Day 3 of the 2019 Volvo 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 Europeans at WPNSA, and the final day of qualifying races started with another day of bright sunshine, but a decreasing breeze.
In the men’s 49er Pete Burling and Blair Tuke of New Zealand were reined-in, having their worse day so far at the event, with a 9, 5, 2, scoreline, but still enough to keep them top of the leaderboard . . . by one point!
Burling and Tuke have 17 points, and lead from Spain’s Diego Botin and Iago Lopez (1, 9, 4) who are on 18 points, with another Kiwi pair, Logan Dunnning Beck and Oscar Gunn (3, 8, 5) moving into third place with 28 points.
In the Brits Olympic selection battle, James Peters and Fynn Sterritt (1, 2, 3) had their best day and move up to seventh with 35 points.
While team rivals Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell (14, 1, 7) had a so-so day to stay in sixth place with 34 points.
Behind the two overall leaders the points are really tight for the next five places as they move into the final 25-boat gold-silver fleets to decide the top 10 for the Medal race. It looks like it will be a close thing at the cut-off on Saturday.
Jack Hawkins and Chris Thomas were the third Brit 49er crew to make gold fleet after winning redress, they are 23rd overall.
In the women’s 49erFX, Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (1, 1, 6) of Brazil added two more wins to their scoreline to take a four point lead into the final race series.
In second are Britain’s Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey (2, 13, 3) now with 17 points, putting them one point ahead of third placed Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (6, 3, 1).
Fourth on 22 points are New Zealand’s Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech, and in fifth are Sweden’s Vilma Bobeck and Malin Tengstrom (11, 9, 9) with 35 points.
Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth GBR are now in 23rd with 96 points and go through in the gold fleet.
In the mixed crew Nacra 17 championship, Italy’s Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti (1, 2, 4) keep a five point lead ahead of Britain’s John Gimson and Anna Burnet (3, 2, 2) who have 17 points.
In third overall it’s still Vittorio Bissaro and Maelle Fracari (12, 1, 5) of Italy, now tied on 21 points with Lin Cenholt and CP Lubeck of Denmark.
Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco of Argentina are fifth with 24 points and in sixth Britain’s Ben Saxton and Nicola Boniface (6, 7, 1) with 28 points.
Rupert White and Kirstie Urwin (6, 7, 8) picked up a place, they are in 12th with 53 points.
Three days of fleet racing now follow to decide Sunday’s medal race top ten. Things could change dramatically if the wind continues to weaken as forcast for the weekend.
These are the Top 10 posiitons after the Qualification Race Series
49er Men
1st NZL 77 Peter BURLING and Blair TUKE 17 pts
2nd ESP 97 Diego BOTIN le CHEVER and Iago LÓPEZ MARRA 18 pts
3rd NZL 7 Logan DUNNING BECK and Oscar GUNN 28 pts
4th GER 59 Justus SCHMIDT and Max BOEME 30 pts
5th AUS 66 Will PHILLIPS and Sam PHILLIPS 33 pts
6th GBR 6 Dylan FLETCHER and Stuart BITHELL 34 pts
7th GBR 5 James PETERS and Fynn STERRITT 35 pts
8th FRA 2 Mathieu FREI and Noé DELPECH 45 pts
9th GER 4 Erik HEIL and Thomas PLOESSEL 46 pts
10th POL 42 Lukasz PRZYBYTEK and Pawel KOLODZINSKI 46 pts
49erFX Women
1st BRA 12 Martine GRAEL and Kahena KUNZE – – 13 pts
2nd GBR 10 Charlotte DOBSON and Saskia TIDEY – – 17 pts
3rd FRA 1 Annemiek BEKKERING and Annette DUETZ – – 18 pts
4th NZL 8 Alexandra MALONEY and Molly MEECH – – 22 pts
5th SWE 22 Vilma BOBECK and Malin TENGSTRÖM – – 35 pts
6th NOR 26 Helene NÆSS and Marie RØNNINGEN – – 39 pts
7th DEN 7 Ida Marie Baad NIELSEN and Marie Thusgaard OLSEN – – 41 pts
8th ESP 21 Patricia SUAREZ and Nicole van der VELDEN – – 45 pts
9th SWE 15 Julia GROSS and Hanna KLINGA – – 48 pts
10th FIN 14 Noora RUSKOLA and Mikaela WULFF – – 52 pts
Nacra 17 Mixed Crew
1st ITA 26 Ruggero TITA and Caterina BANTI – – 12 pts
2nd GBR 21 John GIMSON and Anna BURNET – – 17 pts
3rd ITA 5 Vittorio BISSARO and Maelle FRASCARI – – 21 pts
4th DEN 71 Lin CENHOLT and Cp LÜBECK – – 21 pts
5th ARG 372 Mateo MAJDALANI and Eugenia BOSCO – – 24 pts
6th GBR 91 Ben SAXTON and Nicola BONIFACE – – 28 pts
7th NZL 22 Gemma JONES and Jason SAUNDERS – – 30 pts
8th ESP 28 Tara PACHECO and Florian TRITTEL – – 34 pts
9th FIN 440 Sinem KURTBAY and Akseli KESKINEN – – 37 pts
10th AUT 3 Thomas ZAJAC and Barbara MATZ – – 39 pts
