Top Australian team heading into Gold Fleet are Hamish Skelton and Joel Beashel. Just missing Gold Fleet by 1 place, were another Manly/Belmont team – Heidi Bates and Christian Spencer.
A rainy day in Kiel set the tone for a demanding but fully completed racing program. The early morning began with a 08:30 delta and a 10:00 start for the six fleets, split across the three race areas: Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie.
Rain initially softened the breeze, with the first race held in under 10 knots. From the second race onwards, however, the wind gradually increased across all racecourses: Alpha remained the most sheltered but also the most disturbed, Bravo offered more stable conditions, while Charlie was the most exposed and therefore the windiest.
Sudden gusts made racing highly technical and unpredictable across all fleets. Despite the challenging conditions, the Race Committee successfully completed the full schedule of four races for all groups, concluding the qualification series after three intense days.
From tomorrow, the 276-boat 29er fleet will be split into Gold, Silver, Bronze, Emerald, Purple and White fleets for the final series.
At the top of the overall standings, the Swedish team of Henric Wigforss and William Drakenberg (SWE 3254) have taken the lead, overtaking the Argentinians by just one point. With a consistent and impressive day scoring 2-1-2-3 (with a sixth as their discard), they now sit first overall.
The Argentinians Felix Llauro and Lucas Cozar (ARG 21), leaders until today, drop to second after an 8-3-1-3 scoreline.
In third place, the German duo David Plettner and Moritz Aigner (GER 3501) delivered a standout performance on the Bravo course, collecting three second places and a bullet to confirm their strong consistency.
A strong day also for FRA 6, Alexandre Mostini and Raphaël Allain, who impressed with a 5-1-1-3 series, climbing to fourth overall.
A protest involving the Argentinian team Baudoino/Cernadas promoted the British team Jac Bailey and Ben Sinfield (GBR 25) to fifth overall, tied on points with sixth place and just ahead of a tightly packed group of New Zealand crews.
New Zealand showed excellent depth, with three teams inside the top ten. The leading Kiwi boat is NZL 3496, sailed by Nelsen Meacham and Oli Stone, currently seventh overall. Matteo Barker and Leo Brown (NZL 3022) sit eighth.
Blake Batten and Hugo Smith (NZL 3522) also delivered a strong performance, climbing into the top ten with a solid series of race wins, despite a costly discard in the penultimate race.
Szymon Kolka and Bartosz Zmudzinski (POL 109), despite a UFD penalty, remain highly competitive with two race wins and a third place, securing a place in the top group.
Following the protest decision, Tizian Lembeck and Julian Lembeck (GER 3353) enter the top ten in tenth place, tied on points with both ninth and eighth.
Consistency continues to reward the mixed crews just outside the top ten, including Italians Emilia Salvatore and Pietro Rizzi, currently 12th, and Czech sailors Karolína Lojková and Kristian Besusek in 18th.
Notable also the performance of Niels Tinnemeier and Luise Schmidt (GER 3363), who were consistently sharp off the line and at the windward mark, regularly rounding inside the top three.
In the women’s standings, the leading female crew can be found in 26th overall, with the Danish team Emmeli Gramkov and Sofie Andersen (DEN 17).
Back ashore, sailors were welcomed with a hot meal after a wet and demanding day on the water. The evening programme featured the Annual General Meeting, attended by almost the full Executive Committee: Peter Lubeck, David Campbell James, Jane Gibbs, John Clinton, Pippa Kenton-Page, Paolo Portiglia, Csaba Cserep, and Dominika Vadurova.
Racing continues tomorrow with three races scheduled for each fleet, with the first warning signal at 11:00.
Check out the results HERE
Take a look at the photos from TODAY
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