The fourth day of the Laser Radial Open and Women’s World Championship surpassed Day 3 in terms of difficulty for both the race committee and competitors. A 15kt gradient wind was pulled left and right by as much as 30 degrees as a complex succession of rain showers passed directly through the course area throughout the day. The nightmare for the race committee was whether to chase each shift with course changes or rely on the previous experience when the gradient wind direction always reinstated itself after each squall. It was one of those days when experience counted for nothing and the conditions beat the race committee with the locals saying the inevitable “we’ve never seen it like this before!”

Only one race was completed for each of men’s fleet and the women’s race was abandoned at the half way stage. An attempt to re start the women in lighter winds at the end of the day proved futile as the wind continued to drop and became unstable.

Although the courses for the men’s fleet races were not ideal in 15kts the cream still came to the top with the joint series leaders, Michael Blackburn and Tom Slingsby from Australia, both winning their races. Slingsby led from start to finish. Blackburn said: “I started in the middle and stayed in the middle which wasn’t great for the first left hand shift but when it came back again I was well placed and was second behind Mark Orams NZL at the first mark. I caught mark on the downwind leg and was able to pull out a safety margin on the second windward.”

Two more races are scheduled for today.

Results (provisional)

1 AUS 178785 SLINGSBY Tom 6.0

2 AUS 178640 BLACKBURN Michael 6.0

3 CRO 167831 LOLIC Aron 16.0

4 NZL 175277 BLAKEY Matthew 18.0

5 AUS 177729 SKULANDER Nick 23.0

6 NZL 136721 ORAMS Mark 24.0

7 NZL 178663 MCLAY Blair 26.0

8 AUS 177793 IRONMONGER Ricky 29.0

9 NZL 161262 GEALE Jason 31.0

10 NZL 177074 BARTROM Jake 34.0

Female

1 AUS 180195 WEIR Krystal 7.0

2 AUS 153136 BRIDGE Christine 16.0

3 ARG 179356 CARRANZA SAROLI Cecilia 24.5

4 NZL 178665 MACKY Jane 25.0

5 SUI 179395 MEYER Corinne 25.0

6 NZL 159153 POWRIE Miranda 27.0

7 ISR 168365 EDELMAN Nufar 29.0

8 NED 166368 JUTJENS Gea 35.0

9 AUS 178789 SLINGSBY Alana 42.5

10 NZL 177775 ALEH Jo 43.0