Female 49er FX crew Molly Meech and Alex Maloney are looking to regain their world number one ranking at next month's World Championships off the back of the prefect build up to event.
That build-up is here at home, a rare treat for the pair, who glided through Auckland Harbour this morning in preparation for next week's Oceania Championships.
“This has probably been the longest time we've been in New Zealand for a while and for the last couple of months the international teams have just started to arriving they've actually been here probably solidly for a month so it's been really cool to have good training back here,” Meech said.
“It’s so nice in so many ways just being able to be here months before hand and get into proper routines and have family and friends to showcase what we do overseas,” Maloney said.
Since their silver medal in Rio, the duo's form has been impressive, most recently finishing second at an Olympic qualifying event in Japan but now they're wondering how they go one better.
“I think for us there are a few weaknesses but probably the biggest one is our starting, in the last year we have been a bit more critical, we have taken more proactive steps to try to nail it and created more routines,” Maloney said.
Their close bond off the water has played a big role in their consistent run of form.
“We have been sailing together for a long time now and we definitely compliment each other in many different ways, I think being friends and having fun on this journey,” Meech said.
Coach Nathan Hanley said: “The girls are quite different, Molly’s quite quiet and Alex is more of a chatterbox."
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