Tough day for Irish at European Optimist Championships

Black flag disqualifications and lighter winds – for a time at least – brought a change in fortune for the Irish team on the second day of competition at the European Optimist Championships on Dublin Bay yesterday afternoon.

Royal Cork Yacht Club's James McCann, 10th overnight overall in the boys fleet of 153 boats dropped to 26th. Next best is Loghlen Rickard of the National Yacht Club (NYC) who fell from 16th to 51st. The aim now for both is to make the Gold fleet cut in tomorrow's final qualifying rounds.

Royal St George YC race officers were forced to disqualify 10 per cent of the girls 101-boat fleet from race four after multiple false starts, including the host club’s Grace O’Beirne.

Wind speeds

With westerly wind speeds of only five knots for the first races at noon, the 160-degree breeze, like Monday, was gusting to 23-knots for the boy’s final race yesterday at teatime.

Top Irish girl, Clare Gorman of NYC, dropped 16 places to be 32nd overall in her 101-boat fleet. Next best Irish is Gemma McDowell in 43rd, who as moved up one place.

The new leader of the boys' event is Swedish lake sailor Kasper Nordenram, who has a five-point cushion over France's Enzo Balanger. Pablo Lujan of Spain is third.

Overnight leader Jacob Ahlers had a poor third race but bounced back to place fourth in the last race and may yet benefit when the first discard is taken, as may reigning champion, Poland's Tytus Butowski.

Iset Segura from the Catalan club of Arenys de Mar leads the girls with a win in race three and a lead of 20-points over the overnight leader, Josefine Akesson (Sweden). Brazilian Olivia Belda and Ebru Bolat of Romania are next, within a point of each other.

Two final qualifying rounds will be held this morning in advance of a five-race finals starting tomorrow morning.

In Portugal, Royal Cork’s Seafra Guilfoyle continues to lead the Laser Radial fleet of the ISAF Youth World Championships at Tavira on the Algarve after three races.

The Cork Harbour sailor added a fifth and a second yesterday to move three nett points clear of Denmark's Patrick Dieter.

Sarah Eames, from Ballyholme Yacht Club finished 31st yesterday and drops outside the top ten to be 13th.