Royal Cork's Peter O'Leary and his stand in German crew Frithjof Kleen are 13th overall after two races in the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta at Weymouth. O'Leary's rival for the Irish Star nomination at the Olympic regatta in two years time fared less well in the opening breezy rounds; Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks lie 33rd in the 36-boat fleet. There is a three way battle for Irish honours in the 91-boat Women's Laser Radial. In the qualifying rounds Annalise Murphy is racing in the blue fleet. Tiffany Brien and Saskia Tidey are both in the yellow flight. Northern Irleland's James Espey and Chris Penney are coming to terms with a full on Olympic Laser fleet of 180 boats. Full results HERE. Video at the end of this post.

It cannot have been an easy decision for the triple Olympic gold medalist, Ben Ainslie, to return to the Finn class at Skandia Sail for Gold 2010. Ainslie completely dominated the Finn, unbeaten between 2004 and 2008, winning gold medals at both the bookending Olympic regattas. Ainslie was the man who put the bite into Dennis Connor's book title, 'No Excuse to Lose'.

But right now, Ainslie has every excuse to lose; preoccupied with Team Origin campaigns in the TP52, the Louis Vuitton Trophy and the World Match Racing Tour, not to mention the little matter of being eight kilograms under his fighting weight. But an ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta at home, at the venue of the 2012 Games? How could he not compete? How could he not win? But how could he win, after so long out of the boat? Dilemma...

But Ainslie was taking it all in his stride this afternoon, "It's funny because this morning I was talking to my coach about my goals for the week, and we laughed because normally we wouldn't worry, I just want to be at the top! It is a very different week for me, because it's not about where I place, it's about rejoining the Finn fleet, seeing how it has progressed and learning about the conditions in Weymouth." And perhaps unsurprisingly, after a shaky first race, Ainslie was right back in the hunt for the second, and finished fourth for the day. Watch this space.

Things went less smoothly for his barely-less-gilded tactician at Team Origin, the double Olympic gold medalist, Iain Percy, and his crew, Andrew Simpson. They were also returning to the boat after a lay-off due to duties with Team Origin – although not such a long one, they are the reigning Star World Champions. But they broke a forestay before the first race, and had to come ashore to fix it, returning to the line two minutes after everyone else had started the second race - eventually finishing 21st. Simpson said afterwards, "Realistically you can't predict a forestay break like we had today, there is just an element of bad luck involved in these things but it's part of the game. But we went out there afterwards, we fought back and managed to take back 17 places."

The Star fleet was dominated by two more America's Cup sailors, Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk – the Kiwi duo won both races, an awesome performance in a fleet of this class. But elsewhere, things went better for Skandia Team GBR, with Nic Asher and Elliot Willis sharing the lead in the 470 Men with French duo Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos.

Other stand-out performances belong to Udo Hessels and Mischa Rossen in the Sonar class with two bullets. While in the 49er, Frenchmen Manu Dyen and Stephane Christidis scored two seconds. Jonathan Lobert (FRA)  scored a first and a second in the Finn class, while both Marit Bouwmeester (NED) and Veronika Fenclova (CZE) won their two races in their respective Laser Radial fleets to be joint top.

More from those Quotes

Ben Ainslie

"I really enjoyed it today, we had some great racing even though the conditions were pretty tough for me at my current weight. But I am pleased with how it went and pleased to be racing in the Finn again and to be back at Weymouth.

"It's funny because this morning I was talking to my coach about my goals for the week, and we laughed because normally we wouldn't worry, I just want to be at the top! It is a very different week for me, because it's not about where I place, it's about rejoining the Finn fleet, seeing how it has progressed and learning about the conditions in Weymouth.

"I don't feel any pressure this week. I haven't raced for two years. And I think that having been through so much at the Olympics it's a different feeling. Of course, you want to do well for everyone who supports you, but the biggest pressure always comes from your own desire to succeed.

"There is a lot of good talent in the UK, and it will be tough to qualify. But hopefully that will make us push each other that much harder, so that if I do qualify I am in a much stronger place."

