Kiwis Dominate Day 4 of 49er Elimination Series

Day 4 brought the start of the elimination series for the 49er fleet — and another tricky, patchy forecast that turned racing into a game of chess. With the breeze light and unstable, today was all about finding the pressure on the water and tacking in the right places, and the teams that read the racecourse best were richly rewarded.

Gold fleet racing began today, with the best 49er sailors in the world battling it out on Course C — the furthest course from the club — and nobody played the strategic game better than the Kiwis. It was a great day for both New Zealand boats: World Champions Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush posted a 4, 1, 2 to take the overall lead, while Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn added an 8, 3, 3 to climb to third.

Other teams in the fleet were left commenting on the incredible speed of NZL 94 — and here is the remarkable thing about Menzies and Lee Rush: they only raced the Europeans and Worlds last year and the Worlds this year, skipping the Sailing Grand Slam events entirely, and they won two of those events. Now, the way they are going, they could very well make it three from four. We are not predicting anything — but with the breeze forecast to stay light and similar to today, conditions that clearly suit NZL 94, the signs are ominous.

The Kiwis have taken the yellow jersey off British shoulders — but do not count out James Grummett and Rhos Hawes, who were leading and will be pushing hard to grab that top spot back tomorrow. And here is the crucial thing about this championship’s format: no matter how big the gaps get, the score adjustments going into the final day mean no boat will be more than 9 points ahead. Nothing is decided until Sunday — and that keeps absolutely everyone on their toes.

It was not a great day for France’s Erwan Fischer and Clément Péquin, who are still nursing Erwan’s wrist injury from yesterday’s start-line collision but continue to hold a top-10 place. Like many of the front-runners, they prefer the breeze, so tomorrow’s light forecast will be another test — we hope the wrist can hold up.

Poland’s Mikołaj Staniul and Jakub Sztorch had an up-and-down day but finished it in the best way possible, with a bullet, to sit fourth. And keep an eye on Uruguay’s Hernán Umpierre and Fernando Diz in fifth: the 2024 Open European Champions from La Grande Motte are hoping to do it again — and they absolutely still can. Hernán is a master at reading the shifts, and days like today are exactly where that skill pays.

Behind them, the fight for the Final Series cut is on. Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove sit sixth, tied on points with the Uruguayans, while Switzerland’s Sébastien Schneiter and Arno de Planta and Norway’s Berthet brothers, Mathias and Markus, hold the last places inside the top 10. Just outside, Spain’s Wizner brothers, Martin and Jaime, and the Italian crews of Jan Pernarcic/Bruno Festo and Lorenzo Pezzilli/Tobia Torroni will have to fight hard tomorrow — as will Elliott Wells and Freddie Lonsdale, who slipped to 14th on a tough day and know exactly what is required.

The Nacra 17s raced the first part of the day on the Alpha course, and the forecast was very, very tricky: shifty breeze, patchy pressure, and conditions right on the edge between foiling and not foiling. The boats that managed to get up on the foils gained a huge advantage over those that could not — a brutal equation on a day like this. The fleet completed two races: one in a decent breeze that got them flying, and a second in really light air.

At the top, no change — and yet more daylight. Willemijn Offerman and Scipio Houtman added a race win to their tally and lead on 24 points, with Sweden’s Emil Järudd and Hanna Jonsson having a strong day (4, 2) to move clearly into second.

John Gimson and Anna Burnet had their worst race of the week today — a 19th — but with that score going straight into the discard, the reigning European Champions still climbed to third overall with a great overall scoreline. Australia’s Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown slipped to fourth after a tough day in the fickle stuff.