Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush have surged into the overall lead at the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships in France, capping another outstanding day for the rising men’s skiff team as the regatta entered the decisive gold fleet phase in Quiberon.
Menzies and Lee Rush produced yet another composed and clinical performance on day four of the championship, posting scores of 5, 8 and 2 to move four points clear at the top of the 49er standings and put themselves firmly on course for a maiden world title in the men’s skiff class.
The defending European champions handled the Bay of Quiberon’s shifty northwesterly breeze with a maturity that belied their age, thriving in a tactical contest that replaced the survival-style racing seen earlier in the week.
“It was tricky racing for everyone with the breeze changing around quite a bit, but we’re happy with how the day went,” Lee Rush said.
“Conditions today were quite shifty and funky, and it was a lot lighter than the last few days.”
The breakthrough performance came on the first day of finals racing, where consistency proved critical on a racecourse that rewarded sharp decision-making and precise boat handling.
Menzies said strong starts had been central to the Kiwi crew’s rise to the top of the leaderboard.
“The biggest work on today was our starts,” he said. “In gold fleet, it’s really hard if you don’t have a good start because everyone is so good, and to pass people is really hard. That will be the main thing we’ll be focusing on.”
Their final race of the day was one of the most dramatic of the regatta thus far. Locked in a battle for victory with Germany’s Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger, the Kiwis were forced to complete a 360-degree penalty turn just metres from the finish line. Even with the costly manoeuvre, they recovered to finish second and secure the overall championship lead.
Australians Harry Price and Max Paul sit second overall, while Schultheis and Rieger are third heading into the penultimate day of fleet racing.
Elsewhere in the 49er gold fleet, fellow New Zealanders Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn climbed one place to 24th overall after posting results of 12, 21 and 16.
Sam Bacon and Blake McGlashan enjoyed their best day of the regatta in the silver fleet, highlighted by a fourth-place finish in race two, lifting them to 33rd overall and into the top 10 of the silver fleet standings.
Francesco Kayrouz and Hamish McLaren are 49th overall and 24th in the same fleet.
In the 49erFX competition, Auckland sisters Nicola and Rebecca Hume continued their steady rise through the fleet. The pair are now 36th overall in the 52-boat fleet and closing on a top-10 silver fleet position after recording their first top-10 race finish of the regatta in the final race of the day.
Olympic bronze medallist Micah Wilkinson and new crew Kate Stewart are 19th overall in the Nacra 17 fleet after another solid day in the foiling class.
Day four marked a dramatic shift in racing style across the championship. After a bruising previous day filled with capsizes and crashes, sailors instead faced a sophisticated tactical battle in an oscillating 8-18 knot breeze where positioning and split-second decisions proved decisive.
With only two days remaining before the medal races, forecast shifts in wind direction over the coming days are expected to create an entirely new tactical challenge as Menzies and Lee Rush chase a breakthrough world championship title.
Latest results and standings here.
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Originally published by Yachting New Zealand.
