Qualifying complete at Laser Men’s Worlds

Split, Croatia (September 16, 2017) – The final day of qualifiers at the 2017 Laser Standard Men’s World Championship delivered the promised 20-knot southeasterly wind, gusting up to 27 knots and giving great surfing conditions downwind with a tough workout upwind.

If there were any doubts that Laser sailing is not athletic, they were quelled today watching the world’s best battle of skill in three back-to-back races.

On the reaches, boat speed touched 15 knots in the gusts. Downwind, there were many sleigh rides on the steep waves, including some unintended rail riding.

Defending champion Nick Thompson (GBR) scored his best result so far with a third in the first race of the red fleet, sailing the inner loop, followed by his first bullet of the series.

“It was hard work but good fun,” admitted Thompson. “The current was not so relevant today, which gave a more open course. Unfortunately, I broke my tiller in the third race and that became my discard. We are still only at the halfway stage so I am pleased that I have started to move upwards. I am only 13 points behind Pavlos Kontides from Cyprus in first place, which is not a large margin over 6 races, especially in the super competitive Gold fleet.”

In the yellow fleet, Kontides scored the same 3, 1 score as Thompson and coincidentally suffered gear damage at the start of his third race. This leaves him and Thompson as the only sailors with a big discard.

The best score of the day went to Jean-Baptiste Bernaz from France with a 1, 2, 1 in the red fleet. The 2016 World Championship silver medalist is once again sailing a consistent series in all conditions, going into the final 6 races with only one score that is not a second or first.

Olympic Gold medalist, Tom Burton (AUS), sailing in the blue fleet, helped himself to 2 wins leading from start to finish in his last races of the day, after a reasonable 7th in the first race. His results also lifted 11 places up to 6th.

The competitors will now be divided into Gold (top 49), Silver (next 49), and Bronze (bottom 49) fleets.
Tomorrow’s start has been postponed until 13:00 due to a predicted low pressure system, causing a 180-degree change in the wind and probably a change in the course area.

The top North American is Christopher Barnard (USA) in 20th after posting a 4-(26)-2-12-11-11.

Day Three Results (Top 10 of 147; 6 races, 1 discard)
1. Pavlos Kontides CYP 7pts
2. Jean-Baptiste Bernaz FRA 8pts
3. Matthew Wearn AUS 9pts
4. Sam Meech NZL 9pts
5. Philippp Buhl GER 13pts
6. Tom Burton AUS 17pts
7. Thomas Saunders NZL 19pts
8. Nick Thompson GBR 20pts
9. Elliot Hanson GBR 23pts
10. Sergey Komissarov RUS 23pts

Racing for the 147 sailors will be held September 14-19 in Split, Croatia.

Class site – Event site – Results – Facebook

Source: ILCA