A better day yesterday for Ireland’s Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern brought the 49er skiff duo into the top ten when they posted two sixth places for the day, boosting the Northern Ireland pair to ninth overall.

Unfortunately, Ireland’s sailors in the both 49erFX and Laser Radial classes had more disappointing results and they are in the back of their respective classes.

Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey stay 14 from 15. In the Laser Radial, Annalise Murphy lies 37 from 39. Howth Yacht Club's Aoife Hopkins moved up to 29th yesterday.

'Tight' and 'light' were the main descriptors used by sailors at Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland as challenging conditions continued across the London 2012 Olympic waters.

The light breeze ensured Friday's racing was challenging and tense across the fleets that were able to race in the morning. All fleets came ashore at 13:20 with only the Men's and Women's 470, 49er, Finn and Nacra 17 completing races in the morning session.

At 16:00, the 49erFX, Men's and Women's RS:X, Laser and Laser Radial fleets went out onto the water and all but the 49erFX got some racing in.

It's fair to say the day was a tough one for all of the 330 sailors from 43 nations racing across the ten Olympic fleets. Saturday's schedule sees 33 races on the agenda as the Race Committee look to catch up on lost races.

49er and 49erFX

Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign (GBR) thrived in the light breeze, snapping up a first and a second from two 49er races. They lead on 17 points and are five clear of Poland's Lukasz Przybytek and Pawel Kolodzinski.

The pair were recently selected to sail for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after a gruelling selection battle. Their ticket to Rio is booked and they're now firmly focused on the competition, "Last year we had some difficult times and we made some changes, but now we are on an upward curve,” explained Fletcher. "We are really finding our feet now in Rio style conditions, which are a bit patchy. They seem to be our favourite conditions and we seem to thrive in them.”

Every athlete heading to the Olympic Games is nearing their peak physical and mental fitness. Weymouth and Portland gives the sailors one last chance to test themselves before the summer showcase.

French Rio representatives Julien d'Ortoli and Noe Delpech have found their feet in Weymouth and Portland and after the Brits took the first race win, they claimed the second.

They sit in fourth overall and are enjoying racing in a competitive 30-boat fleet. "Everybody is sailing well,” explained d'Ortoli, "and they are definitely ready for the Olympics so the competition is tough.

"Our preparation isn't finished and we are here to complete that preparation. We need to work on technique, speed and tactics. We are happy that there are good teams here to test against.”

The French team are ahead of many Rio medal hopefuls such as Jonas Warrer and Christian Peter Lubeck (DEN), Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch (AUT) and Ryan Seaton and Matthew McGovern (IRL) giving them a huge confidence boost. "It's the last regatta before Rio so just being in front of people is good for the spirit if nothing else,” concluded d'Ortoli.

The 49erFX endeavoured to get a race in but it was just not to be. Sweden's Lisa Ericson and Hanna Klinga will take their lead into the fourth day of racing.

Men's and Women's 470

Overnight leaders Sofian Bouvet and Jeremion Mion of France fell victim to the day's challenging conditions and were black flagged in the single Men's 470 race.

They now count their 21st from the day prior and drop down to tenth overall. They weren't the only top team who fell victim to a black flag. Jordi Xammar and Joan Herp (ESP), Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) and Yannick Brauchli and Romuald Hausser (SUI) were all hit and drop down.

Luke Patience and Chris Grube (GBR) were the winners of the day, taking the single race victory in a convincing manner. They grabbed an early advantage and never looked back, sealing the win by 50 seconds over Croatia's Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic.

As a result, the Brits are on top on nine points followed by the Croatians on ten. Carl-Fredrik Fock and Marcus Dackhammar follow on 14.

In the Women's 470, the overnight tie between the top three has been split but the margin between first and third sits at just two points.

A third in the single race by Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) gives them the advantage. They are followed by compatriots Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark and Switzerland's Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthaler.

