Australian Sailing Team at the Laser Worlds Day 5: Burton retains lead - Wearn up into third
by Australian Sailing Team 9 Jul 2019 16:56 NZST
2019 Laser World Championship at Sakaiminato, Japan © Junichi Hirai / Bulkhead Magazine Japan
Another good day on the water for Australia's Tom Burton and Matt Wearn, as Burton retained his overnight lead and Wearn moved up to third place at Laser Worlds in Miho, Japan, after each sailed a polished race and a second drop came into play on Day 5.
Burton finished fifth in Race 9 and ended the day with 13th in Race 10. He has an 18-point buffer over second place and is 16 points clear of Wearn.
"It was tricky out there today with a bit more wind than yesterday; 8-10 knots," Burton said. "I managed to get some consistent results with good starts. I went the right way and chipped away through the first race.
"A bit of a blunder in the last race, which put me back a little," Burton confirmed. "But I managed to pull through to get a solid keeper (13th) which is my drop at the moment. The points are still close, so everyone will be pushing hard tomorrow (Tuesday) to finish off the event," the Sydney sailor said.
For his part, Wearn scored 30th in Race 9, which has been utilised as his second drop, but he pulled out all stops to win Race 10 and move back up the leaderboard to third overall. Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Bernaz is in second overall, separating the two Australian Sailing Team members on the ever-revolving leaderboard.
"Mixed emotions today," Wearn confessed. "The first race I felt I got a little unlucky at a really important time. That was the difference in the end and I finished 30th.
"In the second race, the goal was to just execute a good race. I did that to lead by the top mark and it was plain sailing from there," he commented. "The points are incredibly close from second to 10th (15 points), so I will be looking to finish off with two good races tomorrow," Perth sailor Wearn ended.
In other Australian Sailing Team results, Mitch Kennedy has dropped from 10th overall to 26th, courtesy of 34th and 48th places, while Finn Alexander has moved up from 44th to 38th with a best result of 24th. Luke Elliott has moved up from 51st to 45th, his best of the day was 25th in Race 9.
It is an event that will be long-remembered for competitors' massive moves up and down the scoreboard, one where most competitors have been affected, witnessed by the dramatically changing top ten throughout.
The heat is on, as only one day remains to decide the world champion and other podium places.
Laser Australian Sailing Team Results after Day 5: (156 boats)
1st Tom Burton - 2,(21),4,4,3,4,8,2,5,(13) = 32pts
3rd Matt Wearn - 13,7,3,1,2,1,(19),18,(30),1 = 52pts
26th Mitch Kennedy - 4,15,7,7,(17),3,2,(52),34,48 = 120pts
38th Finn Alexander - 12,(BFD),14,19,4,14,20,41,24,(43) = 148pts
45th Luke Elliott - 29,13,(BFD),10,12,16,(48),31 = 166pts
Full results available here.