Mark Watson and the crew of Tiberon made further inroads at the Etchells World Championship in Newport, Rhode Island, yesterday.

Provisional results showed the local sailor climbing nine places up the leaderboard from 28th to 19th after four of the scheduled nine races.

The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club sailor and Argo Group CEO posted finishes of 18th and 43rd sailing in light and shifty conditions with crew Dirk Kneulmann and Andreas Josenhans.

In contrast, Tim Patton, the other local helmsman competing at the regatta, continued to find the going tough.

A protest filed against the veteran by the race committee for colliding with the starboard end of the race committee boat at the start of yesterday’s opening race and third overall was still pending at press time.

Provisional results show Patton as 72nd in the third race and 80th in the fourth which placed him 73rd in a fleet of 95 boats.

Patton, who started the day in 53rd, is sailing on Thrash with Peter Martin and Jason Owen.

Another local sailor, Jesse Kirkland, is crewing for Scott Kaufmann, of USA, aboard American Jane II which slipped from thirteenth to 24th after finishing 43rd and 63rd yesterday.