Nacra 17

Weymouth and Portland is the final event for the German Nacra 17 sailors to clinch the Rio 2016 berth. Beat your national rivals and finish in the top ten, you're in. Claim the overall title, consider yourself a Rio 2016 contender.

Paul Kohlhoff and Carolina Werner (GER) are on track to do exactly both after a solid third in the single Nacra 17 race promoted them to first overall.

Kohlhoff and Werner have been involved in a long-running selection battle with their compatriots Jan Hauke Erichsen and Lea Spitzmann as well as Stefan Rumpf and Anna Bettina Goos.

Weymouth and Portland is the decider and pressure can often be an assumption but it is certainly not the case for Werner as she explained, "The selection process has been going for half a year so we are used to it now.

"We feel pretty good at the moment. We had one good race and we came third in the race today. It's been light conditions out there and the boat is going good in the light wind.”

The Germans are one point ahead of overnight leaders Luke Ramsay and Nikola Girke (CAN) and two ahead of Ben Saxton and Nikola Groves (GBR).

Laser and Laser Radial

Things just keep getting better and better for Hungarian youngster Maria Erdi. After winning gold at the 2015 Youth Sailing World Championships, Erdi qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the tender age of 18 earlier this year at the final qualification event.

The Laser Radial fleet in Weymouth and Portland features all the major contenders for Rio 2016 and they are looking to get one up on their rivals ahead of the summer showcase. Sailing without pressure or expectation around the world class competition, Erdi picked up the only race victory of the day, beating London 2012 silver medallist and two-time World Champion Marit Bouwmeester.

"At the first mark we were all very close. Marit, Evi [van Acker of Belgium], Tatiana [Drozdovskaya of Belarus]. Lots of good people around me and I just tried to concentrate on my own downwind, and it worker because I gained a lot,” explained Erdi. "I was leading quite a bit after the first downwind and on the upwind I was just trying to defend my position. There was a part when the wind stopped and I got really nervous. But luckily I stayed in front and won.

"I'm very happy. I won a race two years ago in Palma and it's been a long wait for another.”

Still young, new to the senior Laser Radial fleet, does Erdi feel any pressure with a big race win and third overall? "No, not at all,” she expressed. "I'm just happy to have a good race at the moment and learn from the bad ones.”

Bouwmeester's second pushes her up to first overall on six points, Lijia Xu (CHN) follows on 13 with Erdi on 15.

The Laser fleet hit the shore at 19:00 local time and Australia's Tom Burton held firm with a second to retain his overall lead. Jesper Stalheim (SWE) and Nick Thompson (GBR) followed in third and fourth and occupy the final podium positions.

Finn

Sweden's London 2012 Olympic gold medallist Max Salminen (SWE) found his groove in the light breeze, taking the single race victory to move into third overall. Salminen grabbed the lead after the second mark rounding and pulled ahead of his competitors to claim a comfortable 18 second victory over Tapio Nirkko (FIN).

Giles Scott's training partner in the build-up to the Rio 2016 is Ben Cornish and he's proving to be a worthy one, snatching the lead off of Scott. Cornish's third to Scott's fifth gives him a two-point lead.

Men's and Women's RS:X

China's Peina Chen continued her dominance in the Women's RS:X with two further race wins. Chen, the 2015 Women's RS:X World Champion, is five points clear of Isobel Hamilton (GBR) who finished second in both of the day's races.

In the Men's RS:X, Toni Wilhem (GER) moved up to first overall following a pair of race victories. The German is now seven points clear of Chunzhuang Liu (CHN) and a further two ahead of Aichen Wang (CHN).

Racing continues today for the fleet series across all classes. The top ten boats in each discipline will compete for the medal race final tomorrow.

 

All six of Ireland's Olympic sailing team bar one are in action at the final World Cup sailing competition ahead of Rio 2016 gets underway this week in Weymouth this week.