Andrew Simpson

"Realistically you can't predict a forestay break like we had today, there is just an element of bad luck involved in these things but it's part of the game. But we went out there afterwards, we fought back and managed to take back 17 places overall".

"We haven't sailed together that much since Beijing, so we are holding back slightly at the moment. We have competed here before, and we are just enjoying the event, but we will have to ramp it up at the end of the week".

"I think because we have sailed together a lot before, the communication on the boat is good, sailing the boat again is like putting on an old pair of shoes, they still fit - we just have to readjust them a bit. It looks like for this event we will have to work on the breezier stuff".

"All of the foreign competitors here are trying to learn as much as they can about the venue before 2012, just as much as we are. Obviously we're based here, so we will spend the next 18 months working out the wind and getting the boat just right. A medal at 2012 is definitely possible for us, we wouldn't compete if it wasn't. But we will have to work hard and put in the hours on the water."

More from those QuotesBen Ainslie"I really enjoyed it today, we had some great racing even though the conditions were pretty tough for me at my current weight. But I am pleased with how it went and pleased to be racing in the Finn again and to be back at Weymouth.
"It's funny because this morning I was talking to my coach about my goals for the week, and we laughed because normally we wouldn't worry, I just want to be at the top! It is a very different week for me, because it's not about where I place, it's about rejoining the Finn fleet, seeing how it has progressed and learning about the conditions in Weymouth.
"I don't feel any pressure this week. I haven't raced for two years. And I think that having been through so much at the Olympics it's a different feeling. Of course, you want to do well for everyone who supports you, but the biggest pressure always comes from your own desire to succeed.
"There is a lot of good talent in the UK, and it will be tough to qualify. But hopefully that will make us push each other that much harder, so that if I do qualify I am in a much stronger place."
Andrew Simpson"Realistically you can't predict a forestay break like we had today, there is just an element of bad luck involved in these things but it's part of the game. But we went out there afterwards, we fought back and managed to take back 17 places overall".
"We haven't sailed together that much since Beijing, so we are holding back slightly at the moment. We have competed here before, and we are just enjoying the event, but we will have to ramp it up at the end of the week".
"I think because we have sailed together a lot before, the communication on the boat is good, sailing the boat again is like putting on an old pair of shoes, they still fit - we just have to readjust them a bit. It looks like for this event we will have to work on the breezier stuff".
"All of the foreign competitors here are trying to learn as much as they can about the venue before 2012, just as much as we are. Obviously we're based here, so we will spend the next 18 months working out the wind and getting the boat just right. A medal at 2012 is definitely possible for us, we wouldn't compete if it wasn't. But we will have to work hard and put in the hours on the water."

Results – Top Five

470 Woman Results
1st Lecointre and Geron FRA 8 points
2nd Kondo and Tabata JPN 11 points
3rd Rol and Defrance FRA 15 points
4th Westerhof and Berkhout NED 19 points
5th Maxwell and Kinsolving USA 23 points
470 Men Results
1st Leboucher and Garos FRA 4 points
2nd Asher and Willis GBR 4 points
3rd Patience and Bithell GBR 8 points
4th Kambouridis and Polychronidid GRE 9 points
5th Biehl and McNay USA 11 points

49er Results
1st Dyen and Christidis FRA 6 points
2nd Outteridge and Jenson AUS 10 points
3rd Draper and Greenhalgh GBR 10 points
4th Burling and Tuke NZL 10 points
5th Phillips and Phillips AUS 15 points

Finn Results
1st Lobert FRA 3 points
2nd Le Breton FRA 11 points
3rd Gaspic CRO 15 points
4th Ainslie GBR 17 points
5th Karpak EST 17 points

Laser Results
1st Murdoch NZL 3 points
2nd De Haas NED 6 points
3rd Goodison GBR 6 points
4th Van Vianen NED 12 points
5th Brunning AUS 12 points

