Olympics

Neil Pryde - a brief history and opinions on kites at the Olympics

Will kites fly at the Olympics? - Sail World talk to Neil Pryde about his career, his company and the future of kites at the Olympics ...

Tom Ashley - Windsurfing Olympic Gold medalist and hero

No excuses, just naturally disappointed but gracious in acknowledging the support he's received. "[YNZ] has been incredibly good to me for the 11 years I've been sailing professionally and I'm really grateful for all the help I've had from them," he said. "I think it would be a stab in the back to turn around and try to fight them on something. They've got 100 per cent good intentions."
There were suggestions that YNZ would defer choosing and have Ashley and Tobin in a "race-off" next year for the spot. Yet Ashley believes making the choice now is right, giving the selected athlete more time to concentrate on peaking next August. "The selectors asked us to peak at a couple of different events. In that sense it wasn't a secret at all," he said.

J P Tobin , Tom Ashley and the YNZ decision dominate sports news

The YNZ decision to select J P Tobin over Tom Ashley for the 2012 Olympics has been dominating sports news today. Secrecy over the selection criteria has led to some criticism of YNZ, but it seems both JP and Tom are aware of the process and neither are commenting. JP is obviously pleased with the outcome which vindicates his results for the past 12 months where he has consistently outperformed Tom, who has accepted the decision and now considering his future options.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/6180069/Tom-Ashley-breaks-sile...

JP Tobin selected ahead of Tom Ashley for Olympic RS:X Windsurfing berth

Jon Paul Tobin has ousted reigning Olympic champion Tom Ashley from New Zealand's sailing squad for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Tobin has just been annouced as one of the first 12 sailors for the 2012 Olympic Games team in Auckland.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/6173800/Tobin-ousts-Ashley-for...

RS:X Windsurfing - Dorian takes 2011 world title, JP puts Tom on notice

Dorian is the 2011 RS:X World Windsurfing Champion, Piotr is second and Nimrod Mashiah ISR take the bronze.
JP Tobin NZL had gone into the medal race trailing Tom Ashley his compatriot and was determined to make it an three. He has beaten Tom in a straight fight twice already this year. Their duel will go on but JP is out to load the deck in his favor by the biggest margin possible.
Tom won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. To displace an established medal winner in the national selection for 2012 will be tough which is why JP has to do more than ever to establish that he is the 'man to pick.

JP Tobin 5th and Tom Ashley 6th in Perth RS:X Worlds 2011

... which makes the race for the Olympic berth very interesting ...

RS:X Worlds: Off The Pace in The Offshore Breeze

Consistency is king and the Dutch Flyer is proving to be the King of Consistency. Dorian van Rijsselberghe [NED] set a blistering pace in the off shore winds on the Leighton race track to day leaving his rivals distinctly off the pace.

He has extended his lead as we come to the business end of the regatta. Posting a bullet in the first. A 4th in the second. And a 3rd in then 3rd. He was the only one to master the tricky 15 knot plus conditions.

RS:X World Champs Update - Tom and JP joust for dominance

JP Tobin has sneaked ahead of Tom Ashley with a btter day, 3 (24) 2 to Tom's (20) 10 4 - leaving JP at 7th and Tom in 9th. http://www.perth2011.com/competition/PERTH2011/SAM102000/results Kiwi RS:X sailors feature from about 10min in in this video update - worth the watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whil_seMMpg

RS:X Worlds - Ashley and Tobin close and in top 10 after day 1

Momentum builds for second wave of competitors. The second wave of NZ sailors started their World Championship crusade today in stormy conditions off Fremantle, Western Australia. The Men’s RS:X, 49er, Laser and Women’s 470 had their first races of the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships today. As expected, Tom Ashley and JP Tobin were racing in close quarters on the Men’s RS:X course, the pair of them have only one point differing their overall standings of 6th (Tom) and 8th (JP).

Worlds RS:X racing to be broken down into 3 fleets instead of 2

The Race Committee here at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Perth Western Australia have made the decision to divide the RS:X men into 3 groups of about 30 racers in each. This unprecedented decision has been made despite class representations to ISAF asking that the fleet be divided in two as usual. The given reason is that the diameter of the centre course is a mere .90kms. It seems that the idea of rotating fleets into the centre course to give spectators a variety of sailing classes to watch has not been fully considered neither has the possibility of falling behind the schedule. When and not if this happens, 9 starts will be required on a windward leeward course in a maximum of 6 hours.