Ireland’s Olympic veterans from four years ago will be first into action on Wednesday morning. The venue is the notoriously windy London 2012 Olympic site though the sailors are preparing for completely different conditions expected in Brazil.

Annalise Murphy in the women’s single-handed Laser Radial event will face all three medallists from her event in 2012 when she narrowly missed a place on the podium. China’s Lijia Xu (Gold) along with The Netherlands’ Marit Bouwmeester (Silver) and Belgium’s Evi Van Acker (Bronze) are all on form but are in turn are joined by challengers such as Britain’s Alison Young, the recently crowned world champion.

Newcomer Aoife Hopkins (18) is also in Weymouth for more competition experience at world-class level after unsuccessfully challenging Murphy for the Irish place in Rio during trials earlier this year but with the radial worlds in Dun Laoghaire in July now the next target.

Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern in the men’s skiff 49er class will be seeking to make good on their Gold medal performance at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma in early April with another podium result to boost their confidence before final training for Rio in August commences. However, four-times unbeaten world champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke from New Zealand are not expected to compete in Weymouth this week.

The women’s skiff event makes its debut with the 49erFX class at Rio 2016 and Ireland’s Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey are aiming to build on recent strong individual race performances at recent major regattas following an injury-enforced break at the start of the year. The pair will be using this week’s regatta to improve consistency across their series with the aim of reaching the medal race final.

Absent from Weymouth is Finn Lynch, the 20-year old rising star of Irish performance sailing who recently won a three-way selection trial to be nominated for Team Ireland. His event in Rio is the men’s single-handed Laser standard class and the Carlow native is currently at a three-week training camp in Croatia. Inclusion in the Irish Providence squad for Rio 2016 marks the high-point of an eight-year career that to-date includes world and youth titles.

268 boats from 40 nations are taking part in ten disciplines, many featuring athletes expected to be contesting the Olympic regatta in two months time. Ireland is competing in three of the ten disciplines the Laser Radial, the 49er and the 49erFX.

The four-day opening series starts on Wednesday (8th June) while the top ten boats in each discipline will contest a double-points medal race final on Sunday.

Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland has a poetic story bubbling under the surface as the Rio 2016 Olympic Games get ever closer.

In the home of the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition, Weymouth and Portland, the Sailing World Cup is the last opportunity for fleet racing at a recognised regatta for the majority of the sailors before the torch gets handed over to the Marina da Gloria for Rio 2016. One Olympic venue straight to the next.

It may be the last big regatta before the Games, but for some sailors it's also the first since they got the news that they would have the honour of representing their nation this summer.

Two sailors in that category are New Zealand's Laser sailor Sam Meech and Australia's Jake Lilley in the Finn. Something else they share, relief.

"It's really important to get through the selection process, it takes about 18 months and it does start to weigh on you a little bit, so to get the nod is a bit of a relief,” said Lilley.

With relief evident and selection confirmed the focus for Lilley is now, as simple as it sounds, racing, "I'm working on a bit of race process here [at the Sailing World Cup]. Most of our equipment is in Brazil right now so the main focus is on racing and not the equipment set up so much. The calibre of the fleet here is full of guys close to the top end so it's all about racing and execution. This is the first and last regatta before Rio since the selection.”

In his 'first and last regatta', Lilley will compete against formidable opponents such as Great Britain's four-time world champion Giles Scott, France's London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Jonathan Lobert and Finland's Tapio Nirkko in the Finn Sailing World Cup fleet.

In another strong fleet and echoing the thoughts of his Trans-Tasman neighbour, Meech also felt the weight lift from his shoulders with his national selection confirmed, "It's fantastic and it's a pressure release which has been building since half way through last year.”

Again with the same train of thought as the Aussie towards the Sailing World Cup timing, Meech said, "It's the last big race for all us really and there are some things I want to work on before I head back out to train in Rio. The fleet looks pretty good. There are a lot of the top guys here so there should be some good racing.”

