Yachting: Making it in (a) Europe

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Sarah Macky lives her life in the fast lane off and on the water but that hasn't stopped her focusing on winning a spot at next year's Athens Olympics.

Back home after a series of regattas in which she established herself as one of the top Europe dinghy sailors, Macky has no time to sit back and reflect.

Out training on the Waitemata Harbour, Macky will be back in Europe next month for the pre-Olympics in Athens and the crucial world championships in the southern Spanish city of Cadiz from September 11-25.

Since leaving home in March, Macky, who has had almost six years in the class and finished ninth at the Sydney Olympics, has raced in Europe, trained and coached at Rhode Island and been skiing in the US.

After blowing the chance of a top-two finish in one ISAF regatta where she dropped from second to sixth with a "terrible last day", Macky finished third in a regatta in France.

"Everybody except the Chinese were there. There was a fleet of 120 which made the start vital," said Macky. "After that I sailed the European championships which were just as big as what we can expect at the worlds."

Again Macky finished third.

"Both times I was beaten by the same people but there was always someone different in fourth place."

With a change in Yachting New Zealand's Olympic selection policy, Macky is fully aware of the importance of the world championships.

Any New Zealand sailor (or crew) finishing in the top five in their class at the worlds, providing no other New Zealander finishes in the top 10 in the same class, will be given automatic Olympic nomination.

With Macky a genuine contender and with New Zealand's next-best, Kate O'Brien, some way back, Macky has a chance to grab that early Olympic spot and not worry about the traditional Olympicsail trials next year.

"It would be great to know I was going to the Olympics and be able to spend as much time as possible in Europe preparing," said 23-year-old Macky, who already has two boats in Europe awaiting her return.

"I have one ready for the pre-Olympic regatta and my best boat in Cadiz for the worlds."

At $15,000 they don't come cheap but if she can clinch her place at a second Olympics, Macky - who yesterday received a grant from the New Zealand International Yachting Trust to help offset the cost of her preparation - knows it will be money well spent.

As well as Macky, board sailors Barbara Kendall, Jon-Paul Tobin and Thomas Ashley and the world champion 470 crew of Simon Cooke and Peter Nicholas are regarded as likely top-five contenders in Cadiz.

Depending on their results, Olympicsail, scheduled for January 16-24 off Torbay, could be contested by six or less classes. Four classes, Star, Yngling, 49er and Finn, are regarded as inactive here and will make Olympic bids overseas. Yachting New Zealand expects to be represented in all 11 classes in Athens.