On light-wind day four of the World Cup Series event at the 53 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca, Irish competitors maintained their overall positions, with one day left to sail before the medal races on Saturday.
The light sea-breeze condition on the Bay Of Palma today proved especially testing for the giant fleet, and even many of the event leaders struggled to record consistently top finishes as the winds moved around in direction and pressure.
In the ILCA 7 men’s dinghy, after two general recalls, Britain’s Micky Beckett pushed too hard on the first start and landed a BFD [black flag disqualification]. However, his overall margin at the top of the Gold fleet is a very tidy 14 points over Germany’s past world champion Philipp Buhl.
Poised behind Buhl is Australian Olympic and world champion Matt Wearn, who is now 14 points behind the German. Buhl commented: "The winds were light and quite shifty, the wind strength pulsating, sometimes more, sometimes less, not rhythmic, difficult to predict. That's why I'm very happy with my results. On a day like today, there is about 30 to 40 per cent unpredictability. On normal days, it's more like 10 per cent. If you then manage to be alert and very focused you can determine the other 60 to 70 per cent."
The National Yacht Club's Paris-qualified Finn Lynch dropped moved up one to 14th after scoring a 21 and 26 in gold fleet races seven and eight.
Howth Yacht Club rival Ewan McMahon, who moved up from 40th to 26th on Wednesday, has dropped back to 38th.
ILCA 6
Australian Mara Stransky maintained her lead in the ILCA 6 women’s dinghy event, counting a 16th from the second race as Hungary’s European champion Maria Erdi proved the most consistent of the title contenders in another fleet which again saw many land one good result and one bad.
Ireland's Paris-qualified Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club has moved up two places overall to 20th.
49er
Poland’s Lukasz Przybytek and Jacek Piasecki made a vital move to the top of the 49er Skiff leaderboard.
This regatta is a selection event for Poland’s Olympic team and Przybytek and Piasecki are strengthening their claim to the coveted Olympic ticket for Paris 2024 this summer. Ninth at Tokyo 2020, the duo are tied with Spain’s Diego Botín and Florian Trittel who were fourth at the last Games.
“Our race course was close to the shore and the left side paid all the time,” said Piasecki. “We got good starts and made four solid races. Last time here we just missed the Medal Race so this time we are aiming to make it, and then who knows? This and Hyères [Semaine Olympique Francaise] are our final trial events. We got a seventh at the Worlds but when it’s not based on points then it is always hard to say who will be selected.”
17, 20 scored by Royal Cork duo Seafra Guilfyole and Johnny Durcan moved them down one place to 25th overall.