#f18 - After the heroics of the last two days, the crews of the F18 breathed a sigh of relief when they woke up. Day 4 of the F18 World Championship at Ballyholme Yacht Club, Northern Ireland offered light winds and sunshine and the Race Committee managed to squeeze in three races before the wind died.
In the first race of the day (Race 10), Lois Breeder/Hugo Pomellac and Robert Solune/Riwan Perron showed that the French Junior teams also have plenty of boat speed, with the American Junior team of Taylor Reiss and Matthew Whitehead coming in third.
After swapping hulls over night with the damage yesterday, Glenn Ashby and Brett Goodall returned to form in the second race (Race 11) winning in front of France's Thomas Normand and Antoine Jalbert. Tim and Jean Christophe Mourniac came in third and also again in the last race of the day, moving up to 5th overall.
Normand/Jalbert were a little too keen to repeat their new-found success and were the only boat OCS in Race 12. Emeric Dary and David Fanouillere came in second instead, but it was Gunnar Larsen and Ferdinand van West who lead the way home and moved into first place overall.
For others, the dying wind proved a little tricky and English crew Ben Lodge and Niall McLoughlin decided to park on one of the gate marks, hulls either side, while the rest of the fleet sailed past.
The F18 World Championship comes to a climax tomorrow with 3 more races scheduled and light winds forecast again. With only 10 points separating the top 3, everything is still up for grabs.
1. Gunnar Larsen and Ferdinand van West NED 38pts
2. Taylor Reiss and Matthew Whitehead (Junior) USA 42pts
3. Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot (FRA) 49pts
4. Morgan La Graviere and Armaud Jarlegan (FRA) 78pts
5. Tim and Jean Christophe Mourniac (FRA) 81pts
6. Robert Solune and Riwan Perron (Junior) FRA 89pts
