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 three-day elimination phase brought the best out of the world’s elite. Strong easterlies of 23 to 25 knots, gusting to 28, brought choppy waves, cloud cover, and squalls that pushed the fleets to their absolute limits. The severe weather forced race officials to limit both the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 fleets to just two races on the day.
In the ILCA 6 fleet, Australia’s Zoe Thomson seized the overall lead. A victory in the opening race followed by a disciplined tenth in the second was enough to move her to the top of the standings as the top ten began to fill with familiar champions. Bermuda’s Adriana Penruddocke currently leads the Silver Fleet with 17 points. Following a difficult Tuesday that saw her miss the Gold Fleet cut by just four points, she showed great character today, recording finishes of 7th and 8th to sit 46th overall, climbing one spot in the global rankings.
The ILCA 7 fleet saw a spectacular charge from Sebastian Kempe, who once again proved to be the day's biggest mover. Building on his massive jump of 58 places yesterday, Kempe surged another 24 spots today. Starting the morning in 41st, the Bermudian standout crossed the line 18th in his first race before delivering a stunning 3rd-place finish in the second. He ends the day in 17th place overall with 62 points.
At the summit of the ILCA 7 standings, Australia’s double Olympic champion Matt Wearn made his move. Wearn jumped past two British challengers to take the overall lead, winning the day's first race and finishing second in the next. It was a more challenging outing for Campbell Patton, who fell two places to 35th overall. Patton recorded finishes of 25th and 33rd to conclude a grueling day on the Mediterranean with 91 points.
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