Nassau (Bahamas), 26 November 2013 - New
Zealand will not miss the first Star Sailors League Final in Nassau
(Bahamas) with a promising young Andy Maloney. The 23 year old kiwi
became a Youth World Champion at the age of 17 and now is very focused
on becoming New Zealand's next Olympic Gold Medallist. With strong
performances at the key events in 2011, he missed out on 2012 Olympic
selection to the older and more experienced member of NZ team, but he
set some major goals for 2012 and achieved the Bronze medal at the 2012
Laser Standard Senior World Championship.
This year he won the
prestigious Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofia in Mallorca and the Youth
America’s Cup. And now Andy is ready to begin a new experience in the
Star with an experienced crew: the Canadian Tyler Bjron.
“I
think the SSL and its Final is a really cool initiative bringing
together an amazing group of legendary sailors from all over the world.
For myself to be involved as a wildcard entry and be in the company of
the legends, racing against them will be an awesome experience and a
great challenge that I am really looking forward to. I expect the SSL
Final to be a very competitive event with immense talent on display. For
me, having never sailed a Star and teaming up with a crew I have never
met, let alone sailed with before, will be a big challenge in itself but
I am looking forward to that. I am going to Nassau with the aim of
learning as much as I can from all the other sailors there and just give
the racing my best without any great expectations. I am sure Tyler and I
will have a lot of fun and hopefully we can put up a good fight in the
racing.”
Tyler
comes from a rich history of crewing in the Star Class with both father
Peter ’72 and brother Kai ’00 representing Canada in the Games. While it
is unfortunate that Tyler’s Olympic teammate, Richard Clarke, was
unavailable for this event, Tyler has a record of working with several
different skippers and bringing out the best of their abilities on the
race course. Teaming up with young accomplished Laser sailor Andy
Maloney (NZL) will be no different.
“I
love the challenge of working with new talented skippers to the class
and Andy’s record on paper is pretty impressive. Especially since his
bronze medal performance at the 2012 Laser Worlds” points out Tyler
enthusiastically. With a background in all aspects of sailing,
inshore/offshore, maxis/dinghies, racing/coaching, sailing has been a
lifelong activity for Bjorn. Since the completion of the Games Tyler has
put his focus on his family and developing youth sailors in his home
town of Montreal. “I get great satisfaction passing along the
knowledge I have gained through decades of sailing. I enjoy watching
youth athletes reach their potential and goals”, says Bjorn. As far as sailing in Nassau is concerned, “Sailing in Nassau is a special place for me. This is where I won my first Major Star event back in 2010” says a proud Bjorn. “Conditions
are always spectacular and having a chance to compete against all those
Class rivals in an event as significant as the SSL Final, I am EXCITED!”
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