New Zealand 470 sailors Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie hope to be showered in treats and shorn of boat-washing duties all of this week after causing the big boilover yesterday at the national 470 yachting nationals on Tauranga harbour.
Aleh and crewmate Olivia Powrie have qualified for the 2012 London Olympics and yesterday added the national 470 crown to the cabinet, handing newly selected 470 men's Olympic crew Paul Snow-Hansen (Wakatere) and Jason Saunders (Tauranga) a lesson in light-air sailing to dominate the eight race regatta which was condensed to two days after a windless wait on Friday.
Aleh (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron) and Powrie (Takapuna) won five of the eight races, including all three yesterday, to finish on 12 points after discarding their worst finish, a fourth.
Young Tauranga duo Luke Stevenson and Sam Bullock were second, six points back, after two wins and a further trio of top-three finishes, while leading Australian 470 women's crew Elise Rechichi and Belinda Stowell, who are still chasing Olympic selection, clawed their way to third on countback, finishing on the same points as Stevenson and Bullock after two seconds behind Aleh and Powrie in the final two races yesterday.
Snow-Hansen and Saunders were a distant fourth, failing to win a single race.
Aleh, 25, and Powrie, 23, were third at last year's world championships in Perth and plan to milk the weekend win for all its worth when they next see their Olympic teammates on Takapuna beach.
"We've already told them 9am Monday at Taka cafe, coffees and breakfast on them, but we'll be lucky to see them after that result," Powrie joked. "They're probably a bit sheepish right now although we'll say we beat them all the time," Aleh added.
"They've been having good run but we're fairly even most times in training, although you'll never hear them admit that."
Saunders, 21, was making few excuses and hinted at a bit of time out of the boat for him and Snow-Hansen before their Olympic build-up intensifies.
"It wasn't a good regatta for us and we didn't sail well but we have to accept the result and move on," Saunders said. "It was light air and suited the girls more but that's not an excuse."
Saunders said tactically they made poor decisions, and while they tipped Aleh and Powrie as a crew to watch they didn't expect to be watching the back of their boat so much. "Tactically things didn't happen out on the water like they should and felt a bit stale so a break will help us freshen up."
Last year's results, which also included a World Cup win in Weymouth, leave Aleh and Powrie firm contenders for a podium finish at the Olympics.
Powrie said one of the big things the pair got out of their Sail for Gold victory was learning more about Weymouth, where she described the conditions as unpredictable and different to other parts of Europe.
"After sailing a lot in Europe Weymouth was a change. It's a lot colder, a bit like home in winter, and the wind and the waves seem to be closer to home. You get a bit of everything thrown at you, four seasons in a day, so versatility helps." Aleh made her Olympic debut at the 2008 Beijing Games, where she was seventh in the single-handed Laser Radial dinghy class. She and Powrie teamed up in 2009 and have risen rapidly internationally.
"We're still relatively new as a pair because 470 crews tend to hang in there for multiple cycles, and we're ticking off things as we go. Because we're based down here and don't tend to go to every regatta we still fly under the radar a bit."
Aleh said the weekend regatta, their last in New Zealand before the Olympics, was an ideal shakedown, with just seven crews and tight racing on the short inner harbour course.
National 470 championships:
1 Jo Aleh (RNZYZ)/Olivia Powrie (Takapuna) 3 4 1 4 1 1 1 1 = 16 (12), 2 Luke Stevenson/Sam Bullock (Tauranga Yacht and Powerboat Club) 2 1 5 1 2 5 4 3 = 23 (18), 3 Elise Rechichi/Belinda Stowell (Australia) 1 2 3 3 5 6 2 2 = 24 (18), 4 Paul Snow-Hansen (Wakatere)/Jason Saunders (Tauranga Yacht and Powerboat Club) 4 5 2 2 6 2 5 4 = 30 (24).