Yachting: Conditions put wind up Shearer

By JULIE ASH


With strong winds and big seas, 470 sailor Jan Shearer admits there was a second or two yesterday afternoon when she wondered what had possessed her to have another tilt at the Olympics.

After five of 11 races in the New Zealand Olympic trials, Shearer and team-mate Melinda Henshaw trail the other 470 women's crew of Shelley Hesson and Linda Dickson by three points.

But while Hesson and Dickson have been together for the last three years, Shearer, who won a silver medal in 1992 with Lesley Egnot, teamed up with Henshaw just before Christmas.

"The body is not bad. I expected to end up visiting the physio pretty quick and I kept saying, 'I don't know if I am going to be able to do this'," said Shearer, who is married to Alinghi strategist Murray Jones.

"It is just fun to come back and see what is going on and not take it too seriously. But today, when it was really windy and we got hammered, it was kind of like, 'How did I get into this, what am I doing out here'?"

Shearer and Henshaw led the charge on the first day of the trials, but Hesson and Dickson, who qualified New Zealand a spot in the class at last year's world champs, fought back on day two and finished fifth yesterday, one place ahead of Shearer and Henshaw.

"It is tough ... they have done three seasons in Europe. But I think it is good for them to have another crew out there," Shearer said.

If Shearer and Henshaw do manage to nab the spot, it will be Shearer's fourth Olympics.

"I haven't done any sailing for eight years so it is a real long shot," she conceded." And it is very much a team sport. Because Lesley and I had sailed together for so long we got on really well; that's why it worked - you just knew each other so well."

Because there are only two women's crews vying for the spot, the women and men are racing together in the trials.

"It is okay when it there are light winds, but once it gets breezy we are at a disadvantage because we have less weight and strength," Shearer said.

The men's 470 spot is expected to go down to the wire, with Christchurch's Keen brothers, Phillip and Stephen, holding a two-point lead over Andrew Brown and Jamie Hunt. Simon Cooke and Andrew Gair are another point back.

Despite capsizing, Brown and Hunt picked up their second win of the regatta yesterday, finishing well ahead of the Keens and Cooke and Gair.

Hamish Pepper secured his first win in the Laser class and is now equal on points with Andrew Murdoch.

Rod Dawson and Nik Burfoot are seven points back, while Dan Slater is hanging on a further point back.

The closest race of the day came in the men's mistral class, where Jon-Paul Tobin pipped Tom Ashley at the post.

Overall, Ashley heads the class. He has a one-point lead over Wells, who was third yesterday, while Tobin is a further two points back.

New Zealand have qualified in seven of a possible 11 Olympic classes.

Only Barbara Kendall has secured an individual Olympic nomination after finishing within the top five at the 2003 world champs.

The trials will determine NZ's representatives in five classes. The Finn representative will be decided after a series of overseas regattas.

Racing is scheduled to continue today. However, with strong winds again forecast, it is likely to be postponed until Friday to allow the selectors to see the competitors perform in lighter conditions, similar to what is expected in Athens.