Tom Saunders has charged into medal-series contention at the ILCA 7 World Championship, climbing 11 places on Day 4 in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland, to sit just outside the top 10.
The former world champion produced his sharpest sailing of the elimination series, finishing fourth in the opening gold-fleet race of the day. A 15th followed in the second race, enough to keep him moving in the right direction.
He's now tied on points with Croatia's Tonci Stipanovic, currently 10th.
Two gold-fleet races remain tonight, New Zealand time, and Saunders still has a genuine shot at cracking the top 10 and locking in a medal-series spot. Only the leading 10 sailors progress to the two final races that decide the world title.
Results elsewhere in the New Zealand contingent were mixed. George Gautrey sits 33rd overall, while Caleb Armit climbed five places to 38th, his day lifted by an eighth in the final race, his best result of the regatta so far.
Further down the fleet, George Pilkington remains 78th overall after a 37th and a 26th in the silver fleet. Zach Stibbe pushed into the top 10 of the bronze fleet and now sits 103rd overall.
At the top of the leaderboard, Singapore's Ryan Lo is still in front despite a rocky start. A 24th in the first race looked like trouble, but he answered with a third to stretch his overall lead to 13 points over Great Britain's Michael Beckett.
Hungary's Jonatán Vadnai holds third, just one point behind Beckett. Reigning two-time Olympic champion Matt Wearn of Australia has worked his way into the top 10.
The standout performance of the day belonged to Greece's Athanasios Kyfidis, who won both gold-fleet races to surge from 47th to 30th overall.
For Saunders, the equation is simple: two races left, a top-10 finish within reach, and a medal-series spot on the line.
