Irish Laser Radial sailors Philip Doran and Sophie Murphy tackled unfavourable variable light wind conditions in Day 4 of the ISAF Youth Worlds in Zadar, Croatia to produce four top ten performances, results that move Murphy up three places to eighth overall and Doran into 16th with two days of racing left.
Doran of Courtown Sailing Club and the National Yacht Club maximised yesterday's rest day and returned to the water this morning with 'a fresh mind'. He had his best day of the championships so far with two fifth places in the two races sailed today. Doran now moved up ten places from 26th.
Northern Irish sailor Sophie Murphy from Quoile YC and the Royal St. George YC had a similarly successful day. She placed 7th in her first race and although lying in 28th place rounding the first mark during her second race she worked hard and climbed the 41 boat fleet to finish in 6th place. Sophie now lies eighth and significantly the only Irish sailor in the top ten overall.
420 girls Emma Geary from Royal Cork Yacht Club and Niamh Connolly from Baltimore Sailing Club who favour heavier conditions had a tougher day placing 25th and 22nd respectively in their two races but their 25th placing is discarded leaving them in 22nd overall.
Maxime Mazard (FRA) continues to lead the Laser Radial Boys despite having an off day at the 41st ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in Zadar, Croatia.
Mazard finished 24th in Race 8 before discarding his 38th place finish in Race 9. Mazard's 12 point lead from the third day has been reduced to five with Giovanni Coccoluto hot on his heels on 79 points.
But Coccoluto also struggled in breezier conditions in Zadar posting a 21st and 19th place finish. Israel's Oz Adam recorded an eighth place finish in Race 8 but finished 42nd in Race 9 and after discarding his DNF in Race 5 he slips down to third overall on 83 points.
?an-Luka Zelko (SLO) moved into contention for a medal today after claiming a bullet in Race 8 and coming tenth in Race 9 to sit fourth on 91 points. The Race 9 bullet went the way of ISAF Athlete Participation Programme sailor Ramon Gonzalez (PUR). The Puerto Rican sailor has 144 points to his name and is 17th overall.
In the Laser Radial Girls Poland's Paulina Czubachowska continues to lead the way on 50 points after nine races. But surprisingly she picked up her first bullet in Race 9 after posting an 18th place finish in Race 8. But the Polish sailor has shown consistency which has been key.
Manami Doi (JPN), in second, had a good day finishing 3-5 and moves into second place on 54 points. And Tiril Bue (NOR) had a better day following a bullet in Race 8 and a third place finish in Race 9. The Norwegian is third on 57 points.
The top of the 420 Girls is very tight with just six points separating the top three with three races remaining. Lara Vadlau and Tanja Frank (AUT) continue to lead the way after finishing with a bullet and third place today. But America's Morgan Kiss and Christina Lewis traded blows after the Austrians posted the same race results. But the Austrians are at the top of the leader board on 17 points with the Americans five points behind. Nikole Barnes and Agustina Barbuto trail the Austrians by six points in third.
Martin Lowy and Kim Andrade continued their dominance in the SL16 by winning their eighth consecutive race in a row. With eight points they have a gigantic 26 point lead with three races remaining in the championship. The Brazilians are in great form and with a huge lead the gold medal is almost theirs. The rest of the fleet will fight it out for the bronze and silver. Just nine points separate second and seventh place so it should be an interesting climax.
Spain's Carlos Robles and Florian Trittel have extended their lead in the 29er to 12 points after finishing fifth and fourth in today's racing. Australia's Josh Franklin and Lewis Brake had a consistent day finishing second in both races to move up to second overall. Antoine Screve and Max Agnese (USA) finished sixth and recorded a bullet in Race 9 to retain third place.The top of the RS:X Boys and Girls is looking interesting with just one point separating Veronica Fanciulli (ITA) and Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam (THA) in the Girls fleet. And four points split Cho Wonwoo (KOR) and Mateo Sanz (ESP) in the Boys.
Fanciulli finished 3-4 today to move onto 15 points and Kaewduang-Ngam came second in Race 7 before discarding her fifth place finish in Race 8. Naomi Cohen won Race 8 today and is second on 22 points. Agnieszka Bilska won the days other race and is fourth on 28 points.
And in the RS:X Boys Cho Wonwoo once again put in a consistent display out on the water. He came seventh in Race 7 and second in Race 8. He leads on 18 points. Sanz discarded his 13th place in Race 7 before bouncing back with a fourth in Race 8. The Spaniard is second on 22 points.
Sam Sills (GBR) won Race 7 today and is sixth overall on 55 points and the days other race win went to Pawel Tarnowski (POL) who is third on 30 points.
The 420 Boys are still out on the race course for their third race of the day.
Racing is set to commence at 12:00 local time tomorrow with two races scheduled in each fleet.
