Mistral conditions play a role on intriguing day in Marseille

It was a big day in the iQFOiL as the mistral wind coincided with the marathon race, with home favourite Nicolas Goyard taking advantage to seize control in the men’s class.

And there was more French joy in the mixed 470 where Camille Lecointre and Jérémie Mion will head into Saturday’s medal race with the lead after mastering the strong winds.

Elsewhere, Ireland’s rising star Eve McMahon caught the eye with a win in the ILCA 6, while Olympic champion Matt Wearn, of Australia, moved into top spot in the ILCA 7.

And as with the mixed 470, the Formula Kite Men and Women are both heading into their finals, with Axel Mazella and Lauriane Nolot giving home fans more reason for cheer, leading their respective categories.

Mistral marathon for windsurfers

The timing of the mistral was particularly notable for the iQFOiL men and women, who were in action early with the marathon race.

Racing across the full set of race courses, double points were on offer with Sharon Kantor (ISR) taking advantage in the iQFOiL women, taking the lead early and staying clear throughout to end the day in second spot.

Kantor said: “It was 80 minutes, I started pretty well, I came to the first mark first. Then I kept my place all around the marathon and won it by far so I’m pretty happy.”

With two standard races at the end of the day, overall leader Emma Wilson was able to bounce back from finishing fifth in the marathon, with a bullet in the last race to stay top on 15 points, eight clear of Kantor, with Veerle Ten Have (NZL) third on 28.

Even fifth place in the marathon was a relief for Wilson though, who had to be at her most resilient over nearly an hour and a half on the water.

She said: “It was a long day. The marathon had a lot of crashing, I think I crashed seven times, so to finish fifth in that, I was pretty stoked.

“My whole body is sore with bruises but it was fun, it was a battle mentally. It was good to push the limit.”

Meanwhile, in the iQFOiL men, Nicolas Goyard (FRA) moved back into top spot by winning the marathon ahead of overnight leader Nicolo Renna (ITA).

Goyard added a bullet in the final standard race of the day and leads the way on 13 points, with Renna six points back and Grae Morris (AUS) third on 26, with ten races still to go in the opening series.

Goyard said: “The marathon race was a really good race. It’s the longest marathon I’ve done so far, over an hour. It was really good to have this race and over 40 minutes you have to manage your levels and how you are going to do the race. It’s a different type of sailing. It was super interesting to do it so long, I loved it. I won it and that was amazing. I crashed three times and managed to come back.”

Home pair lead the way in mixed 470 heading into medal race

Home favourites Camille Lecointre and Jérémie Mion will take a slender one-point lead into the medal race in the mixed 470 on Saturday.

The French pair finished second in Thursday’s opening race, and while they could only manage tenth in the second, they were still able to move one point clear of Spain’s Jordi Xammar Hernandez and Nora Brugman Cabot.

With double points on offer in the medal race, it will be all to play for on Saturday, with a host of crews waiting in the wings. Winners of the opening race of the day, Malte and Anastasiya Winkel (GER) sit third on 52 points, with the top two on 40 and 41 respectively.

And the biggest movers in the mistral were Giacomo Ferrari and Bianca Caruso (ITA) who finished fourth before picking up a bullet to close the day in fourth on 53 points, level with Conor Nicholas and Nia Jerwood (AUS).

McMahon shines as champions make their move in ILCA 6

Eve McMahon has won everything there is to win at junior level and showed she is just as comfortable on the global stage with victory in the final race of the day in the ILCA 6.

That was enough to jump up to tenth after eight of the ten races for the Irish teenager, who beat a host of decorated sailors along the way.

Chief among them is Marit Bouwmeester (NED), a four-time world champion and 2016 Olympic gold medallist, who finished second and fourth in the day’s two races to cement her place at the top of the leaderboard.

Bouwmeester sits on 30 points, with reigning world champion Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN), six points back after a pair of third-place finishes.

Olympic champion on the charge in ILCA 7

Matt Wearn (AUS) jumped ahead of Michael Beckett (GBR) at the top of the ILCA 7 standings after a fine showing, finishing third and then first in the day’s two races.

That was enough to take top spot from Beckett, who could only finish 14th in the first race and now sits on 26 points, two behind Wearn.

And as in the ILCA 6, there was success for Ireland as Finn Lynch won the first race of the day, enough to move into third overall, one point clear of Pavlos Kontides (CYP).

French duo looking good in the kites

There was plenty more to enjoy for French fans, Axel Mazella and Lauriane Nolot finished the opening series of the Formula Kite Men and Formula Kite Women on top respectively.

With five races in all for each class, two bullets for Nolot were sufficient to keep top spot ahead of Ellie Aldridge (GBR) – with both through to the finals, Nolot carrying over two wins and Aldridge one.

World champion Daniela Moroz (USA) remains the biggest threat of the chasing pack, and will take two wins into the semi-finals, as will Jingyue Chen (CHN).

In the Formula Kite Men, Mazella has been even more dominant than Nolot, with a bullet in race 15 meaning that he did not even need to take part in the final race of the day, with top spot wrapped up.

He will be joined in the final by Connor Bainbridge (GBR), who held off the charge of 16-year-old Maximilian Maeder (SGP), who earned four bullets on the day to sit third and take two wins into the semi-finals, with Lorenzo Boschetti (ITA) in fourth.

Van Aanholt and Duetz in control

Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz (NED) had moved into first place on Wednesday and were consistent enough to extend their lead on Thursday.

A second-place finish in the opening race was key to their move, while a pair of sixth-place efforts allowed them to take advantage of slip-ups elsewhere.

With 28 points, the Dutch duo have a six-point lead over Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea (USA) with Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler (SWE) dropping back to 42 points despite finishing second in the third race of the day.