An area that Meech's preparations differ is in the processes the Kiwi has to get used to, "The fleet size will be very similar to that of the Games so in that respect this regatta is fantastic but working one on one with the coach is a bit different as there is usually a team of us. That's a bit strange.”

Meech won't be totally alone in Rio as compatriot Andy Maloney will be in attendance to act as a training partner, but the coaching will be solely focused on him as there is only one spot per country in each Rio 2016 fleet. This is a big step out of the comfort zone for Meech who usually has a team to rely upon, "There has been five or six of us in the squad every time I have been sailing. It feels really weird not having the other guys here and training with them.”

Whether comfortable or not, both Meech and Lilley will be looking to take the opportunity presented to them at Weymouth and Portland to race in high calibre fleets in the home of London 2012, before they head to the next adventure of Rio 2016.

Getting used to the processes, the similar size fleets, the high calibre opponents and racing in the last big regatta before the Olympic Sailing Competition are all achievable steps for every sailor, including Meech and Lilley who have their national selection confirmed.

For the rest, it is the final chance to test against the future Olympians and push for a Sailing World Cup medal.

Olympic sailors Ryan Seaton and Matthew McGovern starred in last night's RTE Rio Olympic preview series. The pair sailing in the high–speed 49er skiff class and secured an Olympic spot with a top 10 finish at the 2014 World Championships. But as they reveal in the programme funding issues mean that their preparations for the Olympics are anything but smooth. Check out the programme here

Paddy Power Bookmaker is offering odds (scroll down the page) on Ireland's medal chances at this Summer's Olympic regatta. 49erfx Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey are 60/1. Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are 100/1, according to the bookie.

The bookmaker has so far not offered odds on either of Ireland's single–handers but this may change shortly with yesterday's confirmation of Finn Lynch as the last member of this year's Olympic sailing team.

Annalise Murphy, fourth in London (Ireland's best result in 32 years), has said eight radial sailors have potential to wn in Rio (including herself) so it will be interesting to see what the bookie offers on the Irish solo star.

The Olympic regatta starts in the first week of August.

 

Light winds on the third day of the Sailing World Cup in Hyères did not favour Northern Ireland's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern yesterday. The Rio qualified pairing dropped seven places from 17th to 24 in the 40–boat fleet. The result is a disappointment for the Ballyholme Yacht Club pair who were seeking a return to the form that brought them silver medals in Hyeres two years ago and more recently gold in Palma at the start of this month. There was also a poor performance by the Irish 49erfx sailed by Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey. The Rio qualified duo from the Royal Irish Yacht Club are 23rd from 24.

Big breeze is expected to return to the venue this morning.

Sailors had a short wait for breeze in the morning but a 7-8 knot southerly veering to the west came through allowing a good number of races across the ten Olympic and two Paralympic fleets.

Looking further afield and the breeze that pushed sailors to their boundaries on the opening day is to return on Saturday leading through to Sunday's Medal Races which will be broadcast live on the World Sailing TV YouTube Channel.

After just eight races, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke of New Zealand have opened up a 37 point lead over the chasing pack.

Will and Sam Phillips (AUS) were in contention overnight but they slipped up with a 38 and a black flag. Meanwhile for Burling and Tuke it was business as usual. A first and a ninth gives them a monstrous lead which will take the pressure off in the coming days, not that there was any in the first place.

The Australian Phiilips sailors have been pulled back into a battle for the remaining medals. Jonas Warrer and Christian Peter Lubeck (DEN) are two points off them in third and five crews remain firmly in contention behind them.

Late off the water, at 19:15 local time, the 49erFX completed four races and Sweden's Lisa Ericson and Hanna Klinga (SWE) held on with a steady day of racing. Their results, a 2-1-3-(14), leave them on 20 points, 13 clear of Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED). Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) are up to third.

