Finn Lynch, Ireland's only gold fleet participant at last week's important Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta, recovered ten places or so in the closing stages to finish with a 2 and a 9 in 'very hard' conditions.
The two top ten results put the National Yacht Club man into 30th overall, an improvement on what the County Carlow man regards as a 'frustrating' result, due to 'a few big mistakes'.
Lynch's next port of call on the road to Tokyo 2020, is the Hyeres World Cup event in a few weeks time.
2018 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Iberostar
Australia's world champions Mat Belcher and Will Ryan, outstanding winners of a strong, competitive 470 class, were awarded the Princesa Sofia Trophy, the top overall award at the biggest ever edition, as the 49th Trofeo Princesa Sofia Iberostar concluded in light, hesitant breezes in Mallorca today. The regatta attracted 870 boats from 62 different and more than 1200 sailors.
The 2016 Olympic silver medallists won the tricky medal race today to cap an impressively consistent performance, counting all their results inside the top 10 in a high scoring regatta, to win by 39pts ahead of Turkey's Deniz and Ates Cidar. Japan's winners of the class last year at this Balearic showcase regatta Tetsuya Isozaki and Akira Takayanagi finished third.
For eight times world chammpin Belcher, winning the top overall award at a personal favourite regatta, one he has been coming to since the first time as a 19 year old in 2001,is a particular pleasure. He wins the class for the fourth time.
Top three final results:
470 Men
1. Mathew Belcher / William Ryan, AUS, 23 points
2. Deniz Cinar / Ates Cinar, TUR, 62
3. Tetsuya Isozaki / Akira Takayanagi, JPN, 66
470 Women
1. Ai Kondo Yoshida / Miho Yoshioka, JPN, 56
2. Hannah Mills / Eilidh Mcintyre, GBR, 58
3. Linda Fahrni / Maja Siegentahler, SUI, 59
49er
1. Yago Lange / Klaus Lange, ARG, 93
2. Dylan Fletcher-Scott / Stuart Bithell, GBR, 96
3. Mathieu Frei / Noe Delpech, FRA, 97
49er FX
1. Annemiek Bekkering / Annette Duetz, NED, 47
2. Alexandra Maloney / Molly Meech, NZL, 95
3. Odile Van Aanholt / Marieke Jongens, NED, 97
Finn
1. Giles Scott, GBR, 57
2. Nicholas Heiner, NED, 84
3. Andy Maloney, NZL, 95
Laser
1. Matthew Wearn, AUS, 55
2. Sam Meech, NZL, 64
3. Tonci Stipanovic, CRO, 98
Laser Radial
1. Anne-Marie Rindom, DEN, 59
2. Alison Young, GBR, 74
3. Maria Erdi, HUN, 91
NACRA 17
1. Ruggero Tita / Caterina Banti, ITA, 51
2. Ben Saxton / Nicola Boniface, GBR, 77
3. Fernando Echavarri / Tara Pacheco, ESP, 90
RS:X Men
1. Pawel Tarnowski, POL, 34
2. Louis Giard, FRA, 36
3. Sebastian Fleischer, DEN, 48
RS:X Women
1. Lilian De Gues, NED, 38
2. Pei Na Chen, CHN, 49
3. Flavia Tartaglinik, ITA, 65
J80
1. Javier Chacartegui, ESP, 5
2. Sebastian Allebrodt, GER, 11
3. Pablo Ariel, ESP, 17
Dragon
1. Otto Pohlmann, UAE, 11
2. Stephane Baseden, FRA, 17
3. Javier Scherk Serrat, ESP, 20