Ireland's Laura Dillon and Ben O'Donoghue are poised on a knife-edge balance as the Laser II World Championship goes into its final day at the Heineken Dinghy Week at the Royal Cork Yacht Club. Yesterday saw the pair win race five of the series after stealing the victory from the New Zealand leaders of the event.
The light winds barely registered off Roche's Point yesterday afternoon. However, a five-to-seven knot south-easterly airflow was enough to sail one race which had Matthew Davies and Nathan Handley in fourth place at the first mark and apparently set to consolidate their overall lead.
Dillon and O'Donoghue racing their Halidon-sponsored Laser II were in ninth place at the same mark but after a short running leg, were the first to spot a course change and neatly sailed to the new weather mark and finishing line before their main rivals could respond.
In a tight finish, the Kiwis managed a desperate fifth place, enough to hold their lead but only by one point. European champions Tom Fitzpatrick and David McHugh took third behind David Crosbie and Fiachra Rowan of the National Yacht Club and are now third overall by 18 points.
The six classes sailing for their own national championship titles as part of Dinghy Week are also reaching their conclusions today. Few of the fleets have certain winners before the final day is complete except for the Fireballs where Martin Treadwell of Swords Sailing and Boating Club has a comfortable three-point lead.
In France, the fourth and last leg of La Solitaire du Figaro from Kinsale to St-Quay-Portrieux ended yesterday with Damian Foxall's DHL Worldwide Express winning the overall `First-Timers' division of the classic offshore event ahead of 16 other boats.