From the French Mistral to a breeze that resembled Rio de Janeiro, Hyères turned things around for the second day of racing at the Sailing World Cup. Ireland's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern in the 49er class, are fighting hard for a top ten placing but after six qualification races so far the pair stay 17th overall in a fleet of 40. The Balyholme Yacht Club pair counted 11, 13 and 29 today.

In the women's 49erfx Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey are 23 from 24 after four races counting 21 15 (25) OCS, 21

"Sailing in Hyères today was like sailing in Rio,” commented Swedish 49erFX leader Lisa Ericson, sailing with Hanna Klinga, "It's shifty, it's puffy and about having your head out of the boat.”

Rio aside, the famous Mistral that pushed sailors to their limits on Wednesday had completely died down for race day two, resulting in a wait for wind.

A building 8-10 knot breeze came through and racing kicked off just after 13:00 local time resulting in a full complement of completed races.

49er fleet leaders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) picked up where they left off from the day prior, sailing consistently at the top of the 49er fleet.

A first, sixth and third helps them to retain their lead over Will and Sam Phillips (AUS) by three points. Jonas Warrer and Christian Peter Lubeck (DEN) are tied for third with John Pink and Stuart Bithell (GBR) on 38 points.

In the Paralympic class, Ireland's Sonar team skippered by John Twomey is eighth from 12.

Meanwhile, team manager James O'Callaghan broke his nose in an accident on board the team RIB. 

In a heavy wind start to the second last Sailing World Cup event before the Olympic Games, Northern Ireland 49er duo Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern lie 17th in a fleet of 40–boats in Hyeres, France this evening. 

After a gold medal in Palma at the start of this month but silver fleet racing at the European Championships a fortnight later, the Belfast Lough pairing are aiming for some more consistency this week and a performance that might bring them back to the silver medals they won on the French south coast this time two years ago. 

So far it eludes them. In the first three races today, they scored 33, 22 and 7 but conditions have been described as 'survival' with plenty of capsizes. There are a possible nine races left to sai before the all important medal race this Sunday.

On Tuesday, 49er kings Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) could be seen meticulously practicing their tacking and gybing in huge breeze. The fluid, continuous motions that they rehearsed on Tuesday paid dividends as they took to the top of the table after three 49er races.

A bullet and a third was the ideal start but it could have been much better as Tuke explained, "We sailed the first two races well and 99% of the third race but we capsized right at the finish which is a bit of a pain. All in all, not a bad start.”

Burling and Tuke are on a run of 25 consecutive regatta victories, remaining unbeaten in the Rio 2016 quad. As a result, they are rightly labelled as favourites for Rio 2016 gold and with 100 days to go until the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, their run will count for nothing if they don't take gold.

"It is exciting, 100 days to go. I saw that [World Sailing's 100 Days to Go video] this morning on social media. It's a good little landmark but for us, it's business as usual and what we've been preparing for, for the last four years. We're here at the World Cup event to win but Rio in 100 days' time is fully on our mind and we're just looking to get better.”

Their unbeaten run indicates pure perfection so how can they get better? "Well we could have been better today by not capsizing,” Tuke said through a smile.

"There's still a lot of things that we can do better and we're just going to look at those things, at the big picture in Rio and concentrate on getting better. Since we've been focusing on improving, the results have spoken for themselves.”

It is early days in the 49er and the Kiwis lead only stands at one point over Will and Sam Phillips of Australia but if they keep looking to improve then it's going to take a special performance to overhaul them.