Laser Radial Results
1st Bouwmeester NED 2 points
2nd Fenclova CZE 2 points
3rd De Truckheim FRA 5 points
4th Clapcich ITA 6 points
5th Steyaert FRA 8 points

RS:X Men Results
1st Rodrigues POR 5 points
2nd Bontemps FRA 6 points
3rd Dempsey GBR 6 points
4th Heidegger ITA 6 points
5th Santos BRA 6 points
RS:X Women Results
1st Manchon ESP 4 points
2nd Charline FRA 6 points
3rd Tartaglini ITA 7 points
4th Shaw GBR 10 points
5th Hamilton GBR 11 points

Star results
1st Pepper and Monk NZL 2 points
2nd Florent and Rambeau FRA 5 points
3rd Polgar and Koy GER 8 points
4th Mendelblatt and Von Schwarz USA 12 points
5th Grael and Ferreira BRA 16 points

Women's Match Racing – unbeaten to date
Macgregor, Lush and Macgregor GBR 3-0
Tunicliffe, Vandemer and Capozzi USA 3-0
Leroy, Riou and Bertrand FRA 4-0
Le Berre, Ponsor and Ponge FRA 3-0
Souter, Curtis and Price AUS 4-0
Kjellberg, Kallstrom and Harryson SWE 4-0
Lehtinen, Klemetz and Kanerva FIN 4-0
Spithill, Eastwell and Farrell AUS 4-0

Paralympic
2.4mR Results
1st Damien FRA 3 points
2nd Schmitter NED 3 points
3rd Kol NED 6 points
4th Bugg AUS 11 points
5th Tingley CAN 13 points
Skud-18 Results
1st Rickham and Birrell GBR 3 points
2nd Fitzgibbon and Cox AUS 3 points
3rd McRoberts and Hopkin CAN 6 points
4th Hovden and Millward GBR 8 points
5th Hall and Faulks GBR 10 points

Sonar Results
1st Hessels and Rossen NED 2 points
2nd Kroker and Prem GER 5 points
3rd Robertson and Stodel GBR 7 points
4th Wang-hansen and Kristiansen NOR 9 points
5th Cohen and Vexler ISR 10 points

Full results HERE

The clearest indication of Irish sailing form for the 2012 Olympics will be known this week when four Sports council carded sailors go into action in a massive regatta of 800 sailors at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth. Annalise Murphy is in the Laser Radial and in the Star class Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks go head to head with Peter O'Leary who the Irish Times says this morning has had a last mniute crew change. David Burrows is out and Germany's Frithjof Kleen is sailing as a late substitution.

If you took a wander around the fine old English seaside resort of Weymouth, you'd find a mix of motives for being there on this particular Sunday in August – the beach, the sea, the ice cream. Move round the bay a little to the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, where the elite of Olympic sailing are gathered for Skandia Sail for Gold 2010, and you'd think that the replies would be a little more focused – winning, perhaps? But you'd be wrong...

It might be the final event of this year's ISAF Sailing World Cup, not to mention the last but one Olympic class regatta at the 2012 venue before the main event, but not everyone is necessarily here to win. The Dutch 470 sailors, Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhort have racked up five 470 World Championship titles between them, including the most recent, along with Olympic silver in Beijing for Lobke. But when Lisa was asked if they had a choice between going left on the race course to stay with their competition, and going right to learn more about the venue, she replied, "We might choose the right, but we'll have to see," adding with a laugh, "It's nice to have a good result, we're sportsmen, we like to win."

Lisa and Lobke are out of contention for the ISAF Sailing World Cup, but Emmanuelle Rol and Hélène Defrance are just one point behind their French compatriots overall, Ingrid Petitjean and Nadège Douroux. But Rol reckons they have a weakness in breezier conditions after a poor performance at the World Championships, and is hoping to establish that they have improved after training in the Mistral in Marseille, "For us, the result is important, but also to try to have good races in strong conditions, and of course, learn about the Olympic venue. And so far, we have learned that the weather is not as good as in Marseille." The last said, we're sure, purely in jest...

