Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush are just two races away from a maiden 49er world title after surviving a dramatic final day of gold fleet racing at the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships in Quiberon, France.
The Kiwi skiff duo retained the overall lead heading into tonight’s medal series (starting at 9.15pm NZ time), helped in part by compatriots Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn in a chaotic final race that turned the leaderboard on its head several times.
Menzies and Lee Rush endured one of their toughest days of the regatta in the shifting and unpredictable conditions of Quiberon Bay, posting a discarded 13th before backing it up with two seventh-place finishes. But it was the final gold fleet race — race 12 — where the championship battle exploded into life.
Dutch veterans and multiple world champions Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken looked poised to take control of the race before disaster struck. Lambriex accidentally unhooked from his trapeze wire while adjusting his setup, tumbling overboard and forcing a costly capsize while leading.
The mishap briefly opened the door for Germany’s Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger to seize the overall lead as they sailed near the front of the fleet. However, as the breeze shifted wildly across the course, the race turned into a survival contest, rewarding crews who could fight back through the pack.
Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn won the final gold-fleet race to move into 20th overall. Photos / Sailing Energy
That late-race chaos ultimately worked in New Zealand’s favour. Coutts and Gunn stormed through to claim the race victory, while Menzies and Lee Rush clawed their way back to seventh — just ahead of Australians Harry Price and Max Paul in eighth. The result allowed the Kiwis to hold onto the overall lead heading into the new-look finals series.
Coutts and Gunn’s race win also lifted them to 20th overall — another encouraging result after their partnership-best ninth place at French Olympic Week last month — although it was not enough to secure a spot in the top-10 medal series.
The top 10 crews now advance to the finals, where two single-point races will determine the world champions. The crew with the fewest total points at the end of the medal series will take the title.
Menzies and Lee Rush carry 25 points into the decider, two clear of Price and Paul, while Meggendorfer and Spranger sit third on 28 points. The fleet remains remarkably compressed, with just 15 points separating first from 10th heading into the final showdown.
“It was a long, tough day today,” Menzies said. “We survived, but started every race really poorly. Due to it being really shifty, we were able to pick our way back through the fleet a little bit.”
Seb Menzies (left) and George Lee Rush will start the medal series two points clear at the top of the 49er leaderboard. Photos / Sailing Energy
Lee Rush expected another nerve-racking battle in the finals.
“It looks like it will be super tricky again tomorrow,” he said. “The points are super close, and they get condensed down through the new format, so they’ll be even closer. It’s going to be whoever has a good day tomorrow will come out on top.
“But we’ll just sail our own race — I don’t think there will be any match-racing going on from anyone. If we manage to win a medal, we’ll be over the moon. I don’t think that was on the cards for us coming here this week, so we’d be super stoked, and we can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Elsewhere, Spain’s defending world champions Paula Barceló and Maria Cantero surged into a commanding lead in the 49erFX fleet, while Italy’s Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei moved to the top of the Nacra 17 standings ahead of the final day.
Kiwi crew Micah Wilkinson and Kate Stewart finished in 18th.
Latest results and standings here.
Watch the medal series live by clicking here.
Originally published by Yachting New Zealand.
