Olympic Laser sailor James Espey who seeks a final shot at Olympic qualification next month in the single handed Laser is in the top 20 at the Trofeo Princesa Sofa MAPFRE after mastering another day of light, tricky conditions. The Belfast lough sailor lies in 18th place after four races sailed on the Bay of Palma, Mallorca. He scored a 10 and a 23 yesterday putting him only three points off a top ten position overall.
Espey missed out on qualification last December after a penalty at the world championships in Perth. His next qualification chance is next month at the German based World championships.
London qualified 49er pairing Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern have dropped back to 32 in their 76 boat fleet. The Belfast lough pairing scored a 32 and 12.
They scored a 'personal best' performance and eighth overall in the world championships in December and since then have been traveling the world in intensive training for the London Games now only 100 days away.
World #5, David Evans and Edward Powys (GBR) have added two more bullets to their score to take the lead in the 49er class: " Our objective is to be top 3 and first British. Racing was tricky today with different pressure over the course so we are happy with our results so far." They are on equal points with Danish Jonas Warrer and Soren Hansen.
Early leader Peter Krüger Andersen and Nicolai Thorsell (DEN) suffered from the day's difficult conditions to fall from first to 15th.
For both top teams these results mean a lot as Palma is playing a role in their Olympic selection. The Trofeo Sofia Mapfre is one of a series of observation events for the British but for the Dane, good results could mean a ticket for London.
Things have not improved for Dun Laoghaire medal prospect Annalise Murphy who was in 49th place out of 89 starters in the Laser Radial fleet after a day one. She dropped back further yesterday to 75th when she scored a DNF and an OCS.
The 22-year old is ranked fourth in the world and will be hoping to boost results in the rest of the regatta this week.
Two other Irish boats are still seeking the Olympic standard but yesterday's fickle sailing conditions brought little in the way of progress to Weymouth.
Gerbil Owens and Scott Flannigan scored a 14 and 22 to move up to 47th out of 92 in the mens 470, a class in which Owens has represented Ireland at two Olympics. The Dun Laoghaire and Howth campaign's last chance for selection is at the 470 World Championships next month.
Ross Hamilton in the single handed Finn is 40th from 57.
Top three by class
Laser Radial
1. Marit Bouwmeester, NED, 16 points
2. Alicia Cebrian, ESP, 16
3. Sarah Steyaert, FRA, 20
Laser
1. Simon Grotelueschen, GER, 19
2. Tom Burton, AUS, 21
3. Nick Thompson, GBR, 25
470 Men
1. Pierre Leboucher / Vincent Garos, FRA, 18
2. Alvaro Marinho / Miguel Nunes, POR, 20
3. Panagiotis Kampouridis / Efstathios Papadopoulos, GRE, 21
470 Women
1. Sophie Weguelin / Sophie Ainsworth, GBR, 24
2. Agnieszka Skrzypulec / Jolanta Ogar, POL, 28
3. Emmanuelle Rol / Helene Defrance, FRA, 29
49er
1. David Evans / Edward Powys, GBR, 19
2. Jonas Warrer / Soren Hansen, DEN, 19
3. Charlie Enlund Ekberg / Kalle Torlen, SWE, 27
2.4 Metre
1. Thierry Schmitter, NED, 13
2. Helena Lucas, GBR, 14
3. Bjornar Erikstad, NOR, 16
Finn
1. Ben Ainslie, GBR, 13
2. Daniel Birgmark, SWE, 17
3. Jonas Hogh-Christensen, DEN, 23
Star
1. Hamish Pepper / Jim Turner, NZL, 25
2. Fernando Echavarri / Fernando Rodriguez Rivero, ESP, 28
3. Iain Percy / Andrew Simpson, GBR, 29
