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ILCA 7 World Championship at Adelaide Sailing Club - Day 4

by Harry Fisher, Down Under Sail 29 Jan 2024 10:19 GMT 24-31 January 2024
Australian Matt Wearn maintains his lead going into last two gold fleet races of the 2024 ILCA 7 Men World Championship © Jack Fletcher / Down Under Sail

Podium begins to take shape as top three sailors lock horns

Big breeze and steep swells were on the menu for the first day of Finals racing at the 2024 Wireless Communications ILCA 7 Men's World Championship in Adelaide.

The gold fleet was eager to get started as sailors forced four general recalls in the opening race, three of them under the black flag, and a total of seven sailors ended up disqualified under black flag rules.

Reigning champion Matt Wearn may have held back on the black flag starts, potentially weary of being spotted over the line in his bright yellow leaders jersey and ending up buried in the mid fleet at the first windward mark.

He worked hard to salvage an 11th, even though it was discarded, and backed it up with a dominant race win in the second race to end the day with a one-point lead over British rival Micky Beckett.

However Beckett continued his consistent run of form with a tidy 3,2 scorecard for the day, remaining well within striking distance heading into the last day of Finals racing, and ultimately Wednesday's 10-boat medal race.

He said while the windy and wavy Adelaide conditions were incredibly challenging, it was something all ILCA 7 sailors trained and prepared for.

"You practice in this, you go to the gym a lot and eat a lot, and then go to the gym and then complain about it, and then eat some more," Beckett joked.

"We're lucky enough to be full time professionals so we kind of dedicate our lives to trying to be able to deal with (windy conditions), it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt but it gives us a chance really.

"We've only got four gold fleet races in total so tomorrow is half of that and then the medal race the following day so there's not much bandwidth.

"It's looking like quite a low scoring regatta, so we'll just have to see how it plays out tomorrow and take it one race at a time."

While the tantalising Wearn-Beckett rivalry continues to heat up, Norwegian Hermann Tomasgaard continues knocking on the door in third place, clinching a powerful win in today's opening race and ending the day just four points off the lead.

"It's been a very good regatta for me so far, I've been struggling a little bit since the (Tokyo) Games, it's been okay results but a lot of results that are just top 10," he said

"I feel like I've been struggling a little bit with the speed but it's started to come together better here now.

"Today we had a really strong sea breeze, we came out and it looked like it was not going to be so strong but then it picked up before the first race and for the second race it was proper windy."

While the remainder of the top 10 drifts out of reach for podium positions, it remains all to play for heading into the final two days with only eight points separating fourth through to ninth.

The battle for Olympic qualification is also highly competitive, with seven remaining ILCA 7 Olympic berths up for grabs among 15 countries in the gold fleet, which goes to show just how important the next two days of racing will be.

Those who prefer stronger winds will be licking their lips at the current forecast, with Adelaide expected to hold nothing back for the world's best sailors on the final two days.

For more information head to ilca2024adelaide.ilca-worlds.org

Results after Day 4:

PosNatSail NoHelmQ1Q2Q3Q4Q5Q6F1F2Pts
1stAUS199015Matt Wearn612213‑11116
2ndGBR210139Michael Beckett(30%)613113217
3rdNOR224454Hermann Tomasgaard11155‑71620
4thHUN213119Jonatan Vadnai13723(BFD)241041
5thNZL219921Thomas Saunders41194249‑1343
6thCRO216063Filip Jurišic23411615‑39344
7thGER191131Philipp Buhl315511‑3810944
8thFRA216112Jean‑Baptiste Bernaz624611412‑1745
9thIRL222017Finn Lynch846856(BFD)1249
10thNZL214137George Gautrey3(30%)31865141160
11thCYP212431Pavlos Kontides1438101012(BFD)562
12thAUS219896Luke Elliott12510181018‑2064
13thIND218191Vishnu Saravanan151972696‑4964
14thGUA211981Juan Maegli6105‑3111372264
15thGBR223102Sam Whaley7101417728‑2965
16thCRO212013Tonci Stipanovic‑236131631021969
17thPOR223215Eduardo Marques‑29666141121771
18thAUS199088Zac Littlewood125164126(BFD)1873
19thMNE191715Milivoj Dukic16481487(BFD)1673
20thAUS211556Ethan Mcaullay5918223‑282674
21stGER211241Nik Aaron Willim19410755(BFD)2777
22ndNED223054Duko Bos111415102‑19131580
23rdCHI211771Clemente Seguel Lacámara25392614‑292483
24thFIN222065Valtteri Uusitalo292122241‑351484
25thSWE219489Emil Bengtson13179198‑332885
26thITA216159Lorenzo Brando Chiavarini52019164220‑2386
27thNOR223393Christoffer Srrlie4721624926‑4788
28thHKG171979Nicholas Halliday1713101910122‑4492
29thMAS214989Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy41528201205‑4893
30thAUS214418Finn Alexander9711122826‑41497
31stDEN210987Johan Lundgaard Schubert71118211323‑278101
32ndTUR213512Yigit Yalcin Citak517711201131‑42102
33rdARG222111Francisco Guaragna Rigonat381715(BFD)101933105
34thFIN214111Kaarle Tapper108191482917‑34105
35thBEL214116William De Smet291632‑31271521113
36thNOR218563Uffe Tomasgaard14141027‑3281625114
37thESP211436Leopoldo Barreto Haschke10251418101623‑50116
38thCAN221811Luke Ruitenberg21513916‑402440119
39thHUN213095Benjamin Vadnai152215730530‑35124
40thESP211710Joel Rodriguez Perez13535121415‑4032126
41stMNE224085Ilija Markovic18182411718‑4430126
42ndSGP222980Ryan Lo193021182325‑37127
43rdUSA221715Ford Mccann261714(BFD)443731133
44thIRL216101Ewan Mcmahon249963317‑3636134
45thSUI191817Gauthier Verhulst83011122517‑4338141
46thUSA218131Marshall Mccann7331217212232‑39144
47thARG222148Facundo Olezza12(DSQ)123132234DSQ148
48thTUR191719Berkay Abay223518216938‑45149
49thPUR214311Pedro Fernandez1716454027‑4241150
50thAUS198098Stefan Elliott‑Shircore16182094212(BFD)43160
51stGBR224124Daniel Whiteley109722(BFD)24BFD46170

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