The National Yacht Club's Will Byrne and Howth's sailmaker Shane Hughes (from North Sails Ireland) are racing on Mathilde in the Club Swan 50 division, one of the four racing classes at the Swan One Design World Championships in France.

Fitful easterlies rewrote the Swan class leaderboards in St Tropez with ClubSwan36 led by G Spot; ClubSwan42 - Natalia; Swan45 - From Now On and ClubSwan50 led by Hatari.

Sitting in fourth place, four points off the podium and six off the lead, it is all very close and, Dun Laoghaire's Byrne says there's "lots to play for" going into the final day of racing today. 

The Gulf of Saint Tropez kept the surprises coming for the third day of the Swan One Design Worlds, with the wind swinging right round to the east again.

Signs of a good sailing breeze early on were scuppered as the winds began to drop. But there was still time to get all the classes away for one good race under blue skies.

It proved a day for upsets – the special magic of day three has struck. Leaders in every class put in mid-order finishes in the day’s race, giving hope to those snapping at their heels. It largely came down to whether the boats chose to go left or right off the start. 

Club Swan 50 racing in Saint Tropez Photo: Studio Borlenghi