US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics meteorologist (and former holder of the same position for the Luna Rossa America's Cup team), Doug Charko reckoned that Rol and Defrance will have plenty of opportunity to check their heavy weather progress, "There's a low heading into the area, which will probably arrive for Tuesday. So ten to 15 knots for Monday, building during the day, and then Tuesday with the low passing over Scotland there's quite a wide range in the global models, so although I'm hedging my bets a little, I'd say 15 to 20 and gusting to 25 knots from the south-west, raining and unsettled." Things look a little better for the rest of the week, with moderate south-westerly sea breezes forecast – classic Weymouth conditions.

Another Women's 470 contender who theoretically doesn't need to learn much about the venue is double Olympic Yngling Gold medallist and Weymouth resident Sarah Ayton. After recently returning to sailing following the birth of her first child, Ayton and her crew Saskia Clark is not in contention for the overall ISAF Sailing World Cup. But Sarah nevertheless finds herself with a similar balancing act; "You've got to use the opportunity to learn, you don't get many opportunities with a world class fleet in this venue, so it is important to learn. But obviously, it is important to perform in the Olympic venue, so it is a real balancing act of trying things when you can, but bearing in mind the end results." When asked the left or right-side of the course question, she replied with a smile, "It would be hard not to stay with the competition."

Sarah was up on the stage for a very bling opening ceremony, the new Olympic venue dripping with medals two years early. Many of those present are sailing in the Star class, which has some serious star-wattage. Double Olympic-medallist and current Star World Champions, Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson had come straight from Team origin's win over current America's Cup holders, BMW Oracle, in the 1851 Cup.

For Iain Percy, it was a chance to learn about the venue, reckoning that they had to look at each Olympic venue afresh, in a much more analytical, professional way. But there were other reasons for coming to Weymouth, "Myself and Andrew do a lot of other sailing, and whenever we get back in the Star we always have a really good time, relax and enjoy it, old mates going out for a sail. So whenever we get a bit of a window in the calendar we jump at trying to get out in the Star for a bit of fun, and that's the main reason we're here."

Further Quotes
Lisa Westerhof (Holland, Women's 470, current World Champions), on their priorities for Skandia Sail for Gold; "We do set priorities during the year and our main goal this year was the World Championships. We use the World Cup to work with our processes and to develop equipment. We'll use this week to get to know the conditions in Weymouth and to get a feel for the water and the sailing conditions. But the weather and the systems - the low pressure and high pressure weather systems - the variety in the weather is comparable to Holland, so we feel at home."

Emmanuelle Rol (France, Women's 470, currently second in ISAF Sailing World Cup), on their priorities for Skandia Sail for Gold; "We are using the same equipment here as at the Worlds - developing gear will be the winter's task, we will try some new stuff then. We are quite a new crew together, so we had to work out our team work, and our next job will be to work on the equipment."

Iain Percy (Britain, Star, current World Champion), on the topic of keeping current with Olympic sailing, while balancing it with other sailing commitments; "I tried a little experiment after 2000 with the Finn, when I used to go back and have a race against the guys - and after nine months I felt pretty good, but then when I went back and tried it a couple of years later I was absolutely hopeless. So somewhere between your brain and your hands there's a memory that runs out after a certain amount of time."

More than five hours of frustrating drifting on the Clyde off  Largs today proved to be in vain for the sailors awaiting racing at the Laser Radial World Championships.

The mirror like waters were only occasionally ruffled by light airs from conflicting directions, and only – as the race officers' version of Murphy's Law would have it – as the appropriate signals were made, was there anything close to a breeze.

Sari Multala, Finland's defending world champion goes into the final day of scheduled racing with a lead of seven points over Marit Bouwmeester (NED).

It will be an interesting finale. Forecasts conflict as to how much or how little breeze there will be and the opinions seem to be towards either extreme.
Even if there are three races for the Women's gold fleet there can only be one discarded result and Bouwmeester has not finished outside the top ten so far, whilst Multala has a weighty 49th from Race 4 as her throwout.

