed Dinghy, Andrew Murdoch, has just finished third
in the Medal Race of the Kiel Week Regatta in Germany. Kiel
Week, with over 4,500 sailors competing, is the last ISAF Grade 1
Regatta before the Olympics. Andrew Murdoch finished
the Regatta strongly with a 3rd in the double points Medal Race
sailed by only the top ten sailors out of the 156 in Andrew's
fleet. The 3rd place in the Medal Race took Andrew
to 7th overall after Andrew had led the Regatta earlier in the
week. World #1 Tom Slingsby from Australia won the
Regatta after finishing 2nd in the Medal Race.
Winner, World #1 Tom
Slingsby, wore the Yellow Jersey from Day 2(event
media)
The Medal race was sailed inshore in
lighter sailing conditions, which are similar to those expected at
the Olympics so Andrew is pleased with his 3rd place.
Andrew now heads to China for some practice before heading back to
NZ before heading to China again for the Olympics. Andrew
is happy with his preparations so far for 2008 and is
expected to at least retain his #3 World Ranking after this
event.
28 June Kiel Day
4
Andrew Murdoch makes the cut for
the Top 10 Medal Race
Andrew Murdoch has maintained his
position in the Top 10 at the completion of the Gold
Fleet racing at the Kiel Week Regatta in
Germany. The Top 10 Sailors will now sail a double
points Medal Race tomorrow to determine their final place
at this last ISAF Grade 1 regatta before the
Olympics. The Top 10 sailors are from 10 different
nations and most of them will be sailing
in China representing their countries at the Olympics in
August. World #1 Tom Slingsby from Australia is the runaway
leader and only has to finish the race tomorrow to win the
Regatta. The last 2 podium places are realistically
only able to be secured by the Canadian, Portuguese and Swedish
sailors. Racing today was in strong 15 to 25 knot winds and
cold rain, the exact opposite of the conditions expected at the
Olympics. Conditions allowed the scheduled 3 races to be
sailed and Tom Slingsby wearing the leaders Yellow Jersey dominated
the first two races and has such a commanding lead of the Regatta
that he was able to sail home while the rest of the fleet sailed
the last race in the strengthening winds. Andrew Murdoch
steadied the ship today after yesterday's disappointment of
losing the Yellow Jersey and recorded a 9th, 7th, and 31st in the 3
races.
Chaos at the Top mark in Women's
Laser with NZL's Jo Aleh (centre in black)wondering were to go
(event media)
New Zealand's women Olympic Rep Jo Aleh
dropped out of the Top 10 today and will miss the Medal Race as she
collected another maximum points Black Flag Penalty which she is
unable to discard. Jo has sailed well at this Regatta and is
looking in very good form for China. Andrew Murdoch will head
into the Medal Race tomorrow determined to improve his position
as he has beaten everyone in the Top 10 over the course of the
Regatta.
27 June Kiel
Day 3
Wrong Side of Crazy Day drops Andrew
Murdoch to 5th
Conditions at Kiel
Week in Germany, the last big Regatta before the
Olympics, were described as "crazy" today. Kiwi number 1
Andrew Murdoch, who was the joint leader overnight, got the
worst of it, recording an uncharacteristic 24th and a Did Not
Complete (maximum points) in the final race.
The Race Committee had scheduled 3 races, but in the 180
degree wind shifts they struggled in the challenging conditions
to set square start lines and were only able to complete two
races. A storm front was expected but all sailors and
race officials got was lots of rain and plenty of crazy wind
shifts. Andrew Murdoch's scores of 24 and 53 for the day drop
him back to 5th on 32 points (he is able to discard the
53) as about half of the leading sailors suffered similar
results in the "crazy" day. World #1 and joint overnight
leader with Andrew Murdoch, Tom Slingsby from
Australia, was on the correct side of the big wind shifts
and recorded a win and a 2nd to retain the Yellow Jersey and
comfortably lead the Regatta on 8 points. The second
placed sailor, Rasmus Myrgren from Sweden, has almost
3 times as many points with 21.
