Soling crew in third

THE opening race of the Olympic sailing regatta will be memorable for the Irish team as the Soling crew of Marshall King, Dan O'Grady and Garrett Connolly came up against the superpowers of the United States and Russia. Were it not for Ireland's regular foe, the weather, the Dublin crew might have secured victory. As it was they managed to put Ireland in third position after day one.

Off the starting line quickly, the Canadian crew, skippered by William Abbott, threatened, but the Irish boat held sway and led at the first mark and continued to dominate the 22 boat fleet with impressive boat speed in the seven to eight knots of breeze.

But the final leg saw the fickle wind change its mind and the shift caught the trio - lout, allowing American Jeff Madrigali to win by 5 1/2 seconds from Russian Georgiy Shayduko, with King and crew placing a close third. However, their result comes after steadily improving performances in recent weeks and must be a positive sign for the coming races.

Although the Soling fleet races like the other classes, the finals are decided by match racing and the top six boats qualify for the sail offs at the end of next week. At the recent North American Championship, the Irish trio ended eighth in a fleet that comprised most of their Olympic opposition.

There were two races scheduled for yesterday - including races for the Star, Europe, Laser and Finn fleets - but the fresh morning breeze had died by the one o clock starting time and postponement after postponement followed. However, fleets to seaward did manage to get away and in spite of shortened courses due to an impeding electrical storm, one race was sailed by three classes.

In marked contrast to the Soling achievement, the Star duo of, Mark Mansfield and David Burrows were 22nd in their 24 boat fleet, even though the pair had been leading many of the informal practice races last week. In the Finn single handed division, John Driscoll had a similarly disappointing performance when he ended 23rd out of 30 boats.

Meanwhile, the Lasers and Europes were ordered back to the marina without a single start as lightning and torrential rain threatened safety.

Today sees another two races scheduled for the same classes, although more poor weather cannot he ruled out. Ireland's sixth boat, the women's 470 crewed by Denise Lyttle and Louise Ann Cole, begins racing tomorrow.

But for today, Irish eyes will he watching closely for improvements and consistency from yesterday's performers.