In the Men's fleet it is champion Marcin Rudawski (POL), also the defending 2009 who enters the last day at Largs with a six points lead and only a seventh place as his discard, whilst fellow Pole Wojciech Zemke lies second and the USA's impressive 16 year old Mitchell Kiss lies third.

Standings: Laser Radial Womens World Championships
Gold Flight Overall After race 6 Inc. 1 discard
1 S Multala (FIN)  4,3,1,(49),2,5, Nett = 15pts,
2 M Bouwmeester (NED) 2,1,5,(7),6,8,= 22pts,
3 P Railey (USA) 3,1,4,16,(17),3 = 27pts,
4  S Steyaert (FRA) 23,4,1,3, 15,4, = 27pts,
5 T Drozdovskaya (BLR) 1,5,14,3,(32),13, = 36pts,
6 T Mihelic (CRO) 15,8,3,8,(35),6, = 40pts,
7 A Tunnicliffe (USA) 1,2,37,(49),5,2, = 47pts,
8  E Van Acker (BEL) 6,11,(21),14,1,15, = 47pts,
9 G Scheidt (LTU) 13,19,2,4,(40),11, = 49pts,
10 M de Kerangat (FRA) 18,7,15,5,(19),10 = 55pts,

Laser Radial Mens World Championship 2010
Overall After Race 6 Inc. 1 Discard
1 M Rudawski (POL) 1,2,1,1,1,(7), Nett = 6pts,
2 W Zemke (POL) 1,1,2,1,7,(OCS[48]), = 12pts,
3 M Kiss (USA) 4,10,3,(29),2,2, = 21pts ,
4 B Koppelaar (NED)  9,4,1,(37),4,4, = 35pts,
5 I Kim (KOR) ,5,8,4,2,(32),16, = 35pts,

Sari Multala (FIN): "It was pretty strange. I found the decision to cancel when they did a little strange but of course it is always frustrating to sit around for the whole day. It is nice to be going into the last day with a seven points lead, but I still have to sail well because it looks we will only get one discard so every race is going to count. But almost everyone is in the same position. Marit who is behind me is in a good position as she has no bad races. It would be nice to get some more races for sure. But for me it will be about managing the risks and a top 5 result could be enough."

Marit Bouwmeester (NED) "It is a shame because it is always better to get racing. I think it will be all down to tomorrow I think it is better for everyone to get more races in. I am pretty happy with the way it has gone and I don't think I could have gone any better. I'm not too worried about what the weather does tomorrow but I do like to sail in strong winds."

Tatiana Drozdovskava (BLR): "It is very strange weather out there, no wind at all, just a mirror for five hours. For me I am fairly happy with my position, but more races tomorrow would be good."

Ali Young (GBR): "It was frustrating, but there was nothing that the race management could do. It was just when we started to get towed in that there was some wind.
It has gone alright for me. I have managed to stay fairly consistent, so hopefully we will get three races in tomorrow and that would finish it off nicely. I am happy with how things have gone so far. We have had some very tricky conditions and so I am pleased to have been able to keep consistent with my starts and build my races from there.
There are pretty conflicting forecasts but it would be just good to get some more races in. It will be shifty here no matter where the wind comes from, that is what we have seen all week. You know it will be shifty because there is so much land around.
We did not see any easterlies when we trained here and have now raced in that, but the training we did was valuable even just to get your head into what it is like."

Racing Schedule

Laser Radial Women's and Men's World Championships

Qualification Series                      Friday 9th to Sunday 11th July
Final Series                                  Monday 12th to Wednesday 14th July
Prize Giving                                 Wednesday 14th July

In the finals of the Laser Radial Worlds in Scotland yesterday two of Ireland's three reps in the Women's division are racing in the gold fleet. Finland's defending champion stepped further clear of the chasing pack today when she sailed to a well earned fifth place from another difficult race on the Clyde off Largs. Both Women's and Men's current title holders lead their championships. Ireland's AnnaLise Murphy of the National YC is 26th and Tiffany Brien of Belfast Lough is 35th. Debbie Hannah, also of Belfast, is eighth in the silver division. 

