ON A DAY of long delays and fierce temperamental winds, Annalise Murphy battled through two tough races and came out sitting third in the Laser Radial standings.
A sharp change of wind direction brought a late postponement to all scheduled sailing races on the Brazilian coast and competitors had a long day at sea waiting on race-friendly conditions to return.
Murphy, who came into today with a narrow overall lead, started slowly when race seven did eventually get under way after yesterday’s rest day, yet rallied on the downwind to overtake competitors on her way to an 18th place finish.
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There was a wait in store before race eight got going too. And after popping up in eighth position midway through, Murphy finished in 12th place, but can content herself in the knowledge that overall second place Marit Bouweister was still one behind her and reigning Olympic champion Lijia Xu was all the way back in 24th.
It was another good day for Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom who backed up three straight top three finishes with a fourth and sixth today to leave her in overall first.
Elsewhere on the water, Andrea Brewster and Sakia Tidey claimed third place in race two of their 49erFX class. The youth and experience combination were eighth in race one and are scheduled for a third race this evening.
Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are in fifth place tonight after the opening day of 49er racing. The Belfast men finished second in race two, only behind the favourite New Zealand crew of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, after a 14th place in the opening race.
