12mR World Championship in Porquerolles, Mistral strengthening to 25 knots

The sun has returned to the harbour in Hyères, which has regained its summer colours in shades of blue on this first day of summer. As for the wind, the Mistral has invaded the playground of the fourteen 12mR boats for the fourth day of the World Championship.

At 10:05 this morning, the gun sounded announcing the first start, freeing the 224 sailors who then sailed a second race at the end of the morning before returning to port at around 13:30 as the Mistral picked up. The end of the day.

In the overall rankings after six races, the leaders are :
Group 1: Kookaburra II (KA12) and Group 2: Northern Light (US14).

A change of scenery today in Porquerolles, with sunshine, blue skies and navy blue seas flattened by the Mistral... Summer has arrived! In these new conditions, two races were contested by the fourteen 12m JI boats. On the first course, the wind had a hard time getting established, 10-12 knots at the start, then easing off during the race with some shifts, so you had to be concentrated not to make the slightest mistake. The second course proved to be much sportier and tougher, with the wind strengthening to 25 knots. "We had a great time", "good day", "top"... could be heard this afternoon on the pontoon in Porquerolles.

Imperial Kookaburra II (KA12)
Impressive! A step up, faster... Once again, Kookabura II (KA12) skippered by Brazilian Torben Grael dominated the day's two races. The World Champion title should not escape him tomorrow for the final day of racing. Kiwi Magic (KZ) and French Kiss (F7) complete the podium.

Jesper Feldt - Kiwi Magic: "It was a tough day but we managed to fight hard and got a good result today, so we're really happy with our position. Looking at the weather forecast for tomorrow, it looks like it's going to be windy and of course we'll be there."

Sandro Spaziani - Kookaburra III: "The first race was a bit difficult and the second was much better, we finished second, which is really good especially just behind Kookaburra II, they're too fast for us and I think for everyone else too, they're a very good team."

It's not over yet in the Vintage class
Northern Light (US14) leads the overall standings, and tomorrow will be decisive, with the top three within 3 points of each other. Jenetta (K1) and Nini Anker (N15) are currently second and third, so the battle for the podium promises to be a good one tomorrow.

Hans Eliasson - Northern Light (K1): "It's definitely been a very good day for us. We won the second race of the day and now we're the leaders, which is really good and we're very happy. We're ready to hold on to first place tomorrow."

Tomorrow, Saturday, the final day of racing promises to be another tough one, with strong Mistral winds.