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Displaying items by tag: 49er Europeans

Fifth place in the silver fleet was the best that the Irish 49ers could offer at the European Championships in Poland, which ended this weekend. British team Chris Draper and Peter Greenhalgh came out the winners after a medal race that was held close to shore and thousands of spectators on a packed beach.

Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern, Ireland's top contenders for an Olympic slot in the 49er, finished the event in inauspicious circumstances, with a 23rd and a black flag.

Results are HERE, and it's a pity that the one spectator- and camera-friendly fleet in the Olympics couldn't get it together with a decent web presence for one of the biggest events on their calendar. 

Published in Olympics 2012
Tagged under

Winds of up to 20 knots near Gdansk in Poland tested 49er crews at the European Championships yesterday as the fleet neared the split for silver and gold.

Top Irish team Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern improved on their 38th overall standing, but couldn't make the top 25. With a further BFD on their scorecard, they now sit in 8th position in the Silver Fleet going into the final two days of racing. There's no gradient breeze to speak of forecast for the lads today, but with high temperatures, a solid sea breeze could be on the cards. 

Ed Butler and Ben Lynch are fourth in the bronze fleet, with Marcus Spillane and Amish Ved in 23rd.

Pietro and Gianmarco Sibello won both races yesterday to propel them to the top but with only a one- point lead over British sailors Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes.  Chris Draper and Peter Greenhalgh are another single point adrift in third.

Event website is HERE.

Published in Olympics 2012

Ireland's 49er crews have a long way to go if they are to qualify for the gold fleet in the European Championships, being held in Gdynia, Poland.

Olympic campaigners Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are top Irish at the moment, but in 52nd of 82 boats, they are still some way off the gold standard, with just 25 boats going through into the gold fleet.

Class chairman Marcus Spillane, sailing with Amish Ved, is in 67th, with Ed Butler and Ben Lynch in 78th overall.

Results are HERE.

Published in Olympics 2012
Tagged under

William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland and internationally for many years, with his work appearing in leading sailing publications on both sides of the Atlantic. He has been a regular sailing columnist for four decades with national newspapers in Dublin, and has had several sailing books published in Ireland, the UK, and the US. An active sailor, he has owned a number of boats ranging from a Mirror dinghy to a Contessa 35 cruiser-racer, and has been directly involved in building and campaigning two offshore racers. His cruising experience ranges from Iceland to Spain as well as the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, and he has raced three times in both the Fastnet and Round Ireland Races, in addition to sailing on two round Ireland records. A member for ten years of the Council of the Irish Yachting Association (now the Irish Sailing Association), he has been writing for, and at times editing, Ireland's national sailing magazine since its earliest version more than forty years ago