Eray waits on the wind in quest for third World Championship medal

Michele Eray can still remember in minute detail how she snatched the inaugural ICF Ocean Racing women’s world title back in Portugal in 2013. She can give a blow-by-blow description of how the race unfolded, who passed her, who she passed, and the mistakes her opponents made that opened the door just wide enough for her to slide through and become world champion. It was only a slither of a chance, but it was enough. Eray nosed out fellow South African Michelle Burn by just over one second, with another teammate, Nikki Mocke, third. She followed up with silver in 2015 behind New Zealand’s Teneale Hatton , and will head on to Hong Kong Harbour tomorrow looking to add to her medal collection. 38-year-old Eray jokes about her age, but she also knows it’s her experience that might just be the difference when the podium places are up for grabs. “With experience comes confidence,” Eray, who now races for the USA, said this week. “Going into events knowing that I’ve done the work is good. I had a plan when it was going to be windy. That’s my forte, that’s obviously where I back myself as a downwind paddler, and the more technical the better. “The years of experience really adds up.” There are two distinct camps competing in Hong Kong this weekend. There’s the experienced group who are hoping the wind and the waves really pick up, and then there’s the sprinters who want it as flat as possible. Eray falls into the former group, and trained accordingly. She couldn’t hide her disappointment on Thursday with the weekend forecast of calm conditions. “When it’s flat it comes down to how strong and how fast you are,” she said. “The women who are coming through the ranks are very impressive athletes. They’re strong – we’ve got sprinters here from Sweden, we have athletes from South Africa, we’ve got surf ski paddlers that are good on the flatwater. “So now my tactics have changed a little. These aren’t my conditions, so I’ll have to just try and go with the flow. I didn’t train...

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