Ireland’s Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern lead the 49er skiff class at the Palma Olympic classes regatta after day one in breezy conditions with challenging waves.
The London 2012 veterans have already qualified Ireland for Rio 2016 and recently achieved a top ten result at their world championships in January.
This week’s regatta marks the return to competition after injury for Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey who were confirmed as nation qualified for Rio on the basis of their performance at last November’s world championships.
The duo had a consistent day and lie ninth overall after three races.
The Men’s Laser Standard selection trials continue with the second of three events this week. Due to a record entry, the qualification series for the Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets has been shortened to just four races instead of six.
Veteran James Espey is just inside the cut-off overnight in 50th overall while his challengers Finn Lynch is 69th place for Fionn Lyden is 87th overall.
Conditions on Sunday were typical of Palma’s unpredictable weather as Seaton and McGovern found shortly after launching from the beach at S’Arenal to their race area close by.
Expecting lighter weather, they hadn’t enough rig tension applied for the first race and placed eighth in the division. Corrected for the next two races that saw the wind and sea state build further, the pair scored a second and a race win to lead the 72 boat class overnight.
Brewster and Tideys’ return to competition was marked by their consistency that leaves them inside the top ten in their class. While qualification for Ireland had been their single focus for this week until last Thursday, the pair are free to concentrate on achieving a result in Saturday’s medal race final for the top ten boats in their class.
Capsizes took a toll on the 49erFX fleet in particular with at least four boats knocked out of the day’s racing when they broke their rigs, most from being embedded in the sand in the shallows close to the beach.
Today’s forecast is likely to bring slightly easier conditions but even stronger winds are predicted for later in the week.
The change in weather may bring a reshuffle in standings for the Irish Laser trials currently being decided. London 2012 veteran James Espey’s place inside the Gold fleet cut-off hinges on his performance today.
If he can hold off Lynch and Lyden so that they place in the Silver standings, he may be able to open some ground in the trials going into the final decider at the Laser World Championships in Mexico in May.
