After five qualification races sailed at the Topper World Championships, Royal Cork Yacht Club's Craig O'Neill (17) continues to lead the 5.3 fleet after day two.
And in a further show of strength from the Ireland squad in the 190-boat fleet, County Antrim Yacht Club's Luke Simpson lies second, and Sligo Yacht Club's Leo O'Doherty is third.
China has taken the lead in the smaller 4.2 division, with Che Liu from Beijing Sailing Centre leading from Rory Whyte. Royal Cork's Andrew O'Neill lies third.
Tuesday dawned with bright skies and a gentle breeze in Cork Harbour building from the southwest, the completely opposite direction from the previous day.
After the morning briefing and traditional spot-prize giving, the 4.2 fleet launched first and were all towed out to their more distant race course beyond Spike Island.
With the wind in the opposite direction, the tide was now under the fleet on the startline, resulting in a general recall for the Topper 4.2 first start.
Topper World Championships 4.2, Day Two Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman
After the re-start for the green flight, local sailor Rian O Neill from RCYC rounded first, closely followed by Alegra Schwoerer (SUI) and Rui Chang (CHN), underlining the international makeup of the fleet. Alegra and her family live aboard their yacht, the TOP to TOP climate expedition ship, based in the Norwegian Arctic for the last two years. Four of the family of six are racing in the Topper Worlds after sailing their floating home down from the Lofoten Islands in an effort to get to Crosshaven.
In the Topper 4.2 race 5 Orange flight, IRL 479, Andrew O’Neill was first round the windward mark, followed closely by fellow Royal Cork clubmate Rory Whyte (IRL 706) and CHN 831 Che Liu. On the second upwind, O’Neill held his lead in the building breeze as Che Liu muscled passed Rory Whyte to take the runner-up spot on the line.
Topper World Championships 5.3, Day Two Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman
Meanwhile, over on the 5.3 course, race 5 for the white and blue flights started with a black flag in a 6 knots southerly breeze. On the first leg, the Irish team led with IRL 493 Leo O’Doherty and IRL 455 Isha Duggan holding the first two places followed by CHN 864 Wenwei Fu.
5.3 results below and 4.2 results here
On Wednesday, the Topper 5.3 sailors begin their Finals series, with the fleet split into Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets, so there is all to play for.
