Alex Maloney and Molly Meech were set to head to the sailing World Championships in Denmark. Photo / Getty Images.
Alex Maloney and Molly Meech were set to head to the sailing World Championships in Denmark. Photo / Getty Images.
Alex Maloney and Molly Meech could look to a future in off-shore racing after their careers in the 49er FX class have come to an end.
While the pair were fully focused on the 49er FX class and this year's World Championships, a switch to off-shore racing later in theirsailing careers wasn't out of the question.
"We're both very eager to give it a go and start with some smaller ocean races and see if it's our cup of tea," Maloney said.
"We don't know for sure, but it's definitely an exciting option."
Any switch would be a long way down the track for the Rio Olympics silver medallists, though, as they were headed into the World Championships with one eye already on the 2020 Games.
"We've definitely set ourselves some goals and one is to qualify New Zealand a spot for the 49er FX in the Olympics," Meech said. "In conjunction with that we're aiming for a pretty high finish at the Worlds this year."
The World Championships were set to be held in Denmark in August; however the pair would be leaving New Zealand later this month for a few warm-up events to "get back into race mode."
"We've had a really good summer of training," Maloney said. "We've had a Norwegian team down for like six weeks and some Australian teams so it feels like it's been really productive and we're excited to get over to Europe."
The pair competed in their first Olympic Games in 2016, and instantly had a positive impact on New Zealand's medal tally. They followed that up with a bronze at the 2017 World Championships in Portugal.
While they were leaving the country in a few weeks, the two were able to enjoy some time off training with the Volvo Ocean Race in town, and took school children sailing on Thursday at Auckland's Viaduct Harbour.
Alex Maloney takes some passengers for a sail. Photo / Yachting New Zealand.
Meech said having the event in town was great for sailing, not only to raise the profile and get more people interested in the sport, but also for inspiring fellow sailors.
"I think it's pretty amazing to have the Volvo here," Meech said. "Even for us to see the boats come in he other night, we were so excited to see them all, especially with so many Kiwis on board this time around.
"The event brings a lot of attention towards sailing in general and to see these kids come down today and have a go with us is really cool."
