SAILINGIT WAS no secret that England's Geoff Carveth was king of the big breeze in the SB3 class but even he will be pleased at his rise to the top of the leaderboard in Dun Laoghaire after three races in far trickier conditions on Dublin bay yesterday.
The reigning European champion now leads the World championships by two points into the final rounds this morning.
Four of the top five boats are British and only eight points separate them in what is expected to provide a fitting climax to the largest ever one-design keelboat event to be held here.
Light shifty airs and grey, overcast skies yesterday warned of what is to come today, with high pressure and lighter winds set to dominate the last two days.
Following the completion of nine qualifying rounds, the fleet has been split into gold and silver fleets for the five final races. This morning's cut will be a moment of truth for most in the 137-boat fleet.
Yesterday proved a difficult day on the water. An easterly breeze, rarely above 10 knots, provided little in the way of predictable wind shifts. Hamble's Craig Burlton, who is two points adrift of Carveth, explained the middle of the course offered the best route upwind. But even such conservative sailing gave no guarantee of success in a breeze that flicked through 30 degrees.
Up to 20 Irish boats will make it in to the 65-boat Gold fleet but only Belfast's Peter Kennedy, an Olympic Flying Dutchman sailor, has stayed inside the top 10 overall. There is just one more Irish boat, Beijing Olympian Peter O'Leary, inside the top 20.
Dun Laoghaire's Sean Craig in 25th place overall is counting two starting line penalties but he has otherwise an impressive scorecard including a 3, 4, 6, 10 and a 7.
Yesterday's second race in the orange flight saw Royal Cork YC boats take first and second thanks to helms Ronan Collins and Aidan O'Connell. Three races are scheduled today and two on Friday.
Today GPS trackers on the top 20 boats will allow online spectators follow the racing on www.live-regatta.com.
