Day 1 leaders at the Hyundai World Championships after 2 races in the 49er are Erik Heil and Thomas Plossel of Germany.
After a delay for weather conditions to improve in Auckland, New Zealand, only the men’s 49er fleets were able to race, completing two qualifying races.
Erik Heil and Thomas Plossel (2,1) lead by one point from Kévin Fischer and Jauvin Yann (1,4) of France, with Bart Lambriex and Pim van Vugt (3,4) of Holland in third place with seven points.
Britain’s Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell (9,2) are in ninth place with 11 points, and one point ahead of Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros of France, and Pete Burling and Blair Tuke of New Zealand who are both on 12 points in a group that includes Britain’s Jack Hawkins and Chris Thomas (3,9).
New Zealand sailing’s A-listers, Burling and Tuke, are looking for a fifth world title and Olympic selection in the 49er skiff class.
They started with a win in their first heat but then in the second heat they capsized on their final gybe while leading into the finish, dropping back to 11th across the line.
The breeze blew 25-30kts from the north for most of the day before swinging to the west and hitting over 70kts on Auckland’s West Coast. After the front passed through, the rain subsided and the sun shone for the first time all day and some racing was possible.
The 49er FX and Nacra 17 classes were dismissed for the day, with just the men’s 49er managing any racing.
Overall a good day for the Brits so far with all four crews scoring single figure races, and Fletcher and Bithell just holding the advantage.
The 49erFX and Nacra 17 fleets will be first on the roster for day 2, with four scheduled races in each fleet, to try and catch up on the qualifying series.
49er Hyundai Worlds – Leaders after 2 races (88 entries)
1st GER 4 Erik HEIL and Thomas PLOESSEL 2 1 – – 3 pts
2nd FRA 44 Kévin FISCHER and Jauvin YANN 1 4 – – 5 pts
3rd NED 194 Bart LAMBRIEX and Pim van VUGT 3 4 – – 7 pts
4th POL 19 Dominik BUKSAK and Szymon WIERZBICKI 7 1 – – 8 pts
5th FRA 655 Erwan FISCHER and Clément PEQUIN 3 5 – – 8 pts
6th AUS 66 William PHILLIPS and Sam PHILLIPS 2 8 – – 10 pts
7th POL 42 Łukasz PRZYBYTEK and Paweł KOLODZINSKI 7 3 – – 10 pts
8th USA 126 Nevin SNOW and Dane WILSON 4 6 – – 10 pts
9th GBR 6 Dylan FLETCHER and Stuart BITHELL 9 2 – – 11 pts
10th FRA 8 Lucas RUAL and Emile AMOROS 11 1 – – 12 pts
11th NZL 77 Peter BURLING and Blair TUKE 1 11 – – 12 pts
12th BRA 15 Marco GRAEL and Gabriel BORGES 10 2 – – 12 pts
13th GBR 17 Jack HAWKINS and Chris THOMAS 3 9 – – 12 pts
14th SUI 10 Sebastien SCHNEITER and Lucien CUJEAN 6 6 – – 12 pts
15th AUT 29 Benjamin BILDSTEIN and David HUSSL 5 8 – – 13 pts
Other GBR:
24th GBR 234 James GRUMMETT and Daniel BUDDEN 14 4 – – 18 pts
37th GBR 118 Chris TAYLOR and Rhos HAWES 9 15 – – 24 pts
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