Hanson's domination of the event, on paper, looked complete. By the end of the 12-race series, Hanson was discarding a 3rd, 4th and 5th, and counted nothing lower than a second-place finish, with no finishes outside the top five whatsoever.
However, with discards taken into account, Hanson was just three points clear by the end. Before the fleets were split into Gold and Silver, Hanson counted four wins out of six races, but then dropped off the top spot for three races early on in the final series, allowing his closest rival, Richard Cumpsty, close in with two wins of his own.
Jonathan Hewat took the third spot on the podium, pushing top Irish sailor Philip Doran out of the medals into fourth. Ali Dix, also in the running for a top three finish in the girls, dropped back slightly to just outside the top three.
Despite early wobbles with flukey winds and shifty conditions, PRO Alan Crosbie got twelve solid races in, and the first world championship in Tralee since 1950 has been deemed an unmitigated success.
