Paris2024: Nacra16's in with a chance at making NZ sailing history

Micah Wilkinson & Erica Dawson NZL) in the Mixed Multihull on August 4 in Marseille at the Paris 2024 Olympic Regatta © World Sailing / Lloyd Images

Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson overcame the most disruptive conditions of the Olympic regatta and a resurgent Argentina to stay on track to break a 36-year drought.

The Kiwi mixed multihull (Nacra 17) pair are third overall, tied on 28 points with Argentine duo Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco, with two qualifying races and the double-points medal race remaining.

After a sensational second day of their opening series yesterday delivered three top-three results, today proved more challenging as the breeze rarely topped 6 knots.

Still, Wilkinson and Dawson managed to cross the finish line behind only Italy's Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti in the first race, before fighting their way back from deep in the fleet following a slow start in the two subsequent races.

They finished fourth and ninth in those races, ending the day in the bronze-medal position.

They trail the impressive Tita and Banti by 14 points but, importantly, are 10 points ahead of fourth-placed John Gimson and Anna Burnet of Great Britain.

"We had another solid day, even though we had much lighter winds which made racing a lot tighter. There were quite a few critical decision-making moments out there, and I felt like we got most of them right," Dawson said.

"In the last race, we were able to make up a few places after a mistake, which was pleasing. We're happy to just keep chipping away as the Italians are always fast, and we know the Argentinians are very good in these light conditions."

Should Wilkinson and Dawson manage to get on the podium Wednesday, they will be the first New Zealand catamaran crew to medal at the Games since Rex Sellers and Chris Timms won silver in Seoul in 1988.

Not that Dawson has given that a moment's thought just yet.

"We're not thinking that far ahead because there is still a lot of racing to be done," she said. "A lot can still happen over the next few days, and we'll just keep doing what we've been doing."

The mixed multihull was the only class that managed to complete all its scheduled races, with the men's and women's kite, and the women's dinghy (ILCA 6) all limited to one race apiece.

The men's dinghy (ILCA 7) couldn't get off the start line at all well due to the light conditions, denying Tom Saunders the opportunity to strengthen his medal claim.

Saunders will start tomorrow's medal race in seventh after his final two qualifying races were cancelled. He is 18 points outside the medal places and has little more than a mathematical chance to win bronze.

While disappointed, the former world champion vowed to keep fighting.

"It's a shame that the final two races couldn't go ahead, but I missed a lot of scoring opportunities throughout the week," Saunders said.

"It's a long shot [to win a medal] tomorrow, but anything can happen. I can only try to win the medal race, and the rest is out of my control."

Greta Pilkington finished her debut Olympic Games in 34th place overall, with Dutch veteran Marit Bouwmeester securing the gold medal with a race to spare.

Justina Kitchen is 15th overall in the women's kite after suffering a crash early in her only race, while Lukas Walton-Keim occupies the same spot in the men's event.

Tomorrow's schedule:
12 pm (10 pm NZT): Men's kite - Lukas Walton-Keim (5 races)
12 pm (10 pm NZT): Mixed multihull - Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson (3 races)
12.20 pm (10.20 pm NZT): Women's kite - Justina Kitchen (5 races)
3.40 pm (1.40 am NZT): Men's dinghy - Tom Saunders (medal race)

Latest results and standings from day 9 at the Olympic sailing event in Marseille:

Men's dinghy fleet (43 boats)
1. Matt Wearn (Aus) 12 2 1 (18) 1 2 10 10 - 38 pts
2. Pavlos Kontides (Cyp) 17 5 (27) 5 10 5 3 7 - 52 pts
3. Stefano Peschiera (Per) 1 14 11 (20) 14 12 4 - 62 pts
7. Tom Saunders (NZ) 11 17 10 7 19 3 (44BFD) 13 - 80 pts

Women's dinghy fleet (43 boats)
1. Marit Bouwmeester (Ned) 4 1 2 4 2 3 3 11 (20) - 30 pts
2. Anne-Marie Rindom (Den) 7 (26) 7 2 8 4 15 4 4 - 51 pts
3. Line Flem Hoest (Nor) 11 3 (19) 19 7 2 12 14 3 - 71 pts
34. Greta Pilkington (NZ) 21 34 (41) 15 33 18 17 21 40 - 199 pts

Mixed multihull fleet (19 boats)
1. Ruggero Tita/Caterina Banti (Ita) 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 (6) 6 - 14 pts
2. Mateo Majdalani/Eugenia Bosco (Arg) 2 2 5 (10) 6 6 3 2 2 - 28 pts
3. Micah Wilkinson/Erica Dawson (NZ) 5 3 7 2 2 3 2 4 (9) - 28 pts

Men's kite (20 boards)
1. Maximilian Maeder (Sgp) 5 1 2 (21DNF) 3 - 11 pts
2. Toni Vodisek (Slo) 2 5 1 3 (10) - 11 pts
2. Valentin Bontus (Aut) 1 2 5 (8) 4 - 12 pts
15. Lukas Walton-Keim (NZ) 12 (18) 13 10 17 - 52 pts

Women's kite (20 boards)
1. Elena Lengwiler (Sui) 3 (6) 1 2.8RDG 1 - 7.8 pts
2. Eleanor Aldridge (GBR) 1 2 2 3 (4) - 8 pts
3. Daniela Moroz (USA) (7) 3 4 1 2 - 10 pts
15. Justina Kitchen (NZ) 9 10 (21DNF) 16 18 - 53 pts

Full results here.