ANNALISE MURPHY EARNED victory in Race Three of the 2020 ILCA Laser Radial Women’s World Championship in Melbourne, Australia.

The 2016 Olympic silver medallist finished in front of France’s Pernelle Michon and the Netherlands’ Maxime Jonker in the Yellow Fleet race, battling thunder and lightning as well as harsh winds to move into 21st place in the overall standings.

“The waves were awesome, everyone was having so much fun downwind. Upwind, not so much,” Murphy said.

Her compatriots Aoife Hopkins, Eve McMahon and Aisling Keller currently lie 37th, 62nd and 64th respectively.

The weather once again played havoc in Melbourne with the storms forcing sailors to abandon racing before the course became dangerous.

Competitors’ efforts to qualify for the Gold Fleet will continue tomorrow, with at least one more race needed to complete qualification; the first discard comes into effect only after four races, and that could shake up the leaderboard considerably.

The earliest sailors can be split into Gold and Silver fleets is Thursday, the penultimate day of the regatta.

Weather permitting, three races will be sailed on each remaining day.