Sailing: Gold again for NZ pair

Blair Tuke and Peter Burling are hoping to improve further before the Olympics.

New Zealand have won gold in the 49er and silver in the Laser at the Sailing World Cup in Hyeres, France.

Peter Burling and Kerikeri's Blair Tuke had their 49er medal secure before starting yesterday's race and Sam Meech's silver in the Laser came after a dramatic on-water tussle.

New Zealand also collected two medal race victories with Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie in the women's 470 and Andy Maloney in the Laser finishing on a high note.

Burling and Tuke were fourth in yesterday's medal race, finishing the regatta ahead by 46 points for their 26th consecutive regatta win.

With the Olympic Games now less than 100 days away, they see this victory as another stepping stone towards Rio.

"We are really happy with how we have been going at the moment but still like we have been saying, we have a lot of hard work to do over the next three or four months just to finish it off and finish off the final detailing," said Burling. "If Rio was tomorrow I don't feel like I think we are ready yet, so we've still got plenty in the tank to go and we are looking forward to the challenge."

The second New Zealand 49er crew of Logan Dunning Beck and Jack Simpson ended the regatta in 32nd place.

Meech won his Laser silver after finishing third in yesterday's race. Consistency through the four days of fleet racing saw him in a strong position to win a medal, lying fourth going into the medal race.

"I'm feeling fantastic, really happy with the result," said Meech. "Obviously, it's coming close to our selection so finishing in front of the other Kiwis hopefully helps."

With a second Olympic selection announcement for sailing still pending, the Laser class will be one of the toughest decisions the selectors have to make.

Asked if he thought this result was enough for selection, Meech said. "I guess we'll find out. I've just been trying to ... get the best overall result I can to give me the best chance."

Aleh and Powrie were pushed out of medal contention after a black flag in the final fleet race of the regatta and went into the medal race sixth overall.

And with nothing to lose and plenty to prove the Kiwis took out the women's 470 medal race yesterday to finish fourth overall.