As the women's fleet entered the Finals phase today there was little in the way of extra cooperation from the fickle and shifty breezes which finally thwarted all attempts to complete the scheduled two races when the easterly expired to nothing.

Try as might we can't pick out an Irish sail but there are three here somewhere. Photo: Marc Turner/RYA

Multala's fifth gives her a seven points advantage over the young Dutch sailor Marit Bouwmeester who sailed to an eighth today.

In the Men's fleet, racing on the adjacent race area, conditions were just as tricky as evidenced when Poland's Marcin Rudawski broke his erstwhile perfect string of wins with a seventh place, but the 2009 title holder goes forward to the Men's Finals with a margin of six points.

When the fleets set off in the morning in a promising NW'ly breeze which was not showing on most of the forecasts, then perhaps that was a foresight of what was likely to happen. Early sunshine was the bonus, but after an initial rain shower the Men got away best in the westerly breeze which perhaps mustered all of six knots. The women took longer to get their start away as the breeze swung around.

But the dark clouds over Largs town soon took effect, shifting the breeze around in direction, developing holes and areas of light pressure.
On the first downwind for the Women's gold fleet, the breeze died nearly completely and on the second upwind the extra pressure had started to push in, finally true to the forecast from east, but when it did come in, the course ended slightly skewed.
Indeed on the final beat the wind had finally clocked through the best part of 100 degrees since the start direction.

With three races now planned for Tuesday, the penultimate day, Multala's sights are set firmly on just repeating the same kind of consistent assured strategies that have served her well so far.
"I think I have become more steady as a sailor, better able to sail in whatever comes along, and I can perform well no matter what the conditions are." Remarked the Finnish sailor, 32, who won the world title across a breezy regatta in Japan last year in the late afternoon sunshine.

China's Dongshuang Zhang read the big advantage to the left on the first beat, where there was more wind pressure, and won the women's race with a lead of about 200 metres over Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), the Olympic gold medallist and Paige Railey (USA) in third.  Railey holds third overall with France's Sarah Steyaert in fourth.

Laser Radial Womens World Championship
Gold Flight Overall After race 6 Inc. 1 discard
1 S Multala (FIN)  4,3,1,(49),2,5, Nett = 15pts,
2 M Bouwmeester (NED) 2,1,5,(7),6,8,= 22pts,
3 P Railey (USA) 3,1,4,16,(17),3 = 27pts,
4  S Steyaert (FRA) 23,4,1,3(DSQ [58),4, = 35pts,
5 T Drozdovskaya (BLR) 1,5,14,3,(32),13, = 36pts,
6 T Mihelic (CRO) 15,8,3,8,(35),6, = 40pts,
7 A Tunnicliffe (USA) 1,2,37,(49),5,2, = 47pts,
8  E Van Acker (BEL) 6,11,(21),14,1,15, = 47pts,
9 G Scheidt (LTU) 13,19,2,4,(40),11, = 49pts,
10 M de Kerangat (FRA) 18,7,15,5,(19),10 = 55pts,

Silver Flight, Overall After Race 6 inc. 1discard.
1 R Yuan  (CHN) 9,(18),3,8,5,1, Nett = 26pts,
2 C Gjerpen (NOR) 13,1,2,15,(21),2 = 33pts,
3 C Martin (GBR) 4,5,1,(10),8,16,44 = 34pts,
4 J Maksymiuk (POL) 10,15,7,(DSQ[32]),1,3 = 36pts,
5 N Szymczyk (POL) 3,4,(24),3,19,9 = 38pts,

Laser Radial Mens World Championship 2010
Overall After Race 6 Inc. 1 Discard
1 M Rudawski (POL) 1,2,1,1,1,(7), Nett = 6pts,
2 W Zemke (POL) 1,1,2,1,7,(OCS[48]), = 12pts,
3 M Kiss (USA) 4,10,3,(29),2,2, = 21pts ,
4 B Koppelaar (NED)  9,4,1,(37),4,4, = 35pts,
5 I Kim (KOR) ,5,8,4,2,(32),16, = 35pts,

