After a thrilling day on the water it’s crunch time for the RS:X racers. Tomorrow brings the last two full fleet races, with the RS:X women on the Portland Harbour course at 12.00 and the RS:X men following them at 14.00. Both fleets will complete two races and the conditions are looking a significantly lighter approx 8knots, dropping later in the day. This could really shake up the racing as the wind could potentially go below planing speeds, bringing a few different sailors to the forefront.
In the women’s fleet, after a fantastic day Lee of Israel has closed the gap on Marina iof Spain. Marina still leads, but taking a third and seventh position today she is now just three points ahead of Lee. Lee had an outstanding day on the Nothe course, as did Olha who is in third place overall. Tuuli of Finland is in fourth place overall, with 32 points five ahead of Olha. This puts first and second very close but with a significant lead over third and fourth. Whereas Zofia of Poland and Moanna of Germany are nipping at the heels of Olha, with 33 and 34 points respectively. Bryony Shaw is currently in 7th place, for Bryony now a top five result is realistic and Bryony is sure to be on form tomorrow in the lighter winds.
The men’s races were run today in approx 12-14knots of wind on a flat Portland Harbour. Dorian lead from beginning to end in the first race, stretching out a lead of over one minute over Nick Dempsey in second. Nick was sixth to the first upwind mark, but then went on a charge making up place after place on each run. Byron of Greece was on form again, finishing third. The second race saw a shake up at the top, with Toni of Germany taking top honours. Nick was firmly in second before taking a risk to overtake Toni, which backfired a little and allowed Dorian to just overtake him on the final beat. Read more about this in Nick’s interview about today’s racing.
This leaves Dorian in a more than commanding position overall, leading Nick in second by a massive fifteen points. Dorian has nine, with Nick joint on points with Toni, both on 24 but Nick ahead on count back. Just behind these two is Poland on 29, before a big gap to JP Tobin of New Zealand who has 48 points. The battle is on, all sailors wanting to put themselves into a good position going into the medal race.
The action kicks off tomorrow at 12.00 with the women’s two races on the Portland Harbour course, before then men head out for two of their own at 14.00.
Other coverage today:
