49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships in Nova Scotia, Canada
With one day remaining at the 49er and FX World Championship the Dutch are in a position to repeat a World Championship victory in both events.
Bart Lambriex with Floris van der Werken in the 49er sailed a 1, 5, 8 in the gold fleet to extend out to a 24-point lead. Meanwhile, competing on the beach course, Odile van Aanholt with Annette Duetz sailed a 2, 1, 3 in the FX fleet to overtake the Swedish pair Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler, and have an 11-point lead.
Neither lead is safe as racing concludes on September 5 with a single fleet race at 10:00 am local time in Nova Scotia followed by a medal race for each fleet at 14:00.
The sleepers in the 49er must be the Fantela brothers from Croatia who have just enough opportunity with a fleet and medal race to knock the Dutch from their perch.
Launching into the top three in race 12, the brothers were on perfect form until seaweed sent them back to 21st. They followed that with a 3,1, adding to their march towards the top of the fleet that followed a slow start to the championship, where only the Dutch held there nerve with consistent top finishes.
Tita and Banti (ITA) secure second world title as Gimson and Burnet (GBR) move to Bronze medal position
Tita and Banti (ITA) continued their assault on the regatta, winning the first two races and finishing second in the final race; they have mathematically secured the gold medal with two races remaining. The rules dictate they must attempt to participate in the medal race to secure their title, but that is merely a formality. They have now won 13 of the 15 races in as dominant a display of Olympic class racing that anyone can be remember.
For more information visit 49er.org/event/2022-world-championship.
