Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris have seized the Gold Fleet lead at the 470 World Championships after a punishing first day that tested sailors and the Race Committee in equal measure.
Racing started in a light, fading nor'easter. One completed race was all the morning produced. China's Wenju Dong and Hailun Xiao led early but lost the advantage during the second lap, with Wrigley and Harris crossing first ahead of Greece's Afrodite Zegers-de Kleine and George Kavvas. Portugal's Diogo Costa and Carolina João were third.
"I think it was a day of two halves," Wrigley said. "We launched quite early this morning, 8:30, and then we had one quite light-wind race, with the wind more from the northeast. We haven't done such a good job earlier in the regatta, so I think we've taken quite a lot of learnings from the mistakes we've been making. We had a bit more of a positive day and hopefully learned from our mistakes in the first race today. The second race had a bit more breeze. It was good to work hard and have good speed."
The Race Committee then sent the fleet ashore for two hours under AP over H. Back out on the water, the second race got away under the Oscar flag, a general recall followed, and several teams picked up BFDs.
Wrigley and Harris rounded the first upwind mark in front and held it to the finish. The 2026 European Champions were never seriously challenged. Portugal's Beatriz Gago and Rodolfo Pires finished second.
"We kind of knew that coming into the last two days, it was just going to be quite chaotic, and we just had to fight hard, because it was basically the start of the regatta again," Wrigley said. "The points were always going to be so close. I think we just wanted to attack the day and see how we finished up."
Then things got complicated.
The third race went to France's Lomane Valade and Julien Bunel, with only 16 teams finishing as the fleet split in worsening conditions. Costa and João came second, with Japan's Tetsuya Isozaki and Yurie Seki third, a result that lifted them to second overall.
Gago was direct about how her day unfolded. "In the morning I told you our goal was to be consistent, try to be consistent in the top five. Unfortunately, the last race was super tricky. We did 12, but we managed to finish the race and a lot of boats didn't. It was a really difficult day, but we managed to hold on and have fun. We did our best."
She also had a word for her crew. "We didn't manage to have a good beginning of the week because Rudi was not feeling so good. But now he's recovered, so it's good that we are showing the work that we have been doing during the year."
Wrigley and Harris lead the Gold Fleet. Japan sits second, with Portugal close behind.
