By Gary Anderson

April 23 - Australia leads the way after three days of racing at the ISAF World Cup in Hyères ©Getty Images Australia emerged from day three of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup in Hyères as the leading nation with Mat Belcher and Will Ryan topping the men's 470 standings, while Nacra 17 duo Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis lead the way in their class.

Belcher and Ryan made an inauspicious start on the third day of action by finishing 11th in their race, which was won by Finnish brothers Joonas and Niklas Lindgren, but hit back straight away in their next outing by taking the win with 22 seconds to spare over the rest of the field.

That win leaves the Aussie pair sitting on top of the leaderboard ahead of Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis of Greece, while home sailors Sofian Bouvet and Jeremie Mion lie in overall third.

"Today was pretty tricky, it was quite light winds and no one really knew what was going to happen," said Ryan afterwards.

"We were pretty fortunate that the breeze came in just as we were starting.

"We were a little bit more confident in our strategy with the experience gained from the previous race.

"We played it a bit better and stuck to our guns. In the end we came away with a win.

"The standard's pretty high and with two more days we'll see what happens."

The women's 470 competition sees Britain's Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre sit just two points off the lead after they performed superbly on the day, picking up two wins from two, finishing ahead of New Zealand pair Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie on both occasions.

The Kiwis are still ahead overall, with Americans Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha, whose fifth and sixth place finishes today see them lie in third place.

French duo Billy Besson and Marie Riou also lost their overnight advantage in the Nacra 17 class, as Bundock and Curtis put in some consistent performances with a third and a fourth to lead the way, while two race wins saw Italy's Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri shoot up the leaderboard and take third place overall.

New Zealand's Peter Burling and Blair Tuke also climbed the leaderboard to take control of the 49er class and sit 11 points clear of Irish pair Ryan Seaton and Matthew McGovern.

Seaton and McGovern were the big movers on the day as they recorded two third place finishes to leapfrog overnight pace-setters Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign of Britain, who occupy the bronze medal position.

Kiwi pair Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are in control of the 49er class at the last World Cup of the season ©AFP/Getty ImagesKiwi pair Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are in control of the 49er class at the last World Cup of the season ©AFP/Getty Images



Fellow Britons Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth also lost their advantage from day two and now sit behind Brazil's Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze whose best of third and fifth sees them lead the way, while reigning world champions Alex Maloney and Molly Meech of New Zealand picked up a first win of the week to lie in third.

Two race victories sees Dutchman Pieter Jan Postma hold an 18-point lead over Caleb Paine of the United States and Frenchman Thomas Le Breton in the Finn class, while Postma's compatriot Marit Bouwmeester sits nine points behind Evi Van Acker of Belgium in the Laser Radial after she recorded a second and third to maintain her overnight lead.

The Netherlands is also represented on the podium places by Kiran Badloe, who is third in the men's RS:X class behind Polish pair Pawel Tarnowski and runaway leader Piotr Myszka.

China's Jiahui Wu is well clear in the women's RS:X after a brace of wins ensured she maintains her advantage over German Moana Delle and Poland's Maja Dziarsnowska.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related Stories
April 2014: 
World number ones Saxton and Diamond dominate to top standings at Sailing World Cup in Hyères
April 2014: French and New Zealand sailors impress on opening day of season's final World Cup event
April 2014: World's best to gather in Hyères for final sailing World Cup event of season