There was consolation of sorts for Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern with a string of race wins in the silver fleet of the 49er European Championships that ended in Barcelona yesterday. The Belfast duo had a scoreline of 1,1,1,3,4,3 but it was far from what they came to the Catalan capital for. The Ballyholme Yacht Club duo, who took gold at Princesa Sofia Regatta a fortnight ago, ended up 28th overall after some early costly mistakes including a costly start line infringement in the first race.
The campaign, that has achieved three top ten results at past world championships, carries Irish sailing hopes to Rio this summer. And as medal hopes, the team will want to analyse why, coming off such a great result in Palma, did they fare poorly this week?
The story of the 49er Euros is the Kiwi sensations, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke who wrapped up their 4th straight European Championship and 25th straight 49er regatta by a huge margin. The duo lead the regatta from start to finish, and never looked within the reach of any challengers.
The sailing world is already infatuated with these super performers. To dominate an Olympic class in this manner is rare, to do so while also winning Moth, A-Cat, and America’s Cup titles at the same time is truly novel. The pair are always around the boat park, part of the community, but such a cut above the rest that they are a constant source of discussion and amazement.
Locking in the Silver medal are Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, on better form this regatta from start to finish than the recent past. The Aussie pair started the regatta well and tried to lock up with Burling and Tuke during races. They often started just to windward on the start line of the Kiwis to get a sense of just how large the speed gaps might be and how much work there is to reverse fortunes by August. There will be many doubters that it’s even possible to beat Burling and Tuke these days but in an Olympic environment, with fewer races, really unpredictable conditions, and distractions all over the Olympics are no sure bet despite how it may look.
Austria’s Nico Delle Karth and Niko Resch take a fair lead over the Brits and Spanish in to the medals race, which they must defend to become the top Europeans at the European Championship. It is a highly coveted title and one they will want to secure.