New Zealand's Josh Junior has jumped to second overall after day two of the 2016 Finn European Championships on now in Barcelona, Spain.
The massive fleet of Olympic heavy-weight dinghy campaigners, featuring two of the NZL Sailing Team who are in the build-up to Rio 2016, sailed two races
today, and have another four days of racing yet to come.
Junior, from the Worser Bay Boating Club in Wellington, was lying eighth going into today and has improved in the standings after placing sixth in today's first race and then winning the next.
"It was a really epic day and nice to win one," said Josh Junior after racing. "I just had a good start, sailed up the middle of the course, rounded the top mark in the top 10 and I was going really quick downwind so managed to get up to first and held on from there."
"Today ended up being an awesome sailing breeze. We had 12 to 14 knots and the waves got up really big and choppy so it was fun downwind. I think tomorrow it's going to go offshore so could be a completely different day."
Milan Vujasinovic of Croatia retains his day one lead and is the early standout in the fleet. He leads with seven points, with Junior from New Zealand eight points behind on 15. Then there is a 10 point gap back to third place held by Zsombor Berecz from Hungary.
Andrew Murdoch, who represents both the Kerikeri Cruising Club and the Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club, has also improved his overall position after today. The two-time Olympian was 26th in race two and fourth in race three and lifts to 13th overall.
John Cutler, Olympic bronze medallist in the Finn at Soeul 1988, is coach to the NZL Sailing Team Finn squad.
Exactly five months from today, on August 9, racing at the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Regatta gets underway on Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro. The battle for the only Finn spot for New Zealand is likely to be one of the toughest decisions selectors will face.