Racing this morning is scheduled to start at 11:00 local time and the 49erFX and Nacra 17 fleets will catch up on their missed races. -- Daniel Smith, World Sailing

Top three by class:

2.4 m
1. Matthew Bugg, AUS
2. Antonio Squizzato, ITA
3. Bjornar Erikstad, NOR

470 Men
1. Mathew Belcher / William Ryan, AUS
2. Luke Patience / Chris Grube, GBR
3. Sime Fantela / Igor Marenic, CRO

470 Women
1. Jo Aleh / Polly Powrie, NZL
2. Agnieszka Skrzypulec / Irmina Mrozek Gliszczynska, POL
3. Fernanda Oliveira / Ana Luiza Barbachan, BRA

49er
1. Peter Burling / Blair Tuke, NZL
2. William Phillips / Sam Phillips, AUS
3. John Pink / Stuart Bithell, GBR

49erFX Women - No results

Finn
1. Josh Junior, NZL
2. Caleb Paine, USA
3. Oliver Tweddell, AUS

Laser
1. Phlipp Buhl, GER
2. Matthew Wearn, AUS
3. Jean Baptiste Bernaz, FRA

Laser Radial Women
1. Evi Van Acker, BEL
2. Veronika Kozelska Fenclova, CZE
3. Alison Young, GBR

Nacra 17
1. Moana Vaireaux / Manon Audinet, FRA
2. Fernando Echavarri / Tara Pacheco van Rijnsoever, ESP
3. Gemma Jones / Jason Saunders, NZL

RS:X Men
1. Pawel Tarnowski, POL
2. Joao Rodrigues, POR
3. Thomas Goyard, FRA

RS:X Women
1. Helene Noesmoen, FRA
2. Maja Dziarnowska, POL
3. Zofia Nocceti-Klepacka, POL

Sonar
1. Hannah Stodel / John Robertson / Steve Thomas, GBR
2. Bruno Jourdren / Eric Flageul / Nicolas Vimont-Vicary, FRA
3. Aleksander Wang-Hansen / Marie Solberg / Per Eugen Kristiansen, NOR

Two years ago they won silver in Hyeres in what was an important boost to their 2016 Olympic campaign and tomorrow Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern hope to go one better at the French Sailing World Cup event. It's certainly a possibility if the Northern Ireland 49er duo can find the form that took them to the top of the fleet and a gold medal in Trofeo Princesca Sofia in Palma last month.  

The Ballyholme Yacht Club duo mark seven years sailing together this week and are keen to put the disappointment of dropping out of this month's gold fleet at the European championships in Barcelona behind them. In the words of French Olympic medallist Jonathan Lobert, "you never know what will happen in Hyères.”

Never has a saying been more relevant to the 2016 edition of Sailing World Cup Hyères with a mixed forecast and an aroma of unpredictability in the air for the Olympic and Paralympic classes as the clock ticks down to Rio 2016.

A glance at the forecast indicates the sailors are in for a week battling with the elements. Gusts up to 50 knots were reported overnight and it was strong for practice throughout Monday. A breeze in the region of 18-25 knots is predicted for the start of racing on Wednesday 27 April and will be an ultimate test for all and as Lobert said, you never know what will happen.

A moment of calm in between Thursday evening and Friday morning will be a welcome respite for some of the lighter sailors, but it's full on from Friday afternoon until Sunday 1 May's televised Medal Races which will be available on World Sailing's YouTube Channel

"The weather forecast at the moment is showing a lot of wind,” smiled the 6 foot 3-inch Lobert, bronze medallist at the London 2012 Olympic Games. "The winds pick up in the afternoon and then it's strong into the evening. I think it will be mostly windy this week but you never know what will happen in Hyères.”

A 25 knot breeze is on the limit for the high powered fleets, such as the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 but for the Finn class giants, it brings smiles to their faces.

"For us it's always nice to be sailing in the big breeze. The Finn is a very nice boat and when it is windy you can still manage it very well and on the downwind it can still be very powerful and fast.

"It is very exciting for us,” concluded Lobert.

Lobert has booked his spot at Rio 2016 and the pressure to perform in Hyères is off. For his rivals it is a different story. Jake Lilley and Oliver Tweddell continue to fight it out for the Australian spot whilst Canadian, Croatian, German and Kiwi sailors are all in Hyères aiming to get one up on their compatriots to reach Rio.

Many of those vying for national selection will have their eye on their national team mates which could open to the door for a mixed week of results.

