SAILING: Big winds have allowed David Burrows to muscle his way back into the top 12 of the Finn fleet but despite the substantial improvement on Saturday's poor opening performance it could have been even better yesterday.
A decision by the race committee to restart race three when the Malahide sailor had established a 20-second lead over the 25-boat fleet plus two unfortunate capsizes were disappointing details in a drama-filled second day on the Saronic Gulf after which more than just the Irish are declaring Burrows is the fastest boat on the course.
The nine and three scores earned yesterday have restored him to 12th overall before discard but Burrow's second-strike capability needs to continue today when the competition passes its halfway stage.
Last night team management were trying to ascertain the reason behind the abandonment. Manager Garrett Connolly is to raise the issue at the race officers' conference this morning.
Burrows, meanwhile, is painfully aware that Saturday's 17th and 14th placings - scored in much lighter winds - may yet be the costliest of his career.
His coach and speed mentor Luca Devotti is anxious to put it behind them. "We can only hope there is just one of these days, otherwise we'll be training for Beijing," he said on Saturday. Devotti remains quietly optimistic, however, and keen to point out he won his own silver counting a 15th in Sydney.
Big breeze has never been a problem for the 27-year-old Dubliner, who is racing in his third Olympic regatta, and yesterday it arrived in spades on the Agios Kosmas venue.
But Burrows is annoyed with himself for two capsizes, the first he has suffered in two years, which came when he was in the leading group of the fourth race and dropped him from second to sixth.
Both Burrows and favourite Ben Ainslie, who was disqualified after a protest by France's Guillaume Florent in race two, have effectively sailed their discardable scores and can make no further mistakes.
Ainslie has no intention. He won both races yesterday and lies eighth on 37 points, still 23 points adrift of the leader, Poland's Mateusz Kusnierewicz, the only man to break the "Ben Ainslie spell" this season.
Elsewhere, Dún Laoghaire's Gerald Owens and Ross Killian are 15th overall after four races in the double-handed class.
Baltimore's Maria Coleman put in a mid-fleet performance in her first day yesterday, scoring an 18th in race one and 13th yesterday afternoon to yield 15th overall in a fleet of 25 boats in the Europe class.
Dún Laoghaire's Rory Fitzpatrick made his Olympic Laser class debut yesterday and is in the back third of the 42-boat Laser fleet, lying 31st overall after counting a 33rd and a 27th.