Racing was a game of
"follow the leader" today caused by the big wind
shifts
Stronger more stable winds are forecast
for Saturday, the last day of finals racing, and
Andrew needs the maximum amount of races to be sailed to allow
him to claw his way back up the leader board. The goal is
to stay in the top ten and qualify to sail in the final, double
points and non-discardable, Medal Race on Sunday.
NZ's Olympic Representative in Womens Laser Radial, Jo
Aleh, had a good day and is currently in 4th in the Women's
event. Andrew and Jo are both well positioned to make the
Medal Race for their respective fleets.
26 June Kiel
Day 2
Andrew
Murdoch tied for the lead with World #1
New Zealand's Olympic
representative in the Single Handed Laser Dinghy, Andrew
Murdoch, dominated his fleet in the 3 races sailed
today. The Kiel Week Regatta in Germany is the last
Regatta before the Olympics for most of the sailors Andrew Murdoch
will be competing against in China. After 2 days
Andrew Murdoch is tied for the lead of the 156 boat
fleet with World #1 Tom Slingsby from Australia. The 156
sailors are split into 3 fleets for qualifying and yesterday Murdoch
and Slingsby had a win and 2nd as they sailed against each
other in the same fleet. Today there where in different fleets
and both won their respective first 2 races with Murdoch coming
3rd in the last race of the day and Slingsby 4th. They are
now tied for the lead on 5 points after allowing for
one discard now that 5 races have been
sailed. Tied for 3rd place behind them is yesterdays
leader from Portugal, Guatavo Lima & Greek sailor Adonis
Bougiouris on 9 points. The next best Kiwi sailor is Josh
Junior from Wellington who has 42 points in a tie for
32nd.
World #1 Tom Slingsby enjoyed the stronger winds today &
leads with Andrew (event media)
Sailing
conditions were perfect today along the Kiel Fjord which
allowed the organisers to complete the scheduled 3 races per
day. A Westerly breeze of 11 16 knots, with gusts up to 20
knots kept the Lasers planning and surfing around the course
and the sailors working very hard when sailing upwind. Many of
the Olympic sailors have been on strict weight loss programmes for
the light winds expected in China so today was a bit of a shock as
most sailors are well below their normal body weights. It
was partly sunny with cloud cover which can be very
cold in Northern Germany and the photo above shows Tom Slingsby
wearing the leaders "Yellow Jersey" which the
organisers have introduced in the this Regatta along with
a Pink & a Green Jersey for 2nd & 3rd. Tomorrow Andrew
will be wearing the "Yellow Jersey" for the first day of
the 2 day, 6 race finals series, before the Top
10 sail off in the Medal race on Sunday.
Andrew said of
today's racing:
"Racing
has been pretty tight, but I have been doing well in the tight
situations and have been making some good decisions so far which is
great. I have been starting well, but we had a few black flag starts
today and some recalls which made things tough. You have to be
right there pushing the starts but you can't get Black flagged so it
is very tricky."
Of the sailing
conditions he said:
"Yep it was hard
work, it probably got up to 20 knots but also was dropping out
to 10 knots or less at times. I certainly worked hard today, I am
still feeling fit and well though"
With the two race
wins Andrew pretty much led from start to finish. In the third
race he picked the big left hand shift just before the start
and started at the favoured Pin end:
"In the 3rd race we
had a big shift left prior to start, I was at the pin end and tacked
over as soon as possible, it faded back to left and a few of the
guys who had got onto port earlier did well, I rounded the top in
4th the first time. I managed to fight back to 2nd at one stage but
finished 3rd"
6 Race finals series
starts tomorrow.