In Quotes:

Sari Multala (FIN): "It was variable, a bit challenging really. The first upwind was OK, it was still quite steady but then the wind started to die first, then shift to the right slowly. And then in the end it had gone around about 180 degrees. But it was always quite obvious something was happening to the right because there was some really dark clouds but it juts took a while until the wind reached us, we were close to the second top mark by then and so the top sailors were pretty much OK by that stage.  I was in the top ten and then I came up a few places on the second upwind because I saw the line of breeze coming across on the right and got there before some other girls ."
" Overall for me it is still about getting steady, good result for me in the top flight.
Today was a bit strange for sure, but many places get a bit strange on some days. But certainly it is a bit different to how it was when we were training here. Then it was a lot steadier."
"For me if they do more than two races tomorrow it is really just about focussing on staying solid."
" I think I have become more steady, more regular and can perform well no matter what the conditions are. I hope that comes with the training, and maybe some of it is age and experience."

Tina Mihelic (CRO): "It was really hard to sail. The wind was changing a lot. The first upwind was still OK, but the first downwind the wind dropped and I thought they would abandon it, but then in the upwind the wind changed 30 or 40 degrees to the right and then we started to hike and I thought it was going to be OK, but then the last downwind it was reaching and on the reaching it was upwind.
But overall I did OK, I lost a couple of places because of a wind shift. Sixth for me is OK just now."

Sarah Steyaert (FRA): " It was shifty. The wind was NW and then it turned to the east but because I was good on the first upwind and downwind then I was OK. I just really had to be aware. Once you were in the top group there you could be OK. I have a disqualification from the jury which I am looking to get reopened but that is not good for me. I had a protest against me which I did not know. So I did not go to the hearing and so hopefully it can be reopened tonight."

Racing Schedule

Laser Radial Women's and Men's World Championships

Qualification Series                      Friday 9th to Sunday 11th July
Final Series                                  Monday 12th to Wednesday 14th July
Prize Giving                                 Wednesday 14th July

Largs, Scotland Sunday 11th July: With a second place from today’s only race on the Clyde off Largs, Finland’s reigning champion Sari Multala emerges at the top of the leaderboard of the Laser Radial World Championships as the fleet move into the Finals phase. Ireland's Annalise Murphy lies 20th and Tiffany Brien 37th.

Holland’s Marit Bouwmeester was a woman in a hurry despite the fading breeze. 

She staged a great comeback after lying very deep in the fleet after struggling on the very difficult opening beat, but making great gains on the downwind legs she rallied to sixth place which keeps the world ranked two sailor just four points behind Multala. 

 

Not only was Bouwmeester quick and smart enough in the testing, shifty and increasingly fluky conditions, with the breeze dying from 12 to 5 knots, to rescue a solid finish but the Dutch sailor was ashore and tidied away sufficiently rapidly to be just ready on cue to watch the start of her nation’s football world cup final challenge. 

 

Patience was required over the duration of what proved to be a very long day ashore, with successive postponements required from morning until the strong westerly breeze subsided to allow racing. It was only at 1700hrs that both Men’s and Women’s fleets had their warning signal finally scheduled. 

 

The breeze died progressively leaving big differences in strength across the race tracks on both race areas and, once again, shifts in wind direction offered opportunities for big gains and losses. 

Photo: Mark Turner

 

Evie Van Acker (BEL) started off the pin end of the start line and was able to get into the best of the early wind pressure, leading the yellow flight race from start to finish with Multala second and Poland’s Joanna Maksymiuk taking third. 

 

While the yellow fleet got away with perhaps the better breeze, the blue fleet suffered a big left wind shift immediately after the start and then a big shift to the right at the top end of their beat.  But the most important challenge was to knit together the strands of best wind pressure.  

 

Singapore’s Elizabeth Yin won the blue flight race ahead of Spain’s Fatima Reyes, while fifth place for Mexico’s Tania Elias Calles Wolf ensures her consistent string of scores remains intact and she now lies third. 

