When Finn Lynch of the National Yacht Club finally secured Ireland's Olympic 2024 ILCA 7 place last August when qualifying opportunities seemed to be rapidly evaporating, he said it was “like getting a monkey off my back”. Since then, he has been sailing in a flourishing style and was visibly revelling in the final week of January with the challengingly breezy 2024 ILCA 7 Men’s Worlds on Adelaide’s renowned open waters.

In a truly global fleet of 153 boats, getting into the top 50 was a highly competitive challenge. But the Carlow sailor ripped round the long courses in real style and then some, and at one stage was looking at sixth. He stayed in single figures to come in ninth at the end, with the long list astern reading like a Who’s Who of top ILCA 7 sailing

Ireland's Finn Lynch will take a coveted place in the medal race final of the ILCA 7 Mens World Championships on Wednesday after finishing eighth overall after four gold fleet races in Adelaide, Australia.

Racing in strong wind conditions, the National Yacht Club sailor recovered from a black flag disqualification score on Monday in the single discard regatta to post a 9 and 21 to move up from ninth to eighth overall on 79 points in the 153-boat fleet.

Big breeze and steep swells have been on the menu most of the week as Adelaide provided testing championship essentials for the world's hottest dinghy fleet. Conditions on the final day were the most spectacular of the week with winds gusting to 30 knots.

In the first race of the day, Lynch made a promising start but unfortunately capsized midway through the race. Despite the setback, he managed to recover quickly but found himself trailing by over 30 places behind the race leaders. In a commendable effort, Lynch managed to regain some ground and finished the race in 21st position, minimizing the damage to his overall standing.

In the second race, with the wind at its strongest, the Rio 2016 veteran returned to his more usual form, serving up a ninth place, his seventh top ten result of the ten races sailed since last Friday.

Lynch is on course to secure his third top ten result at world championship level in four years (including a silver medal in 2021). The best outcome he can aim for in the event is sixth overall, as the top three boats are already certain of podium places after the single-medal race final.

The regatta concludes with a top 10 medal race on Wednesday, with that race score worth double points and cannot be discarded.

Ireland's second sailor in Adelaide, Ewan McMahon, scored 36.0 and (41.0) to lie 41st overall in the first of three Irish Olympic Trials for the Paris 2024 Regatta in the men's singlehanded class.

Reigning champion Matt Wearn of Australia leads into the medal race with 22 points from Normway's Hermann Tomasgaard on 30 with Britain's Michael Beckett on 31.

Results below

Consistent sailing by Ireland's Finn Lynch at the ILCA 7 World Championships in Adelaide, Australia, this week shows the depth of the Rio Olympian's ambition to make the Marseille Olympic start line this summer. 

According to provisional results (see below), the National Yacht Club ace qualified for the gold fleet on Saturday in 11th place in the 153-boat fleet. Also through to a top-50 coveted gold fleet position is Lynch's Paris 2024 rival, Ewan McMahon of Howth Yacht Club, in 38th place.

An impressive scoresheet of all top ten results thus far of  (8.0). 4.0, 6.0, 8.0, 5.0 and 6.0 put Lynch on 29.0 points, just one point off the top ten and 15 off the podium.

"Finn had a really good day again with two solid races and in a good position going into the finals," commented Lynch's coach Vasilij Zbogar. "Even for the best sailors, a small mistake can be really painful, but even when he slips back, he's recovering well".

Ewan McMahon of Howth Yacht Club racing in he final qualification rounds of the  ILCA 7 World Championships in Adelaide, Australia Photo: Jack Fletcher

It's an even performance that makes good on Lynch's pre-event strategy in this single discard championship to take a set of solid results into the finals series.

The regatta also serves as the first round of an Irish Olympic trial for Paris 2024 in the men's singlehanded class.

Reigning Olympic and World champion Matt Wearn is back on top of the leaderboard with a 1,3  to lead the final series on nine points.

Norwegian Hermann Tomasgaard, who was atop the rankings, is now third on 13 points, with Welsh sailor Michael Beckett second on 12.

Conditions are placing considerable demands on all the athletes, and the coming days will also be a fitness test, especially on Monday when the forecast suggests the strongest wind of the week.