25 June Kiel
Day 1
Great Start
to Kiel Week for Andrew Murdoch
New Zealand's
Olympic representative in the Men's One Person Dinghy (Laser
dinghy), Andrew Murdoch, has made a great start to the last
major sailing regatta before the Olympic Games. Andrew,
currently ranked #3 in the World, started the Regatta with a
win and a 2nd which leaves him tied on points for second place with
World #1 Tom Slingsby from Australia. The Laser fleet
has a massive 156 boats sailing, so the Regatta
organisers have had to split the sailors into 3 separate
fleets. These fleets will be changed each day with the
intention that all sailors will get a chance to sail against each
other. Later in the Regatta the Top 50 sailors from
qualifying rounds will be split off to sail in the Gold Fleet
to determine the overall winner .
Mark roundings are always exciting with
156 boats sailing
( event media)
Today Andrew Murdoch
was arguably sailing in the hardest of the 3 fleets, with World #1
ranked sailor and 2007 & 2008 World Champion Tom Slingsby
from Australia in his fleet. The conditions today were
challenging as the winds were unstable ranging between 6 & 12
knots and swinging between the East and the South
East. Andrew got a good start in the first race and
he battled hard with Tom Slingsby all through the race to beat him
at the finish and win the race. In the 2nd race of the day
Andrew got another great start and again duelled with
Slingsby but this time the World Champion won with Andrew
2nd. Andrew enjoyed the days racing and said of the
day:
"I started well in
both races and duked it out with Slingsby in both races, lots of
fun!"
The firsts and
seconds leave Andrew and Tom Slingsby tied for 2nd place on 3 points
behind 2003 World Champion from Portugal, Gustavo Lima, who
sailed in a different fleet and won both his races on 2
points. 4th place on 6 points is Abe Torchinsky from
Canada. Other Kiwi's in the fleet are Josh Junior 18th, Matt
Coutts 50th, Max Andrews 73rd, Sam Meech who will be representing NZ
at the Youth World Championships soon was 81st. Tomorrow the
fleets will be changed again as qualifying racing
continues.
(For Sailors)
Andrew has been using the Rooster Layered DS system for
2008 supplied by www.nzsailing.net and on his last trip back to NZ we
updated his sailing equipment for the Olympics. An
article on the changes Andrew has made for the Olympics will be
released shortly. To give you some idea of the magnitude of the
changes, at the start of the year Andrew was using the
large size Pro-Hike Shorts with the standard leg and the
large Hike Pads. In the races today he used the small
Pro-Hike Shorts with the standard leg and the medium Hike
Pads. Andrew uses the large, medium and small Hike Pads
depending on conditions. Today he said:
" I am loving the
smaller size hikers and pads and I used the medium pads
today"
Big changes for
China!
Introduction to Kiel Week
There
are just under 50 days before the first race
starts at the 2008 Olympics. New
Zealand's representative in the Men's One Person
Dinghy, Andrew Murdoch, is now in Germany for the
last major regatta before the games.
4,500 sailors
are expected, from more than 50 nations for the Kiel Week
Regatta and they will sail in craft ranging from Olympic Class
Dinghies to Offshore Yachts. Andrew will be competing in
the most competitive class, the Laser, against 150 other
sailors. Most of his competitors at the upcoming Olympics will
be racing as they all take this last chance of serious
competition before the games. Andrew is currently ranked 3rd
in the World and is back in Europe after coming second in his last
ISAF Grade 1 Regatta, the Semaine Olympique Francaise at Hyeres
in France.
Andrew working his boat through the big
waves at the 2008 Asia Pacific Championships and the ISAF Grade 1
Regatta, Sail Melbourne, on his way to
2nd overall and beating the World #1 Tom Slingsby from
Australia into 3rd .
2008 has been a very
busy year for Andrew with trips to China in preparation for the
Olympics, while also competing on the ISAF Grade 1 circuit around
the world. Andrew has had some great results so far this
season and as part of his sponsorship by www.nzsailing.net we will be providing updates of Andrew's progress towards the
Olympics. We will also be reviewing his results and
preparation this season and providing some tips for all those
sailors who want to sail as fast as Andrew. We will be
publishing these news stories and articles on this website, so keep
checking it regularly and click on the links on the right hand side
to view Andrew's supporters.
2007
News
