Britain’s Dj Edwards and Vyv Townend take a one point lead after day 2 of the 2024 Fireball World Championship.
After two more races and before the discard comes in, overnight leaders Brendan Garner and Ben O’Brien of Australia slipped to third after a 16, 2, scoreline, with Ben Schulz and Angus Higgins AUS moving into second with a 5 and 4.
Tom Gordon and Jack Fletcher AUS are fourth after a 3 and 5, with Britain’s Tom Gillard and Andy Thompson recovering from an 18 in the first race to win the second . . . now in fifth, they are another team who will welcome the discard.
The other winners on a difficult day were the Aussie light weather specialists Jalina Thompson-Kambas and Nathan Stockley in 13th overall.
With many overseas teams sailing borrowed boats due to logistics challenges in the lead up to the event, some teething issues have created mixed results at times.
“We’ve done a lot of boat work because the boat that we’re sailing has never been on the water before,” Gillard said.
“(The association has) done an amazing job to all get us hire boats because our container’s not here, it’s absolutely brilliant for them to sort everything out.”
The championship is hosted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club, Australia, from 11 to 16 February.
2024 Fireball World Championship – Leaders after 4 races ( 58 entries)
1st GBR Dj Edwards and Vyv Townend 2 5 6 3 – – 16 pts
2nd AUS Ben Schulz and Angus Higgins 5 3 5 4 – – 17 pts
3rd AUS Brendan Garner and Ben O’Brien 1 1 16 2 – – 20 pts
4th AUS Tom Gordon and Jack Fletcher 6 9 3 5 – – 23 pts
5th GBR Thomas Gillard and Andy Thompson 3 2 18 1 – – 24 pts
6th GBR David Hall and Paul Constable 4 4 13 7 – – 28 pts
7th AUS Ben Knoop and James Belton 7 7 12 9 – – 35 pts
8th AUS John Heywood and Daniel George 13 13 2 8 – – 36 pts
9th AUS Sophie Jackson and Josh Galland 12 6 14 11 – – 43 pts
10th GBR Kevin Hope and William Cook 16 11 7 16 – – 50 pts
11th GBR Vincent Horey and Richard Pepperdine 24 19 15 14 – – 72 pts
12th SUI Kurt Venhoda and Sonja Zaugg 27 15 4 27 – – 73 pts
13th AUS Jalina Thompson-Kambas and Nathan Stockley 47 14 1 12 – – 74 pts
14th AUS Nick Gunner and Simon Gunner 11 12 41 13 – – 77 pts
15th AUS Phil Peverell and Bruce Shand 14 28 17 18 – – 77 pts
16th FRA Claude Mermod and Esteban Hernandez 15 36 11 17 – – 79 pts
17th AUS Peter Moor and Campbell Reid 17 20 21 21 – – 79 pts
18th AUS Mark Jarred and Glenn Stewart 22 8 31 20 – – 81 pts
19th AUS Scott Lidgett and Jack Lidgett 18 17 24 26 – – 85 pts
20th CZE Milan Snajdr and Matej Snajdr 25 18 26 22 – – 91 pts
