Final chance to make the grade

Sydney 2000 hopefuls Tom Fitzpatrick and David McHugh were able to breathe a sigh of relief yesterday in a landmark week for their campaign. The Howth and Wicklow duo are competing in the 470 World Championship in Hungary where light winds have dogged the event since last weekend.

This event is crucial as it is their only chance to attain the qualifying standard to compete at Sydney, according to the Olympic organisers.

Twenty-seven places are available for the class at the Games with one boat per nation eligible. To qualify, a crew must finish inside the top 27 finishers at either of two world championships.

With nine boats already selected at Melbourne 17 months ago, this week's event is the final chance to make the grade for Sydney. However, because of the size of the fleet, qualifying for the gold division was sufficient for Fitzpatrick and McHugh to make the grade and so followed their qualification last Sunday. Then the wind departed.

However, racing resumed yesterday and Fitzpatrick and McHugh scored one of their best individual results to date - 10th- followed by a 25th and an 11th in the afternoon, lifting them up the fleet from 31st overall up to 22nd last night.

A top 20 finish in Hungary combined with the basic qualification for Sydney would do much for their campaign morale. The coming six weeks holds a greater test for this crew as they must still achieve the Irish selection criteria which is considerably tougher than that laid down by the Olympic organisers.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, two-time veteran Mark Mansfield with his crew, David O'Brien, continue to rocket up the Star class world championships. A "poor showing" on Wednesday saw them slip from fifth to ninth overall.

Taken in the context of almost 140 boats in the fleet plus a campaign that is barely 12 months old, their jump in performance from the last worlds six months ago to a top 10 result this week is nothing less than meteoric.

With a sixth place yesterday the pair cruised into the Sydney line-up.