Just six points separate Finn Lynch and the successful defence of his 2021 Laser/ILCA World Championships silver medal going into the final two races of the 2022 championships in Vallarta, Mexico today.
Despite a 24th scored in race three of gold fleet racing, the Irishman only dropped back one place to be fifth overall thanks to an eighth (his sixth top ten result of the series) scored yesterday evening.
When Lynch won silver in Barcelona at the last world championships in November 2021, it was Ireland's best-ever men's Laser result by a country mile, so the prospect of a repeat performance six months later is a tantalizing prospect for Irish sailing fans today.
While overall leader Jean-Baptiste Bernaz has a 20-point cushion, only six points separate second from fifth in what promises to be a sensational World championship climax in the men's single-handed Olympic dinghy class.
Third and fourth places are held by Olympic medalists who are tied on 51 points.
The National Yacht Club sailor, on 56 points, couldn't be in for a bigger fight. Croatia's Tonci Stipanovic in fourth is a former runner-up and double Olympic silver medalist and the 2017 Laser World Champion Pavlos Kontides (also an Olympic silver medalist from London 2012) from Cyrpus lies third.
Lynch must outsail both if he wants to dispossess New Zealand's Thomas Saunders of his 50 point silver medal position in today's final two races.
Full results here