Donaghadee Sailing Club's Oisin McClelland opened his Finn Europeans Championships account with a 14th after a first day of big waves and light winds for the Ulsterman in Cadiz, Spain.
McClelland is the only Irishman in the 89–boat Olympic class fleet following the withdrawal of Baltimore's Under–23 Finn Bronze Medalist, Fionn Lyden, due to illness.
Nicholas Heiner, from The Netherlands, won the only race possible on the opening day. Caleb Paine, from the USA, and Facundo Olezza, from Argentina are joint second.
With 30 U23 sailors, it is the largest youth fleet at the Europeans for some time. 2015 Junior World Champion, Ondrej Teply, from Czech Republic leads from Joan Cardona Mendez, of Spain and Guillaume Boissard, of France.
A three metre swell, left over from the storm that caused Sunday's practice race to be abandoned, made for an interesting day in the Bay of Cadiz, but the light and patchy winds meant that only one race was completed, with the second race abandoned near the end of the first upwind.
Defending champion Jonathan Lobert said, "It was a tricky day with big waves and light winds. The waves were much bigger then the wind. I had a wonderful start and was leading by miles on the left side of the course and I don't know what happened but fifty metres before the top mark I suddenly lost all my lead, but then I managed to survive to finish fourth, so not too bad for a day like today."
Three races are scheduled for Tuesday, with the forecast showing stronger winds and rain. The first warning signal is scheduled for 11.00
Results after one race:
1. Nicholas Heiner, NED
2. Caleb Paine, USA
3. Facundo Olezza, ARG
4. Jonathan Lobert, FRA
5. Oliver Tweddell, AUS
6. Josh Junior, NZL
7. Alican Kaynar, TUR
8. Piotr Kula, POL
9. Edward Wright, GBR
10. Ondrej Teply, CZE
Full results here.