THE HYÈRES CHALLENGE CONTINUES
26 Apr 2018The third day of competition at round three of Sailing's World Cup Series in Hyères, France provided further challenges for the competitors as light winds continued to dominate.
The 647 sailors from 46 nations racing across the ten Olympic disciplines and one Para World Sailing event contested a variable 5-7knot breeze on day three which enabled the light wind specialists to move to the front of their fleets.
Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE) continued their consistency with a fifth and a second from two Men's 470 races. They are five points clear of Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Wilcox.
"It was a long day on the water," said Dahlberg. "We had four races, two races got abandoned because the wind dropped but we had a great day with two great starts. Our plan was to keep it simple and we did that well.
"We are halfway through the regatta so far, so a lot can change but we feel very confident running up to the Medal Races."
Japan's Tetsuya Isozaki and Akira Takayanagi are 13 points off the leading Swedes in third.
Camille Lecointre's comeback to the World Cup Series continues to go from strength to strength. Sailing with Aloise Retornaz, the French Rio 2016 Women's 470 bronze medallist picked up a fifth and a fourth to take a six point lead over Silvia Mas and Patricia Reina (ESP) into Friday's racing.
"We are in our home country and we do train here sometimes," said Lecointre. "After finishing fourth in Palma recently, we hope to achieve a medal this time.
"However, we are just using this event to train to be ready for the [Hempel Sailing] World Championships in Aarhus, [Denmark]."
Friday's racing will be the final day of fleet racing for the 2.4 Norlin OD, 49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17, Men's RS:X and Women's RS:X ahead of their Medal Races on Saturday 28 April.
The remaining fleets will complete their series on Saturday with Medal Races following on Sunday.
Daniel Smith - World Sailing