There was a hint of this on Sunday as the competition started off with light winds but steadily increased in strength. The afternoon wore on, though, with plenty of shifting directions in a classic sea breeze versus gradient wind.

The event schedule has two races each on Monday and Tuesday for the final round, with the top ten boats in the Gold fleet, then going into a short, high-scoring Olympic-style medal race final on Wednesday while the remaining competitors battle to decide the other overall standings.

Results below.

Both Irish sailors competing in the 153-boat ILCA7 class world championships in Adelaide, Australia, had a stand-out day on Saturday, as they counted top ten results in tricky conditions. The event is preparing to end its qualification phase, and both Finn Lynch from the National Yacht Club and Ewan McMahon from Howth Yacht Club are hoping to secure a place in the men’s single-handed event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Regatta.

Lynch took a 6 and 8 in his qualification fleet to lie 14th overall after two days while McMahon posted a 9,6 in his fleet to lie 25th.

See results below

Lynch and McMahon are part of a trials series of three regattas over the coming months, where they only need to focus on achieving the best possible results, rather than racing specifically against each other. 

Saturday’s weather off the South Australian coast proved tricky for race organisers, who first sent the fleet to sea expecting wind to build, then returned to shore when the sea breeze failed to materialize. After a delay of three hours, racing gradually got underway, though it was close to sunset when the sailors eventually finished for the day, but with the event still on schedule.

Just Sunday's programme of a further two races - weather permitting - will decide how the full fleet of 153 entries are split into the Gold, Silver, and Bronze divisions, with both Irish sailors currently well-placed to achieve the top tier series that begins on Monday.

"Both sailors had a really good day, and Ewan managed to have a good average, which is what we want, definitely, and Finn also had two top tens, which is also what we want at this stage," commented Ireland's coach Vasilij Zbogar. "What we want are low scores and no bad results in the qualifying round because there is only one discard in the whole regatta."

For both sailors, their event goal means at least Gold fleet, but ideally, they want to finish in the top ten by the end of the finals round to contest the Medal Race on Wednesday to decide the podium.

Across both qualification and final rounds, each sailor will compete in at least ten races, which has been estimated to equate to a week of back-to-back daily half-marathons in physical performance terms. Racing is scheduled to continue in the early hours of Sunday 28th, with the conclusion of the qualification series.

The National Yacht Club's Finn Lynch scored two top-ten results in the opening races of the ILCA7 world championships in Adelaide, Australia, today to take an early lead in the Irish Olympic selection trial for Paris 2024 against rival Ewan McMahon of Howth Yacht Club. The Rio Olympian is lying tenth overall in the 153-strong fleet.

McEwan opened his championship account with 24th place before earning a strong ninth place in race two to lie in 40th place.

See results sheet below

"Finn had a decent day, and the goal is to have top tens in the qualifying races, especially as there's just one discard for the whole event," commented coach Vasilij Zbogar. "Ewan had one good race and one average but proved that he can be in front - he just needs a little more consistency in the coming races."

'Green Rebel' campaigner Ewan McMahon of Howth took a well earned ninth in race two of the ILCA 7 World Championships in Adelaide Photo: Jack Fletcher

Maximising points at this early stage of the regatta is essential as the 153 competitors are split across three qualifying fleets to determine the Gold fleet line-up for the finals series that begins on Monday.

"We had beautiful wind for the first day but very challenging and physically demanding long races - hard for the sailors," said Zbogar. "Definitely, everyone is taking as little risk as possible, as the first three days are the most important for qualifying."

Norwegian Hermann Tomasgaard won his two opening races giving himself the perfect start to his 2024 campaign.

"There's just one discard for the whole event"

With the 153-strong entry list split between three qualifying fleets, Tomasgaard drew first blood in the red fleet with two race wins, while Australian hopefuls Matt Wearn and Luke Elliott took a race win each in the yellow fleet, and Philipp Buhl (GER) and Mickey Beckett (GBR) each took a win in blue fleet.

It sets the scene for an exciting battle at the front of the fleet with Tomasgaard a point clear in first, Elliott second on three points, and Buhl third on four points, however it remains far too early to identify any key favourites for the title.

German Philipp Buhl, a world champion from the last time the ILCA 7 Worlds were in Australia, said the first day of the Worlds was always an important one to ensure you got away to a good start.

