Ireland's Ger Owens and Mel Morris take a commanding 24-point lead into the final day of the GP14 World Championships on Belfast Lough after Thursday's light and patchy conditions produced some major changes among the leading contenders.
The Wicklow Sailing Club and East Antrim pair emerged from two more races at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club with a fifth and a race win, leaving them on just 14 points after seven races and one discard.
Britain's John Hayes and Joel James are second on 38 points, with Oli Hale and Harry Shaw third on 39.
Blessington Sailing Club's Sam Street and Josh Lloyd are fourth on 45 points, while Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson of Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club are sixth on 47.
Light Winds Shake Up Leaders
Thursday brought a very different test for the 90-boat fleet following the championship lay day.
Competitors initially launched into almost still conditions and were assisted by safety RIBs as they made their way across the shipping channel.
When sufficient breeze eventually arrived for Race 6, conditions remained light and patchy.
Crews finding the puffs and working the right-hand side of the course made the gains, while those caught in the lulls had little opportunity to recover in a race shortened to just one beat and a run.
The conditions proved particularly costly for Street and Lloyd. The Irish pair, who had won two races back-to-back earlier in the championship, finished 46th in Race 6.
That result became their discard, and a 12th in Race 7 kept them fourth overall on 45 points.
Kearney and Nelson also suffered in Race 6 with a 43rd, but bounced straight back with a third in Race 7. Their 43rd is discarded, leaving them sixth overall and only eight points away from third place.
At the front, Owens and Morris negotiated the difficult conditions particularly effectively. Their fifth in Race 6 is presently their discard, while victory in Race 7 added another first to an exceptionally consistent championship scoreline.
Their seven results read 3, 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 1.
Four Irish Crews in Top Ten
Double Olympian Robert Dickson and Adrian Lee of Howth Yacht Club are ninth overall on 61.8 points following an International Jury decision granting them redress for Race 5.
Their redress score is 21.8 points, while their opening-race DNC is currently discarded.
The circumstances of Dickson's redress are the subject of a separate Afloat report.
Keith and Mateo Louden of Lough Foyle Yacht Club are tenth on 76 points, giving Ireland four crews inside the top ten.
David Evans and William Draper of Sligo Yacht Club are 11th, with Howth Yacht Club's Conor Twohig and Matthew Cotter 12th.
Owens in Command
The mathematics now strongly favour Owens and Morris.
They hold 14 points against 38 for Hayes and James and 39 for Hale and Shaw. Street and Lloyd remain within six points of the podium on 45, with Kearney and Nelson another two points behind on 47.
After a Thursday on which light and fickle Belfast Lough conditions demonstrated how rapidly positions can change, Owens and Morris have nevertheless increased their advantage and will begin the final day with a substantial cushion at the head of the 90-boat fleet.
