SAILING: A final race win secured third overall for Dublin's Ciara Peelo at the Laser Radial World Championship in Ontario, Canada, this week.
Having completed two radial regattas prior to the world championships and finishing eighth in the ISAF World Sailing Games, Peelo (22) conceded to being confident enough going into the event knowing a top five result was not out of the question.
But before she stood on the podium at Buffalo canoe club Peelo had to contend with some fickle lake winds.
Her worst result came when the wind was at its flukiest in mid-regatta but those behind her on the scoreboard fared even worse, some counting both their discards on a single day.
Her final scoring placings were 5, 1, 3, 4, (11), 5, 5, (8), 1. The figures in brackets denote a discard.
It was the Howth Yacht Club sailor's consistent performance that enabled her to hold her third place overall for the entire regatta with a string of top-five results.
"I knew going into the last race that I had done enough to finish on the podium. I went into the last race very relaxed and managed to complete the regatta with a bullet, a great way to finish off," Peelo said.
Katarzyna Szotynski from Poland was the clear winner, taking her third title with a race to spare, with Marinda Powrie of New Zealand second.
At the 49 European championship in Norway, Tom Fitzpatrick and Frazer Brown are placed eighth overall after three races in the gold fleet of an 81-boat entry. They are two places behind the current world champions Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks.
In Estonia, Gerbil Owens and Ross Killian of Dún Laoghaire have also qualified for the gold fleet in the 470 European championships and have scored a 5, 2, 9 and lie in 11th position overall among 46 boats.
In a return to the Olympic circuit, David Burrows has secured Ireland's first 2004 Olympic slot with a 14th overall at the Finn Gold Cup sailed in Athens this week.
Burrows took a break from the circuit after his ninth place finish at the Sydney Olympics to concentrate on his accounting career. He returned to his Finn this year for a short, concentrated season.
Also competing for Ireland were Aaron O'Grady of the National Yacht club and Youen Jacob of Baltimore, who finished 39th and 40th respectively.
Although Burrows finished highest of the three, his result does not personally qualify him for Athens - a trial series will ultimately determine the Irish representative.
The Irish Team Racing Association (ITRA) has announced that the successful helms to compete in the the World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand, next February are: Team A: John Sheehy, Nicky Smyth and Andrew Fowler; Team B: Paddy Kirwan, Mary O'Loughlin and Stefan Hyde.
On home waters, four visiting entries helped to swell the fleet to 26, the biggest in recent years, for last weekend's Ruffian National Championship at the Royal St George Yacht Club, Dún Laoghaire.
Two wins over windward leeward courses gave Shannagh, sailed by Graham Elmes, an early lead that was never lost. Fred Ridgway's Scruffian finished second and Ruff Nuff (Derek Mitchell), the defending champion, third.
