Australia’s Mark Bulka stengthened his grip on the 50th Contender Worlds with his first race win on Thursday.
Bulka now has only to safely navigate Thursday’s racing to claim his fourth Contender world title.
Three races were completed at the Royal Freshwater Bay YC, and with 5th and 2nd place finishes following his win, Bulka takes a nine point lead with two race remaining.
Simon Barford (4, 4, 4) moved into a clear second place, with Lindsay Irwin (13, 7, 3) moving into the third podium place.
Other penultimate race day winners were Italy’s Luca Bonezzi (3, 1, 8) and Matt Mulder (10, 11, 1).
Contender Worlds – After 8 races completed (34 entries)
1st AUS 2457 Mark Bulka – – 1( 1) [ 5]( 5) 2( 2) – – 19 pts
2nd AUS 2237 Simon Barwood – – 4( 4) 4( 4) 4( 4) – – 28 pts
3rd AUS 2486 Lindsay Irwin – – [ 13]( 13) 7( 7) 3( 3) – – 38 pts
4th AUS 2578 Andre Webster – – 12( 12) 10( 10) 6( 6) – – 44 pts
5th AUS 2434 Matt Mulder – – 10( 10) 11( 11) 1( 1) – – 49 pts
6th AUS 2442 Paul Green – – 6( 6) [ 16]( 16) 9( 9) – – 49 pts
7th AUS 2676 Grant Robinson – – 9( 9) 2( 2) [ 18]( 18) – – 50 pts
8th ITA 40 Luca Bonezzi – – 3( 3) 1( 1) 8( 8) – – 51 pts
9th AUS 2565 John Lindholm – – 8( 8) 12( 12) 10( 10) – – 59 pts
10th AUS 2468 Callum Burns – – 5( 5) [ 18.5]( 18) 7( 7) – – 61 pts
11th AUS 2575 Joseph Randall – – 2( 2) 3( 3) 5( 5) – – 63 pts
12th AUS 2323 James Ellis – – 7( 7) [ 22]( 22) 17( 17) – – 69 pts
13th AUS 2560 Jeff Owen – – [ 15]( 15) 9( 9) 14( 14) – – 72 pts
14th AUS 2540 Richard Whittaker – – 18( 18) [ 18.5]( 18) 12( 12) – – 86 pts
15th AUS 2518 Andrew Chisholm – – 17( 17) 6( 6) 13( 13) – – 88 pts
16th AUS 2444 John Humphries – – 14( 14) [ 20]( 20) 11( 11) – – 90 pts
17th NED 2 Mark Thorborg – – 19( 19) 13( 13) 15( 15) – – 105 pts
18th AUS 2482 Kenneth Mackenzie – – 16( 16) 15( 15) 16( 16) – – 107 pts
19th AUS 2777 Stephen Eshman – – 20( 20) 17( 17) 19( 19) – – 130 pts
20th AUS 2136 Ian Bowman – – 11( 11) 8( 8) [ 35](UFD) – – 136 pts
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