Lying third after the opening day's racing, Nacra 17 World Championship silver medallists Saxton and Diamond really turned on the style today with two race wins and a fifth to charge to the top of the leaderboard ahead of overnight leaders Billy Besson and Marie Riou of France, whose best results were a win and a fifth.

Australian pair Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis sit third overall.

"We had a really good day today," said Diamond.

"We were fairly pleased with the first [race] but we knew that we could do a lot better.

"We made sure that we did all the things that we did in the first race a little bit better and then won the last two, which was great, so we're really happy."

In the 49erFX class, a win and two second places sees Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth leapfrog to the top of the standings with 10 points.

The Britons' consistency on the opening two days in the south-east of France bodes well as they look to improve on their bronze last time out in Mallorca.

Gold medallists in Mallorca, Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze of Brazil, lie in second place overall with Denmark's Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen in third, while world champions Alex Maloney and Molly Meech of New Zealand are well placed in fourth.

Britain's Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth are hoping to better their bronze medal at the last World Cup in Mallorca ©Richard Langdon/British Sailing Team



Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign maintained their excellent form by adding two more wins to yesterday's victory to overtake Kiwi pair Peter Burling and Blair Tuke at the top of the 49er standings, whose compatriots Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski registered one race win to claim third spot overall.

New Zealand also sits second in the women's 470 competition as Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie put in a steady performance with a second and third, leaving them behind Americans Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha who maintained their overnight lead with a first and second.

"So far so good," said Haeger afterwards.

"We've stuck to our game plan and had conservative starts but found really good speed so we're happy.

"It's been great.

"This is our second time here.

"The waves are just so much fun and we're having a really good time."

Britain's Miami World Cup winners Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre ended the day in overall third place.

It was a similar story in the men's 470 as another race win saw Australians Mat Belcher and Will Ryan hold onto their overnight lead, with French pair Sofian Bouvet and Jeremie Mion just a point behind, while Greeks Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis are a further three back.

Belgium's Evi Van Acker followed up two wins yesterday with another brace today to lead the way in the Laser Radial competition ahead of neighbour Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands, with Belarusian Tatiana Drozdovskaya in third.

Evi Van Acker secured another two wins in the Laser Radial class today to top the leaderboard in Hyères ©Getty Images



The Laser looks set to be one of the closest of the week as leader Tonci Stipanovic of Croatia is jut nine points clear of seventh place man Sam Meech of New Zealand.

The Croat held onto his lead by picking up another race win and remains just ahead of Australian Tom Burton and Brazil's Robert Scheidt, who both registered wins today.

The top of the Finn class standings is also very tight as Greece's Ioannis Mitakis just held onto his lead with a best of fourth, while Dutchman Pieter Jan Postma had a superb day registering a win and a fourth to lie just a point behind Mitakis.

Caleb Paine of the United States remains in third position overall.

In the RS:X classes, Pole Piotr Myszka is leading the way in spectacular style in the men's competition with five wins and a second from six races so far, with Dorian Van Rijsselberge of the Netherlands leading the chasing pack.

The women's competition sees a two-way tie for the lead as China's Jiahui Wu and Poland's Maja Dziarnowska have 15 points apiece, with Italian Flavia Tartaglini two points adrift in third.

Racing in Hyères continues through until Saturday (April 26).

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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