After the champagne and sunshine of Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday brought the “wind and tonic” to the 57th Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères.
A mixture of punishing conditions and the first day of the elimination phase brought the best out of the world’s elite. Strong easterlies gusting to 28 knots brought choppy waves and squalls that pushed the fleets to their limits, forcing officials to restrict both the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 fleets to just two races.
In the ILCA 6 fleet, Australia’s Zoe Thomson seized the overall lead with a victory in the opening race. Bermuda’s Adriana Penruddocke showed great character after missing the Gold Fleet cut by just four points; she now leads the Silver Fleet with 17 points, sitting 46th overall after recording finishes of 7th and 8th.
The ILCA 7 fleet saw another spectacular charge from Sebastian Kempe. Building on his massive jump of 58 places yesterday, Kempe surged another 24 spots to end the day in 17th place. The Bermudian standout delivered a stunning third-place finish in the day’s second race to cement his position.
At the summit, Australia’s double Olympic champion Matt Wearn moved into the overall lead, leapfrogging his British challengers. It was a more challenging outing for Campbell Patton, who fell two places to 35th overall after a grueling day on the Mediterranean.
