Burling boat on course for 420 worlds

If the past two months are an indicator, Tauranga's Peter Burling and his Auckland crewmate Carl Evans are already halfway to the world 420 championships in the Canary Islands.
The fledgling 420 duo, who hooked up just before Christmas, confirmed their class again at the weekend when they streaked the North Island 420 title at the annual Tauranga Dirty Dog Regatta on Tauranga Harbour.
They won five of their six races in the 26-boat fleet and were second in the other _ a result they had the luxury of discarding. It follows the four-day Sail Auckland regatta off Kohimarama where they grabbed eight wins from 10 races to dominate the two-handed class.
Evans, who is helmsman, said the combination was working well, although it was developing more through hard work than natural talent.
Last weekend's regatta was another stepping stone towards selection for the upcoming world 420 championships in the Canary Island and the youth world regatta in England.
"It's my first time in a 420 and it's been a big step up from P-class _ heaps faster and with two in the boat," Evans, who this year won the P-class Tauranga and Tanner Cups off Taranaki, said.
"Peter and I have been spending every second weekend training together either here (Tauranga) or in Kohimarama."
At the weekend they held off Tauranga pairing Jason Saunders and Bruce Kennedy for 420 honours. Kennedy and Burling sailed together at the 420 world championships last year.
To get to the youth world championships they need to win the national trial in Christchurch, although the top-seven crews in the open selection trial off Plimmerton qualify for the 420 worlds.
"We're probably looking quite good for the 420 worlds," Burling said, "but qualifying for the youth worlds will be tougher. Bruce and Jason are our main rivals and they're sailing really well.
"We're hopeful because we've improved so much in the last month but there's heaps more to do."
Evans hails from a non-sailing family, his interest in the sport came through the Waterwise educational programme at Titirangi Primary where he grappled with a plastic Optimist.
Tauranga's Thomas Saunders took out the Optimist open division with three wins, with Tauranga's Cole Rippey dominating the Optimist green fleet with four wins.
Hamilton siblings Sam and Molly Meech took out the Starling and P-Class divisions.
Dirty Dog Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Regatta:
Optimist Green Fleet: 1 Cole Rippey (Tauranga), 2 Olivia Nelson (Tauranga), 3 Brandon Hailwood (Tauranga).
Optimist Open Fleet: 1 Thomas Saunders (Tauranga), 2 Wade Tersadern (Napier), 3 Luke Stevenson (Tauranga).
P-Class fleet: 1 Molly Meech (Hamilton), 2 Oscar Rorvik (Tauranga), 3 Katie DeLange (Hamilton).
Starling fleet: 1 Sam Meech (Hamilton), 2 Darren Kennedy (Tauranga), 3 Adam Locke (Hamilton).
Zephyr fleet: 1 Damian Langley (Hamilton), 2 Bob Smyth (Tauranga), 3 Bill Faulkner (Tauranga).
Laser fleet: 1 Scott Burling (Tauranga), 2 Barry Cutfield (Whakatane), 3 Richard Burling (Tauranga).
3.7 fleet: 1 Mark O'Brien (Hamilton), 2 Lance O'Connell (Rotorua), 3 Paul Carpenter (Taupo).
420 fleet: 1 Carl Evans (Kohimarama)-Peter Burling (Tauranga), 2 Jason Saunders (Tauranga)-Bruce Kennedy (Tauranga), 3 Shelley Hesson (Murrays Bay)-Bianca Barbarich Bacher (Murrays Bay).
Multi-Hull: 1 Zak Shewan (Tauranga)-Steven Christophers (Tauranga).