Australia’s world No.1 ranked 470 crew, Mat Belcher and Will Ryan, have scored perfect results to get back within striking range of the head of the fleet, as David Gilmour and Joel Turner remained locked in a tense battle in the 49er on Day 4 of the World Cup Series regatta at Hyeres in France

Belcher and Ryan, the silver medallists at the Rio Olympics and reigning world champions, moved from sixth to second place after a pair of wins in stable breeze and sunshine, putting them back in podium contention, though still 17 points behind the team they beat at the 470 Worlds in Greece last year, Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom of Sweden.

The 470s - along with the Laser, Laser Radial and Finn classes - have one more day of racing before Sunday’s Medal Races.

The 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 have their Medal Races tonight (AEST), meaning it’s crunch time for Gilmour and Turner, whose 20th placing in Race 7 - the only race possible due to diminishing winds - saw them settled just one point behind the leaders.

“Dave and I obviously had a poor performance in Palma so we worked through a few things and are very happy to see it’s paying off here so far,” Turner said.

“We’ve had a few average performances but have managed to remain towards the pointy end more often than not.”

Four races were held in the 49erFX class and scores of 17, 2, 9 and 19 by Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot propelled them into the first Medal Race of their developing careers.

Meanwhile, Tom Burton was unable to back up his two wins on Day 3, sailing to a 12 and 31 to fall back to seventh in the Laser fleet, though Matt Wearn’s best day of the regatta, a 7 and 1, saw him move up to 11th.

Jake Lilley’s 2 and 13 in the two Finn races put him into fifth place, up one from the previous day.

Medal Races will be streamed live on World Sailing’s YouTube channel

HOW TO FOLLOW:

Local website - www.swc.ffvoile.fr

World Sailing - www.sailing.org/world-cup-series

FULL RESULTS HERE

AUSSIES IN ACTION:

LASER:

Tom Burton - 3, 26, (41), 15,1, 1, 12, 31 - 7th

Matt Wearn - 15, 25, 10, (49), 18, 39, 7, 1 – 11th

Finn Alexander - 20, 45, 4, 20, 16, 35, 13, (56) – 23rd

Mitch Kennedy – (DNF), 6, 35, 63, 63, 12, 3, 11 – 28th

Luke Elliott - 33, 29, (55), 50, 34, 3, 41, 36 – 36th

Dan Self - 58, 44, 60, 56, 23, 33, (65), 52 - 57th

LASER RADIAL:

Paige Caldecoat - 33, 60, 30, (62), 43, 49, 54, 58 – 58th

49ER:

David Gilmour/Joel Turner - 2, 2, (27), 1, 13, 2, 20 – 2nd

Lachy Gilmour/Ryan Donaldson - 13, 24, (26), 26, 20, 26, 16 - 27th

Kurt Hansen/Harry Morton - (36), 31, 23, 30, 12, 25, 29 - 35th

49ERFX:

Natasha Bryant/Annie Wilmot - 7, 18, 20, 1, 11, 11, (22), 17, 2, 9, 19 - 9th

Amelia Stabback/Ella Clark - 2, 8, 17, 10, 20, 10, 25, 22, 12, (32), 25 – 14th

470W:

Nia Jerwood/Monique de Vries - 12, (30), 20, 28, 23, 20, 7 – 23rd

470:

Mat Belcher/Will Ryan – 8, 5, 6, 10, (24), 1, 1 – 2nd

Chris Charlwood/Josh Dawson - 17, 23, 15, (35), 20, 25, 28 – 22nd

FINN:

Jake Lilley - 3, 7, 3, 19, (20), 8, 2, 13 - 5th

Oliver Tweddell – 35, 24, 8, 23, 26, 16, 36, (37) - 28th

Jock Calvert - 12, 17, 28, 37, 36, (39), 31, 32 – 32nd

Lewis Brake - 22, 38, 33, 32, (UFD), 34, 28, 34 – 36th

NACRA 17:

Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin – 16, (BFD), 12, 13, 2, 14, 21, 4, UFD, 2, 4 – 9th

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