Ireland's 'Green Armada' Irish sailing team captained by Nicholas 'Nin' O'Leary have a foothold in the final series of the SSL Gold Cup after finishing in second place to Estonia in the qualifying races on Lake Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland.
In today's races, Lake Neuchatel was so flat, The Icebreakers from Estonia might have thought it was ice. That could explain how comfortable Tonu Toniste's crew won that race. From Mark 1 to finish, the team in blue was never really worried about what happened in their back and rolled to victory, which was not really the case for Ireland.
Just in front of the finish line, Ireland's Green Armada team got trapped in a dying wind under the attack of The Belgian Sea Devils. It took them a double gybe to get through and finish 2nd, just.
The Belgian will be disappointed by their result, but their false start did not help them. Serbia closed the race again today, but again they sailed clean and don't have to be ashamed about their performance on the water.
Estonia (11 points) and Ireland (10 points) may have half a foot in the Final Series (October-November) as they took control of Group 2. SSL Team Belgium "Sea Devils" and SSL Team Serbia "Eagles" are lacking behind, but tomorrow's Golden Day, where races count for double points, could change the deal.
Ireland's Green Armada team in Switzerland is:
- Bow -Simon Johnson
- Mid Bow/grinder/strategy - Ryan Glynn
- Pit - Cian Guilfoyle
- Grinder - Grattan Roberts
- Trim - David Kenefick
- Trim - George Kingston
- Main/tactics - Nin O’Leary
- Helm - Harry Durcan