Sailing: Tricky winds bring tough day for New Zealanders

7.40am - By MARK GEENTY

ATHENS - Barbara Kendall epitomised New Zealand's frustrating day on the water as the team struggled to improve their positions on day four of the Olympic sailing regatta here today.

Kendall, third overnight after the first two races, made a horror start to race three as she was too quick off the start and incurred an automatic last placing in the 27-strong Mistral fleet.

The good news for Kendall, who won race one and is chasing a fourth consecutive Olympic medal, was that she can drop off her worst finish from the first five races.

Race four never got going as the tricky, shifty breeze dropped to near zero, leaving Kendall 13th overall.

"That's only three races for Barbara and she's pretty happy with her performance so far," team manager Don Cowie said.

"She's tough and she can come back from today."

Cowie, a former Olympic silver medallist, was still irked at the happenings of the last 48 hours when yesterday's racing was called off when winds got too high.

Today, the breeze barely rose above five knots and in shifts of up to 80 degrees the field scattered and results fluctuated.

"It was a bit of a tough day for everyone, a very shifty, light day.

"We definitely should have raced yesterday so it's been a bit frustrating for us so far."

It was a tough day for another medal hope Sarah Macky whose fortunes in the Europe class changed as dramatically as the wind.

Placed eighth overnight, Macky jumped to fifth after race three, but it all changed in race four as she ended 19th to be 13th overall.

The surprise packages of the team have been the women's 470 crew of Shelley Hesson and Linda Dickson who were fifth overnight and in a prominent spot early in race five today.

But they struggled in the wind shifts and dropped back to finish 17th, and ended the day 11th overall after an 18th placing in race six, where Cowie said they almost ground to a halt in the still air.

Cowie still thought the pair, both sailing at their first Olympics, could make an impact at the business end.

"They've had good results in Europe and started this regatta really well. I'd give them a good chance of being up there."

Laser sailor Hamish Pepper struggled to break from the pack, finishing 26th in race three and 11th in race four to move up two places to 14th.

The men's 470 combination of Andrew Brown and Jamie Hunt marginally improved their horror time to date, finishing 23rd and 11th to haul up one place from the foot of the fleet to 26th.

Men's boardsailor Thomas Ashley had both his races postponed in light winds, after his tidy seventh placing in race one.

Finn sailor Dean Barker and the women's Yngling crew of Sharon Ferris, Kylie Jameson and Joanna White resume tomorrow.

- NZPA