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Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga sailors Meech and Saunders to contest Laser worlds in Croatia

Bay of Plenty Times
13 Sep, 2017 11:31 PM3 mins to read

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WORLD CLASS: Tauranga's Sam Meech is one of the favourites ahead of the Laser world championships in Croatia. PHOTO: photosport

WORLD CLASS: Tauranga's Sam Meech is one of the favourites ahead of the Laser world championships in Croatia. PHOTO: photosport

Sam Meech tends to finish regattas strongly, gaining momentum like the Fremantle Doctor blowing into Western Australia.

But like the famed Perth sea breeze, the Tauranga sailor can take a while to build up speed. It happened at last month's world championships test event in Aarhus, when he was 43rd after the first day only to storm back and claim bronze, and he also started slowly at the Hyeres World Cup regatta in April, scraping into the top 10 medal race which he finished third in.

Read more: Tauranga sailors have proud 49er legacy to follow at worlds
Sam Meech and Saunders brothers in form

Meech knows he needs a good start at the Laser world championships in Split, Croatia, which starts tonight (NZ time).

"If I sail well, I hope to have a shot at winning a medal," said Meech, who last year became the first New Zealander to win an Olympic medal in the Laser class when he collected bronze.

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"I do quite enjoy the racing as it goes through the regatta. It was like that at Aarhus and Hyeres where I moved up quite a lot over the last couple of days. I'm confident that if I don't start very well I can come back but it would be really nice not to be in that situation."

It could be really important in Split, with light winds predicted for a large part of the six-day regatta.

"It's not looking great," Meech said.

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"This could be an event when you spend a lot of time sitting around."

The Laser fleet lost two out of the four scheduled days to light winds for the practice regatta.

Meech finished third in that event and was also second in a special knockout competition sailed at night in the marina to the backdrop of music playing and locals enjoying a few drinks.

The Mornar Grand Prix is billed as the world's shortest regatta, with a beat barely 100m long, and Meech was joined in the star-studded field of nine sailors by Tauranga's Tom Saunders.

Saunders looms as another contender this week.

He sailed consistently well all week at the world championships test event, featuring in the top three of the standings from the outside in a quality field.

He was on course for bronze in the medal race until he picked up a penalty for pumping in the final lap, allowing Meech a slight opening he took.

Saunders is one of a handful looking to usurp Meech as New Zealand's top Laser sailor and win the spot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and needs to do that with top results at pinnacle events.

Andrew McKenzie is also among that group and will be in Split along with promising youngster George Gautrey.

Meech is aware others want his New Zealand bib but knows good competition can only help his Olympic and world championship prospects.

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"It's really good to have training partners otherwise, when you are at home, you have no one to keep you up to speed," he said.

"I would much rather get beaten by the Kiwis and finish near the podium than be the first Kiwi in tenth or something."

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