Sailing: Mishaps slow Kendall and Barker

7.45am - By JENNI RUTHERFORD

ATHENS - Barbara Kendall was the latest New Zealander to topple into the drink after a dream start in a bid for a fourth consecutive Olympic medal.

In first place after her opening race in the Mistral regatta, Kendall was hit from behind by Israeli woman Lee Korzits in race two, losing her balance and falling off her board.

Kendall had to take a penalty for the mishap but finished a respectable ninth and is third overall.

Rowers Juliette Haigh and Nicky Coles were the first Kiwis to sample the water when they fell out of their boat on the first day of competition during their women's pairs race.

Kendall, chasing a place in New Zealand history for an unprecedented fourth straight medal, judged the wind shifts perfectly to steal first place in her opening race.

It was a nail-biting finish for Kendall, pipping Faustine Merret of France and Hong Kong's Lai Shan Lee to the line.

But a disastrous start to her second race unravelled much of her good work when she had to take a penalty turn after falling into the water.

"She was pretty fired up after that," said husband and coach Shayne Bright.

Bright told NZPA that Kendall was pleased with her standing after the first day of racing.

"She's sitting in third, two points behind first place, so it's been a good day."

The stronger winds, which were up to 25 knots during Kendall's second race suited the Aucklander, helping her from 20th place after taking the penalty to remain in contention behind Italy's Alessandra Sensini and Olga Maslivets of the Ukraine.

Another high profile name also came too close to the Aegean Sea for comfort when Dean Barker's boat capsized during his second race of the day.

The Team New Zealand skipper was still able to move up the Finn class rankings from seventh to fourth after his two races finishing 7th and 11th consecutively.

"He was up about sixth or seventh at the time and dropped back to about 22nd, so he actually sailed a really good race to get back to get back to 11th," New Zealand manager Don Cowie said.

The women's Yngling crew of Sharon Ferris, Joanna White and Kylie Jameson had a much better day out the Agios Kosmos course after a disastrous start in their first day of racing.

"It was a great day for the girls, but it's still early days," Cowie said. "There's 11 races and they've only had four."

After finishing in 15th and 16th place in their first two races yesterday, the keelboat trio had a positive day on the water recording two third place efforts to elevate their overall position to ninth out of 16 teams.

Europe sailor Sarah Macky began her second Olympic campaign today and is in seventh place overall.

The 24-year-old Aucklander was 14th out of 25 sailors after her opening race but recovered to be in the top ten after finishing fourth in her second attempt.

In the men's Mistral, Thomas Ashley lies in 10th place after opening with a 17th place finish and following that up with a more promising eighth.

Hamish Pepper sits in 16th out of 42 sailors in the Laser class.

In the 470s, the men's crew of Andrew Brown and Jamie Hunt are in 27th and last place after another trying day out on the course, finishing at the back of the field after they tore a spinnaker in half in one of their races.

The women's crew of Shelley Hesson and Linda Dickson advanced from eighth to fifth place on 29 points, 18 points adrift of the leading Greek team. The duo finished 10th and 5th respectively in their races.

- NZPA