“The first day today was pretty solid and I’m quite happy with the result even though I didn’t manage to get off the start line too well in the first race,” he said.

“In the beginning of an event, basically it is all about not having a big score, so I managed to do this and came through the day quite cleanly in amazing conditions.

A fleet start on the first day of the ILCA7 World Championships in Adelaide with Ireland's Finn Lynch pictured left Photo: Jack Fletcher

“This World Championships means quite a lot to me personally, because it’s part of my Olympic selection that is not done yet for us in Germany, and it’s a World Championships where you always want to do well.”

The top Aussie sailors are all in good shape as well, which was to be expected on home waters, with the five Australian Sailing Team and Australian Sailing Squad members all inside the top 20 after the first day.

Australian Sailing Squad member Finn Alexander finished the first day with a 9,7 scorecard and said the team was in good shape to perform well over the next week.

“We’ve spent a bit of time here in Adelaide and it’s a beautiful place, the weather absolutely turned it on today, we had a really nice gradient breeze of about 10-20 knots, you can’t really ask for much more on day one of a Worlds,” he said.

“We’ve got a really strong contingent, we’ve got five really good guys (in the squad) and we’ve all been pushing hard, backed up with a really solid futures group, so the future of Australian sailing is looking pretty good.”

Tomorrow’s forecast is looking like it will offer more glamour Adelaide conditions with variable morning weather shifting into a late afternoon sea breeze of up to 15 knots.

If all goes to plan, the race committee is expected to run two races per day, giving them a 10-race series up until the end of 30 January followed by the exciting 10-boat medal race on 31 January to close out the series.

Paris 2024 Olympic campaigner Finn Lynch has won the 'Champions' Cup' at Foynes Yacht Club and sailed this year in the 17-foot Mermaid class.

Tricky light winds saw the schedule of races for the annual event cut short on the Shannon Estuary.

After just three races sailed in two days, the National Yacht Club's Lynch lifted the trophy with brother Rory and Carol Martin in the single-race final round.

The result denied Ger Owens of the GP14 class his chance of a three-peat, with the defending champion finishing seventh. 

Second overall was the GP14s Ruan O'Tiarnaigh, Ross Nolan and Kate O Regan.

Third was J24 Euro Champion Cillian Dickson, Louis Mulloy and Packer Thorne.

In a racing series that was planned for two days, the first day saw no racing due to almost no wind. Despite concerns over the forecast for Sunday, all skippers decided to go ahead with a shortened series. After one quick race each, the top nine boats from both flights were chosen.

Owens, a triple Olympian, secured his place in the final quite easily, raising hopes of a three-in-a-row win. However, Lynch, with his skills in downwind sailing, won the race in the short final race, which was held just minutes before the deadline to start the last race expired.

The very light winds started to drop as the eastbound tide began to rise, which threatened to abandon the race.

However, since all nine boats were similarly impacted by the change in wind, the race continued. Lynch, with crew members Rory Lynch and Carol Martin, finished first with just seconds to go.

Next year's event will live up to its earlier 'All Ireland' moniker and is likely to head north to Belfast Lough, where the event may be raced in RS400 dinghies, according to Afloat sources.

Full results below

Finn Lynch can add nation qualifying for the Paris Olympics 2024 to his many ILCA 7 achievements to date, including a world silver medal from 2021.

In a nerve-jangling conclusion to the Gold fleet series in the Men's single-handed event at the Allianz Sailing World Championships in The Hague on 19th August 2023, the National Yacht Club ace secured one of the last Paris 2024 Olympics places for Ireland available in The Netherlands. 

Lynch sailed out into the final two races for his event, needing only to deliver two safe results to maintain or improve on 14th place by nation. A total of 16 countries have qualified for the Men single-handed events, including Ireland.

After crossing the finishing line, he sailed ashore under the impression that he had missed qualification when he had actually managed to place 15th by nation and 23rd overall.

Elated with the outcome, he described qualifying Ireland for Paris 2024 as a "monkey off my back" and will now focus fully on preparations for the Olympics and selection for the national squad.

Finn Lynch secured Ireland's berth at the Paris Olympics in the ILCA 7 class this afternoon when he claimed the 15th of 16 nation places on offer at the Sailing World Championships in The Hague.

