Britain’s Ben Saxton and Nicola Boniface claimed the Nacra 17 Oceania Championship title in Auckland, New Zealand.
Saxton and Boniface dominated the class with another consistent day inside the top three, to finish 22 points ahead of the French pair, Billy Besson and Marie Rio, with Thomas Zajac and Barbara Matz of Austria completing the podium.
This win puts down a marker for the Nacra 17 World Championship and also for the British Olympic Tokyo 2020 selection process.
Major rivals for the Team GB place, John Gimson and Anna Burnet, finished eighth and will be mounting a major challenge to Saxton and Boniface in the worlds next week.
In the men’s 49er Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl of Germany retained their lead to take the Oceania title.
In second place were Diego Botin and Iago López Marra of Spain, and in third place were Peter Burling and Blair Tuke who managed to overtake Olympic selection rivals Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie, who finished fourth.
Britain’s Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell finished in seventh place.
Already selected for Tokyo 2020, they will now concentrate on their Olympic campaign, following yesterday’s news that Ben Ainslie is to take over the Great Britain SailGP team and will helm the F50 in the 2020 SailGP series.
In the women’s 49erFX, New Zealand’s Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech rallied on the final day to take the Oceania title ahead of Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea of the USA.
Spain’s Patricia Suarez and Nicole van der Velden completed the podium in third place, after Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze of Brazil decided not to sail the final day.
Britain’s Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey finished the Oceania championship in fifth place.
Action now moves to the World Championships for the three Olympic classes, starting in Auckland on Tuesday 3 December with the Qualifying Races.
Oceania Championship – Final leading results after Day 3
Nacra 17
1st Ben Saxton / Nicola Boniface GBR 3-1; 14pts
2nd Billy Besson / Marie Riou FRA (16)-2; 36pts
3rd Thomas Zajac / Barbara Matz AUT 1-(11); 43pts
4th Quentin Delapierre / Manon Audinet FRA 6-8; 47pts
5th Jason Waterhouse / Lisa Darmanin AUS 13-(13); 51pts
49er
1st Benjamin Bildstein / David Hussl GER 1-6-10; 28pts
2nd Diego Botin / Iago López Marra ESP (9)-1-4; 31pts
3rd Peter Burling / Blair Tuke NZL (11)-2-5; 35pts
4th Isaac McHardie / William McKenzie NZL 8-4-(18); 48pts
5th Mathieu Frei / Noe Delpech FRA 10-(10)-6; 50pts
GBR
7th GBR Dylan Fletcher / Stuart Bithell 6-7-16; 74 pts
49erFX
1st Alexendra Maloney / Molly Meech NZL 3-2-7; 37pts
2nd Stephanie Roble / Maggie Shea USA (26)-13-6; 42pts
3rd Patricia Suarez / Nicole van der Velden ESP 1-12-4; 47pts
4th Tine Lutz / Susann Böcke GER 12-3-10; 50pts
5th Charlotte Dobson / Saskia Tidey GBR 5-(15)-2; 50pts
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