Numa siblings improve skills at event

PAPUA New Guinea sailing siblings Teariki and Rose-Lee Numa hit the water on Friday for the final day of the preliminary laser racing event in the Olympics Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Conditions were completely different to the strong winds and large swells experienced over the four previous days of racing, with messy waves and winds gusting six to eight knots on the Enoshima course.
Both events, men’s laser and women’s laser radial, had to restart many times due to too many boats being over the start line when the race began.
PNG Olympic Committee secretary-general Auvita Rapilla visited the sailing venue with Team PNG chef de mission Tamzin Wardley to encourage the sailors before their last two heats.
Coach Danny Fuller was thrilled to see Rose-Lee and Teariki finish the last races positively.
“Rose-Lee has had to tough it out with an Achilles’ injury over the last two days,” he said.
“She was in pain, getting around the course on both days.
“But she was determined to complete all of her races.”
Teariki saved his best until last with his most consistent day of racing. Better starts allowed Teariki better options on the racecourse and to mix it up more with his competitors to finish the races positively.
“Rose-Lee and Teariki have made big improvements with many aspects of their sailing,” Fuller said.
“Starting is the most technical and difficult area of the sport, and this is the area that they have made the biggest gains.”