For those who have already qualified, trial and error and the drive for perfection before the summer showcase will be the aim of the game. Make a mistake now and it can be worked on, make a mistake in 102 days and it is game over. But still, you never know what can happen in Hyères and as for what will happen in Rio, time will tell.

Racing at 2016 Sailing World Cup Hyères is scheduled to commence on Wednesday 27 April. Four days of fleet racing will culminate in the Medal Races on Sunday 1 May which will be broadcast live on the World Sailing TV YouTube channel from 11:00 local time.

There was consolation of sorts for Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern with a string of race wins in the silver fleet of the 49er European Championships that ended in Barcelona yesterday. The Belfast duo had a scoreline of 1,1,1,3,4,3 but it was far from what they came to the Catalan capital for. The Ballyholme Yacht Club duo, who took gold at Princesa Sofia Regatta a fortnight ago, ended up 28th overall after some early costly mistakes including a costly start line infringement in the first race.

The campaign, that has achieved three top ten results at past world championships, carries Irish sailing hopes to Rio this summer. And as medal hopes, the team will want to analyse why, coming off such a great result in Palma, did they fare poorly this week?

The story of the 49er Euros is the Kiwi sensations, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke who wrapped up their 4th straight European Championship and 25th straight 49er regatta by a huge margin. The duo lead the regatta from start to finish, and never looked within the reach of any challengers. 

The sailing world is already infatuated with these super performers. To dominate an Olympic class in this manner is rare, to do so while also winning Moth, A-Cat, and America’s Cup titles at the same time is truly novel. The pair are always around the boat park, part of the community, but such a cut above the rest that they are a constant source of discussion and amazement.

Locking in the Silver medal are Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, on better form this regatta from start to finish than the recent past. The Aussie pair started the regatta well and tried to lock up with Burling and Tuke during races. They often started just to windward on the start line of the Kiwis to get a sense of just how large the speed gaps might be and how much work there is to reverse fortunes by August. There will be many doubters that it’s even possible to beat Burling and Tuke these days but in an Olympic environment, with fewer races, really unpredictable conditions, and distractions all over the Olympics are no sure bet despite how it may look.

Austria’s Nico Delle Karth and Niko Resch take a fair lead over the Brits and Spanish in to the medals race, which they must defend to become the top Europeans at the European Championship. It is a highly coveted title and one they will want to secure.

A lack of consistency has put this month's gold medal winners of the Trofeo Princesa Sofia regatta into the Silver fleet of the 49er European Championships in Barcelona this morning. Belfast's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern say they 'struggled to get off the start line' during qualifiers this week even though they opened the regatta on Monday in top form (6 and 2). Since then conditions have been 'difficult'. A start line penalty (UFD) on the first day did not help matters for the Ballyholme Yacht Club pair.

Yesterday was a stressful final day of qualifying for the 72–boat 49er fleet, only 25 of whom made gold fleet. With seven of ten scheduled races completed there were still more than 20 teams on the bubble hoping to sail well enough to keep their hopes alive. The conditions were a combination of side shore and off shore breeze, which gave fits to the race officers and sailors alike to find suitable racing conditions. After the 9th race of the qualifying bubble had shrunk from about 20 teams to 8, only separated by six points with half going to make the gold fleet and half stuck on the outside looking in. The Irish Rio hopes ended up 14 places outside the cut for gold in 39th place. The results are here.

The untouchable Kiwis Peter Burling and Blair Tuke extended their lead on the day with two more race wins in the 49er

Gold Fleets Next

Gold fleet will race for the final three days, 25 boats in 49er, 36 boats in the 49erFX.  The 49er Silver fleet will be split into two equal fleets who will continue to race on an equal footing for places 26 through 72.

Ireland's Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey from Dun Laoghaire are lying 21st in the FX division.

Both the Irish 49er and 49erfx are qualified for Rio.