‘Man Overboard!’ leaves Dutch hopes of 4th world title hanging by a thread

A brief moment of ‘Man Overboard!’ while leading a race might have done for the hopes of Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken to win their fourth 49er world title. Lambriex was adjusting his trapeze height and accidentally hoisted himself off his trapeze ring attached to the supporting wire, and overboard he fell, resulting in a costly capsize.

It was a dramatic moment in one of many nailbiting moments on a thrilling day five of the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships in Quiberon, France.

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49er, 49er Fx and Nacra 17 World Championships 2026, Quiberon, France.
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49ER: Kiwis & Aussies still on top

When the Dutch capsized after just taking over the lead of Race 12, the overall lead briefly shifted to the German team, Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger, who were lying in the front bunch at the time.

However, by the end of the race, the wind had shifted around so much that some of the poorer starters had managed to shoot through to the front of the fleet. Stealing the win were Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn from New Zealand, but moving back into the overall lead were another Kiwi team, Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush, who managed to scrape their way up to seventh place, just ahead of Australia’s Harry Price and Max Paul, who finished just behind in eighth.

Despite all the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune on a highly unpredictable race course, it’s still New Zealand and Australia who hold the top two spots. But the points are all so close between the leading crews that it’s very hard to predict who will win the 2026 world title in the 49er Men. The Germans Meggendorfer and Spranger are just a few points back from the leaders, and it’s not impossible for Lambriex and Van de Werken still to win, although they are 14 points back on the leaders with just two races to sail in Sunday’s new finals format.

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49erFX: ESP = Extra Sensory Perception in unreadable conditions

In the 49erFX Women, there were very few that kept all their scores in the top 10. But Pia Dahl Andersen and Nora Edland from Norway certainly managed to do that and move up to fifth overall. However, it’s the reigning world champions from Spain, Paula Barceló and Maria Cantero, whose scores of 10, 7, 1 moved them into a commanding lead ahead of former leaders from France, Manon Peyre and Amélie Riou, who are now in second but on equal points with the Belgians, who had an increasingly good day, Isaura Maenhaut and Anouk Geurts. It seems very much like the battle in the 49erFXs will be for silver and bronze and that Spain will be very hard to catch, as Barceló and Cantero look set to successfully defend their world title from Sardinia last October.

NACRA 17: Italy roars to the front

In the Nacra 17 catamarans, the experience of the Italians, Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei, is beginning to show through, as their scores of 11, 3, 1 have moved them past former leaders from France, Tim Mourniac and Lou Berthomieu. The gap between Italy and France going into the final day is eight points, making the Italians fairly comfortable leaders to win a world title that slipped away from them by the smallest margins on home waters last October in Sardinia.

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The team that beat them to the 2025 world title, Great Britain’s John Gimson and Anna Burnet, had a good day today with scores of 3, 9 and 2, but perhaps it is a case of too little, too late for GBR to fully close the gap on the Italians, 14 points ahead. Just behind the British, it’s Argentina’s Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco, who are lying in fourth. And the Swedes, of whom so much was expected at these Worlds, are gradually making amends for a slow start to the week with Ida Svensson and Marcus Dackhammar in fifth, and Emil Järudd and Hanna Jonsson in sixth.

Even so, although the points gaps are relatively big, perhaps the new format with two final races for the top 10 on the final day will be enough to shake up the order. It’s a new system for the skiff and catamaran fleets, and everyone is looking forward to an exciting conclusion of six days of unpredictable racing in the Bay of Quiberon.