Olympic campaigner for Paris 2024, Duko Bos claimed victory in the ILCA 7 class but not before a medal-race scare that left the Dutchman scrambling for the finish line.
Bos’ nine-point lead at the top of the standings looked in peril as he rounded the windward mark in last place.
But a late charge saw him surge through the field and into second place, leaving him on 15 points that was comfortably enough to hold off Finland’s Valtteri Uusitalo with 26.
Bos and Uusitalo jousted for a yellow bib that changed hands three times in four races early in the regatta, before the Dutch star pulled away with three successive bullets.
“I was disappointed (in the first part of the race), my goal was to stay in the top three,” said Bos. “From there the wind was strong and I’m happy I made it in the end.”
Just as in the ILCA 6 class, bronze went down to the wire as Italy’s Alessia Spadoni snagged it from Willem Wiersema on countback.
Both struggled in the medal race but Spadoni’s 8th place trumped Wiersema in 9th to reach the podium.
Howth interest
Irish brothers Ewan and Jamie McMahon finished 13th and 21st in the 37-boat fleet
Results here