 

Largs has proven a testing challenge in brisker winds, but with the breezes now expected to drop to the lower end of the scale for the second half of the regatta, perhaps it is only likely to get more difficult. In a very high standard of fleet the stakes get higher and higher. 

 

The host country’s Skandia Team GBR sailors had a mixed day. Ali Young finished in 28th but holds 12th overall, whilst Scotland’s Charlotte Dobson’s 20th leaves her lying 23rd overall. 

 

In the Men’s championship Poland’s Marcin Rudawski scored his fourth win from five starts to sit one point clear of his compatriot Wojciech Zemke, while Holland’s Ben Kopelaar lies third. 

 

Laser Radial World Championships, Largs, Scotland

Women's Overall after Day 3, including one discard.

 

1  S Multala (FIN) 4,3,1,(49),2 = 10pts

2  M Bouwmeester (NED) 2,1,5,(7), 6 = 14pts

3  T Elias Calles Wolf (MEX) 4,(10),7,5,5 = 21pts

4  S Steyaert (FRA) (23), 4, 1, 3, 15 = 23pts

5  T Drozdovskaya (BLR) 1,5,14,3,(32) = 23pts

6  P Railey (USA) 3,1,4,16,(18) = 24pts

7  V Fenclova (CZE) 17,5,3,(22),3 = 28pts 

8  S Lihan (USA) 8,3,10,10,(25) = 31pts

9  E Van Acker (BEL) 6,11,(21),14,1 = 32pts

10 T Mhelic (CRO) 15,8,3,8,(35) = 34pts

 

Men Overall after Day 3, including one discard.

1 M Rudawski (POL) 1,(2),1,1,1  Nett = 4pts

2 W Zemke (POL) 1,1,2,1,(7.0) = 5pts

3 B Koppelaar (NED) 9,4,1,(37),4 = 18pts

4 Y Hummel (NED) 9,1,(24),2,7 = 19pts

5 M Kiss (USA) 4,10,3,(29),2 = 19pts

 

Quotes: 

Evie Van Acker (BEL): “I had a good start at the pin end of the line. There were not so many people there and I was able to pull out a little bit. I tacked again to get the fresher pressure and then I was leading at the first mark from Laura Baldwin and Sari Multala behind her.”

“Downwind I was really fast and on the right side with the current. When the wind dropped and dropped the current became more and more important and from there I was just defending.” 

 

Marit Bouwmeester (NED): “It was  big funny, and very difficult at times. I made a good recovery, mostly on the downwinds.”

 

Sari Multala (FIN): “ I was starting in the middle and had clear air and so could choose where I wanted to go. There looked to be some pressure on the right and in fact the people who were in it actually did not seem to get very far in it. So actually I got into the first pressure from the left, and there were actually a couple of boats from the far left who did better. So both the sides were OK. On the run I got from third to second where I stayed. I needed a good race and got one.” 

I had hoped we could have got out a little earlier because really it was not so strong and it would have been good to get a second race. 

 

Charlotte Dobson (GBR): “It was very patchy off the start line and I managed to miss the first puff and then struggled from there but managed to catch up from there, and had a good last beat. But really with the forecast we have I think racing pretty much starts all over again”

 

 

Racing Schedule

 

Laser Radial Women’s and Men’s World Championships 

 

Qualification Series                      Friday 9th to Sunday 11th July

Final Series                                  Monday 12th to Wednesday 14th July

Prize Giving                                 Wednesday 14th July

A bullet in race six has pushed Dun Laoghaire sailor Annalise Murphy up the rankings at the European Laser Radial Championships in Estonia. Two top rive results have seen Annalise boosted to 17th overall in the 81-boat fleet. The regatta is still in the group stage, but Murphy's position will see her coast into the Gold Fleet.

Compatriots Debbie Hanna and Tiffany Brien lie in 37th and 43rd respectively.

The event was dogged by thick fog on Monday and competitors were confined to shore until 2pm. 

Racing continues until Friday.

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