Australian Team at World Cup Series Hyères Day 3: Burton lifts tempo as Gilmour & Turner take charge
by David Sygall 27 Apr 07:30 BST
22-29 April 2018
Tom Burton - World Cup Series Hyères - Day 3 © Richard Langdon / Sailing Energy
Australia's reigning Olympic Laser champion Tom Burton has roared back into contention with two wins on day three of the World Cup Series regatta at Hyeres in France, and 49er crew David Gilmour and Joel Turner have hit the lead in their class on a day of light winds and hard work.
Gilmour and Turner extracted everything they could from the variable 5-7 knot breeze in the only 49er race possible to come second in Race 6 and leapfrog the overnight leaders from Poland. The national 49er champions now head the 40-boat fleet by 15 net points from Spaniards Diego Botin le Chever and Iago Lopez Marra, who came ninth at the Rio Games.
In the women's 49er class, the 49erFX, Australian pairs Amelia Stabback and Ella Clark, and Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot, each remain in the top 10.
The biggest mover of the day was Burton. Australia's Laser contingent has struggled to make an impact at this regatta, however Burton's perfect results overnight saw the world No.2 rise from 11th to 5th and only six net points behind leader Jean Baptiste Bernaz of France among a crowd of the biggest names in Laser sailing. All three Olympic medallists and the current world champion are in the top seven after six races and are separated by only 16 points.
Results were less encouraging for four-time 470 world champions and 2017 winners at Hyeres, Mat Belcher and Will Ryan, who came a discarded 24th in the only race of the day to stay in sixth place, 19 net points off the lead.
Rio silver medallists Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin grabbed a 2 in Race 5 of the Nacra 17 series, but a 14 and 21 in the remaining two races put them back to 15th.
The 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 will have their final fleet races on Friday before their Medal Races on Saturday. The remaining fleets complete their series on Saturday with Medal Races on Sunday.
Medal Races will be streamed live on World Sailing's YouTube channel
Aussies Results after Day 3:
Laser:
Tom Burton - 3, 26, (41), 15,1, 1 - 5th
Finn Alexander - 20, (45), 4, 20, 16, 35 – 17th
Matt Wearn - 15, 25, 10, (49), 18, 39 – 21st
Luke Elliott - 33, 29, (55), 50, 34, 3 – 33rd
Mitch Kennedy – (DNF), 6, 35, 63, 63, 12 – 42nd
Dan Self - 58, 44, (60), 56, 23, 33 - 55th
Laser Radial:
Paige Caldecoat - 33, 60, 30, (62), 43, 50 – 50th
49er:
David Gilmour/Joel Turner - 2, 2, (27), 1, 13, 2 – 1st
Lachy Gilmour/Ryan Donaldson - 13, 24, (26), 26, 20, 26 - 30th
Kurt Hansen/Harry Morton - (36), 31, 23, 30, 12, 25 - 35th
49erFX:
Amelia Stabback/Ella Clark - 2, 8, 17, 10, 20, 10, (25) – 8th
Natasha Bryant/Annie Wilmot - 7, 18, 20, 1, 11, 11, (22) - 9th
470W:
Nia Jerwood/Monique de Vries - 12, (30), 20, 28, 23 – 27th
470:
Mat Belcher/Will Ryan – 8, 5, 6, 10, (24) - 6th
Chris Charlwood/Josh Dawson - 17, 23, 15, (35), 20 – 22nd
Finn:
Jake Lilley - 3, 7, 3, 19, (20), 8 - 6th
Oliver Tweddell – (35), 24, 8, 23, 26, 16 - 24th
Jock Calvert - 12, 17, 28, 37, 36, (39) - 30th
Lewis Brake - 22, 38, 33, 32, (UFD), 34 – 35th
Nacra 17:
Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin – 16, (BFD), 12, 13, 2, 14, 21 – 15th