Day 5 of the 49er and 49erFX World Championships was the windiest and waviest day so far in Lanzarote. It was an extremely physically demanding day with the breeze gusting between 15 and 19 knots. The 49er fleet started the day off and the French team of Fischer and Pequin did not disappoint. They dominated the day with consistent results 3,2,3. The French team go into the final day with a 30 point advantage over the Dutch, and 12 points further back are the Spanish favourites Diego Botin and Florian Trittel.
In his first time competing in Gold Fleet, British James Grummett did not disappoint. It was only three months ago that James teamed up with Rhos Hawes to form this formidable partnership. Their race win puts them in 4th overall, just 0.2 points off the Spanish in 3rd.
Moving onto the 49er FX fleet… The Swedish team of Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler tend to excel in the more breezy conditions. The day started off with two bullets for the team followed by a tough last race. The third race did not start well for the Swedes current World Champs pulled through to second place but then capsized after Netzler was swept out the back of the boat by a rogue wave and had to swim back almost 200 metres to catch up the capsized boat. Van Aanholt and Duetz (NED) had a very consistent day with 3,2,1 which gives them a 25-point lead over the Swedish team.
The fight for bronze in the FX fleet with over four teams within striking distance of the podium position. The Italians, Australian, Brazilian and Spanish will leave it all on the race course tomorrow to secure that spot.
Watch the Livestream broadcast on Sunday morning to witness the climax of competition in Lanzarote.
Tomorrow is the last day of racing with one Gold Fleet Race in the morning and then the much anticipated Medal Race in the afternoon. The conditions are expected to be light and tricky for the day.
