In the battle for Bronze, the Danes come out of the drama on top
Light and tricky, with plenty of potential to trip up, the Nothe course promised to be a race track full of snakes and ladders. With the breeze shifted to the right and with a slight hint of more breeze on the town side, most thought that the first ladder would be on the right. And so it was as the Brits hooked into more pressure first and then into the right handed shift.
But at the top mark the Austrians had managed to slip into the lead with the Brits behind in second. The battle for Bronze was fully engaged.
Downwind Stevie Morisson and Ben Rhodes managed to haul back some distance but still rounded the leeward mark in second.
The second beat was a shifty puffy affair, the crews in and out on their wires as the boats stumbled into wind holes.
By the second windward mark the Austrians, who had worked the right harder, extended their lead overt the Brits who had now slipped to third, the Kiwis in the sandwich in second.
Meanwhile further back the Danes were battling it out with the Australians and climbing up the fleet. As they did so the Austrian prospects for Bronze disappeared despite the fact that they were still leading the race and indeed pulling out in front.
The breeze then started to build slightly.
At the last weather mark the Austrians rounded in the lead but the Danes had slipped past the Australians into fourth, behind the Brits.
As the Danes, Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang crossed the line in fourth they celebrated as if they had win Gold and with good reason, they had won a terrific battle for bronze, climbing their way through the fleet.
Gold and Silver had already been won by Australians Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen and by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. Finally they could celebrate properly.
Both helms jumped in the water as the crews span the boats around in frantic circles like excitable dogs chasing their tails.
The 49er race in China had been dramatic last time and so it had again but in a very different way.
The common denominator?
The Danes had come out of the drama and onto the podium once again.
49er
Gold – AUS – Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen
Silver – NZL – Peter Burling and Blair Tuke
Bronze – Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang