Both Finn Lynch in the Laser and new Northern Ireland 49er combination Matt McGovern and Robbie Gilmore sit in the top ten of the Delta Lloyd Regatta Medemblik, Netherlands that started yesterday. Six Irish sailors into total are competing with great competition across seven classes so far.
Many Olympic sailors raced their first event since Rio. There were also a number of sailors, training here in Medemblik, aiming for Tokyo 2020. The conditions on the water were great, with a nice breeze and plenty of sun.
Also competing from Ireland are Aisling Keller in the Laser Radials, and Cian Byrne and Patrick Crosbie in the 49ers. Results are here.
Focus for the Laser Radial sailors is mostly on the World Championships in Medemblik later this year. It was strong start from Britain's Alison Young, with two first places. It's also the first event back in the boat for gold Olympic medallist and Dutch favourite, Marit Bouwmeester but Ireland's Olympic silver medalist Annalise Murphy is not competing.
German 49er sailors try to stay calm
After the first day of racing we find Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf, team Germany, in the lead. "This event is more training for us. We're in the lead after the first day, which we didn't really expect. It has been a really good day after all. The next few days will probably be trickier. We just have to stay calm, sail well and get a good result to get into the medal race."
The competition in the 49erFX is very close. Croatian, Enia Nincevic, transferred from the 470 women to the 49erFX and is training with Igor Marenic, three time Olympian and gold medallist at the summer Olympics.