The world championship silver medalist who represented Ireland in Rio 2016 but failed to qualify for Tokyo 2020, will be relieved to get Paris 2024 qualification in the men's dinghy behind him after a week of drama on the North Sea that saw 27-year-old Carlow sailor end the competition in 23rd overall when had been as high as eighth at one point. A delighted Lynch described the result as "a monkey off my back".

In a mixed final day, he placed 19th in the first race but was unable to break into the leading group and placed 38th in the last of the ten-race series.

After crossing the finishing line, he sailed ashore believing he had missed qualification when he had actually managed to place 15th by nation and 23rd overall.

Ireland sought three such qualifications at The Hague, but Lynch was the only sailor to make the Paris 2024 cut, a much-needed consolation after missing out on the World Championship medal race.

Now that Ireland is qualified in the men's dinghy, Lynch will contest the Paris 2024 place with Howth's Ewan McMahon in an Olympic trial series to be announced.

Meanwhile, Matt Wearn (AUS) is on the brink of adding a first world title to his Olympic gold medal after navigating his way into a comfortable lead in the ILCA 7. 
 
Going into the day trailing Micky Beckett (GBR), Wearn knew that a previous black flag disqualification for the Brit meant he was much more vulnerable to a bad score. 
 
So even though Beckett came second in the opening race of the day, stretching his lead further, Wearn was able to match-race his opponent – effectively delaying Beckett – with the pair finishing 65th and 66th, respectively. 
 
That allowed Wearn to move into top spot, with a 20-point lead over George Gautrey (NZL), while Beckett is a point further back. Wearn will therefore need to get around the course in the medal race with no penalties to take gold. 

Results here.

Irish sailors are waiting for the wind to win a Paris 2024 Olympic berth after racing was cancelled at the Allianz Sailing World Championships in The Hague today. 

No racing was possible due to light winds, the opposite conditions of what caused the cancellation of the first day's racing at the Irish ILCA Nationals at Howth Yacht Club. 

Saturday's forecast for the Dutch coast is more promising as organisers try to complete the Gold fleet racing in the ILCA7 men's single-handed class.

Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) is on track for Paris 2024 Olympics and hopes to improve his standing in the upcoming races. Lynch is joined by Howth's Ewan McMahon.

Results here.

Ireland's Finn Lynch of the National Yacht Club is lying within the Olympic nation qualifying criteria for Paris 2024 in 14th place out of 16 nations going into the final two races of the Sailing World Championships in The Hague.

The Rio 2016 ILCA 7 representative –  who failed to qualify for Tokyo 2020 – moved up 11 places in the overall standings from 33 to 22 on Thursday to be within the first Paris berth allocations.

A strong tidal current and fresh winds meant a physical and tactical day for the ILCA7 class single-handers.

In the opening race, Lynch placed second at the first mark but hit it in the strong tide, and after taking his penalty turn, he went on to finish in eighth place.

Tide again played a pivotal role in the second race that saw the former world championship silver medalist finish 17th in the 80-strong fleet.

With two races remaining, on the overnight standings, he is 22nd overall and is unlikely to make the medal race but within the Olympic qualifying criteria in 14th out of 16 nations, so a repeat performance or better is required on Friday.

Ireland's second boat racing in Gold fleet for the ILCA7 event saw Ewan McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) avoid multiple collisions at the first mark and place 23rd in the opening race.  He then discarded a 50th in the next race to hold 43rd overall and aims to deliver a top-half overall result.

A top two is starting to emerge in the ILCA 7 with Micky Beckett (GBR) and Matt Wearn (AUS) starting to move clear of the field. 
 
Beckett recovered from a difficult position in the second race of the day to finish eighth, and still holds an 11-point lead over Wearn. 
 
The bigger gap comes after the Australian however, with George Gautrey (NZL) 21 points back in third, followed closely by Pavlos Kontides (CYP) and Jean-Baptiste Bernaz (FRA). 
 

Friday's forecast is for light winds in the morning, when the final two races are currently scheduled for.  With Spring tide conditions reaching their fastest flow of the week, Saturday's reserve day may yet be needed to complete the fleet series.

Results here.