Local Olympic hopeful returns home
Olympic hopeful Rudy McNeill may not have made the Rio 2016 squad, however the Durban champ is not giving up on his Olympic dreams yet.
DURBAN’S top Laser sailor, Rudy McNeill and his younger brother Mike returned from Canada after competing in the Kingston Laser Worlds 2015 earlier this month.
Reigning South African champion, Rudy, representing the Point Yacht Club, travelled to the competition with the hopes of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics but disappointingly didn’t manage to.
Both brothers sailed in the bronze fleet, Rudy finished 22 and Mike finished 49 out of 52 sailors in their fleet. Fellow South African, Stefano Marcia raced in the gold fleet finishing 45 out of 53 competitors.
Sailing only took place on two of the three days scheduled due to lack of wind on the first day. The conditions for the entire event were very light making it challenging for the racers to plan their races. Rudy’s competition kicked off with a dreaded black flag, false starting and jumping the gun together with 12 other boats, and being disqualified.
In the five races, Rudy finished with a top score of seventh in the final race, a 14, a 13 and a well crafted 17 in almost nonexistent winds.
“The fourth race was character building. Getting out of the starting blocks, just getting into my stride two boats collided right on my bow forcing me to avoid them and sail well below my track and loosing many positions. I managed to put in a gutsy performance, together with a fair amount of luck finishing a respectable 17,” explained the older brother.
The final race started much better, with the SA champion finding himself mixing it up with the top bunch. By this time the light winds had almost died off completely and coming from many directions. “At one point you could be in the top ten and by the next buoy find yourself right at the back of the fleet. Thankfully I managed to stay calm and focused, not letting the unfavourable conditions get the better of me and finished in seventh.”
“I certainly learnt a huge amount over the two days and being on the start line with the best sailors in the world. Being able to overcome the disastrous start and focus on each race, the whole experience was fantastic,” added Rudy.
But not all hope is lost with his dreams of qualifying for Rio. South Africa has acquired a spot in the Olympics for one sailor through Marcia. But this doesn’t mean that he will represent the rainbow nation. With his performance in Canada, Rudy will go through a trial period where the SA Sailing Federation select two international events that he will have to attend, going up against the same sailors again!
“After sailing this event, I am confident that I will improve and fine tune my skills in the time that I have left. The hard work has only just begun. And at the end of it all I will achieve my dream of racing at the Olympics,” concluded the sincere local.
