Australian sailors at 2020 ILCA Laser Standard World Championship - Day 5
by Clare Ridgway 15 Feb 2020 20:39 NZDT
9-16 February 2020
Matt Wearn (AUS) concentrates hard during today's stormy conditions - 2020 Laser World Championships © Jon West Photography
Matt Wearn has moved into third place after a gruelling day on the water at the 2020 Laser Men's Standard World Championships at Sandringham Yacht Club. Three races were sailed today in 20 to 25 knots from the South West after racing was abandoned yesterday due to storms.
Wearn, along with the rest of the team, was thankful for the rest. "Having the day off yesterday helped a lot," said the Tokyo-bound Wearn. "I felt pretty fresh this morning, but after a big three races today I probably won't be feeling the same tomorrow. It is just one more day to absolutely leave it all on the line and I can have a little bit of a break afterwards."
Regatta leader German Philipp Buhl had another good day with 2nd, 3rd and 5th place finishes. He heads into the final day on just 15 points after nine races with one drop. Frenchman Jean Baptiste Bernaz is in second on 19 points with Wearn on 30. "I had three solid results with three top tens and two of those being top five. I'll take that and things are looking good for tomorrow."
Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) member Luke Elliot remains in fifth overall despite sailing a drop today (15th). When asked of his strategy for the final day of the regatta Luke said, "I'll just try and reduce some of the mistakes I made today. I messed up the last race pretty good so hopefully I can keep that as my drop and we'll just see what happens. It will be a completely different day tomorrow."
Defending World Champion Tom Burton jumped from 27th to 16th despite also sailing a drop today (17th). "It was a trek of a day, with heavy winds in Gold Fleet across three races" Burton said. "I got decent results in those conditions for me and the preparation I've put in. I was happy but pretty knackered now."
ASS members Finn Alexander and Mitchell Kennedy had tough days today, both posting their worst results for the event. "Plenty more breeze today in properly swinging conditions so it was quite tricky with the oscillating breeze," said Alexander. "I struggled for speed today and wasn't able to get off the line. Gold Fleet can punish you and I had a rough day today."
Stronger winds are forecast for the final day of the World Championships tomorrow. Three races scheduled are scheduled from 11am.
For more information on the 2020 ILCA Laser Standard Men's World Championship and full results visit event website.
Australian Results after Day 5: (124 entries - three fleets of 40+, three days qualifying six races, then finals)
3th: Matt Wearn 6, 4, 2, 2, 2, (11), 4, 8, 2 - 30pts
5th: Luke Elliott 3, 6, 2, 1, 10, 7, 6, 10, (15) - 42pts
16th: Tom Burton 7, 13, 9, 7, 8, 15, 8, (17), 14 - 81pts
23rd: Finn Alexander 2, 1, 15, 2, 12, 14, 29, 16, (34) - 91pts
27th: Mitchell Kennedy 13, 7, 9, 9, 8, 9, 11, 56, (36) - 101pts