New Zealand Olympic programme manager Jez Fanstone admits he is putting his charges through their paces at the 2011 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, seeing what they are made of with next year’s sailing Olympics in mind.

Fanstone returned to familiar shores this week at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, as he was formerly with the British team until 2009, helping Ben Ainslie to Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008.

But this time he arrives with his New Zealand sailors ahead of an Olympic test event on the same waters in August, and showed he means business with Kiwi Dan Slater sitting third in the Finn class and pushing current leader Ainslie all the way.

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