ILCA7/Laser sailor Finn Lynch is hoping to build on recent top performances such as his silver medal win at last November's World Championships and this month's fourth at the Princesa Sofia Trophy when he races at Hyères in the French Olympic Week regatta starting next Monday (23 April).
As Afloat reported previously, the National Yacht Club solo ace along with other Irish Olympic campaigners have been training close to the Marseille Olympic venue this week and have now moved along the Cote D’Azur to Hyères.
Lynch is building towards the defence of his 2021 World Championships silver medal next month at Riviera Nayarit in Mexico.
Competing against Lynch is Ewan McMahon who, in just his third season as a senior (and in 20th place for most of the week in Palma last month), is already demonstrating why he is arguably Ireland's second most successful full rig sailor since Mark Lyttle, Ireland's inaugural Laser helmsman at Atlanta 1996. Royal St. George's Tom Higgins is also competing.
ILCA 6/Laser Radial
In the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) Howth's Aoife Hopkins returns from a bout of COVID for her first major regatta of the Paris quadrennial. Her clubmate and rival for the single Paris place, Eve McMahon, is currently competing at the Youth Nationals in Ballyholme and does not return to the Olympic circuit until after her Leaving Certificate examination in June.
Irish 49ers
Tokyo Olympians Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove along with Paris rivals Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan from Royal Cork are competing in the 49er class.