After the two final races, held in perfect 10 to 12-knot winds, Tom Burton (AUS) held on to his overnight lead to become the 2019 Laser Standard Men’s World Champion. Going into the day with an 18-point lead, it was essentially up to Burton to avoid making a critical error on the final day when each of his nearest rivals already had to discard a high score. In the day’s first race, Burton sailed a conservative race to finish 14th, a score that then became his discard. The pressure was off a bit after Jean-Baptiste Bernaz of France, who was in second place going into the day posted an eight place finish. Burton was also helped by Germany’s Philip Buhl who scored a Black Flag disqualification for being over the starting line early. Buhl’s Black Flag pushed New Zealander’s Sam Meech and George Gautry in to first and second for the race and secured their spot near the top of the leaderboard.
Click here to read the full article.