Ireland's Espey Wins First Laser Race at Hyeres World Cup

22nd April 2013

#James Espey from Ballyholme Yacht Club currently leads the last leg of the ISAF World Cup at Hyères having won the first race against the best on the world including former Olympic champion Robert Scheidt from Brazil.

Espey has just started with a new coach in his bid to qualify for his second Olympics at Rio in 2016, he also sailed the Laser at London 201.

A 39th in Race 2 sees Annalise Murphy move up to 47th overall following her 50th in race one in the Women's Laser Radial class. The Dun Laoghaire 23-year-old declaring this evening: 'It's been a really difficult day for me. I made a lot of mistakes but looking forward to trying to fix them tomorrow!'

Update at 8pm

The opening day of racing at ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères marked the return to action for familiar faces on the World Cup series as Robert Scheidt (BRA) stepped back into the Laser and Lijia Xu (CHN) and Marit Bouwmeester (NED) made a Radial return.

Xu and Bouwmeester last competed at the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition where the Chinese sailor sealed gold in the Medal Race by taking the race win ahead of Bouwmeester who settled for silver. Following an extended break the pair are back in action in Hyères and from the off proved they still know their way around a Radial.

As racing got underway early in the afternoon following a morning delay due to light winds the conditions across the six race courses were tricky for the 800 sailors competing.

Xu and Bouwmeester read the scenario differently and held back from their familiar aggressive racing styles and opted for different sides of the course. At the first mark the pair were in the lead as Bouwmeester described, "She banged the right corner and I banged the left corner and we were first and second at the top which was quite funny."

Croatia's Tina Mihelic chased down the Chinese and Dutch sailors throughout the race to take the opening bullet. As the winds dropped in the second race Bouwmeester produced a 13th and Xu came down in 30th as Marie Bolou (FRA) took the win to hold a joint lead with the Mihelic. Nonetheless Xu was pleased to be back on the water, "My movement is a bit rusty but I enjoyed the light to medium winds because it wasn't that physical and allowed my brain to work out the mystery on the water. I tried to have really good starts, call the shifts and make the right tack."

In the Laser, Robert Scheidt (BRA) joined the fleet for his first 200-point regatta following a victory at the Laser Europa Cup on Lake Garda, Italy in March. The Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Laser medallist started positively and ended the day tied in second overall, "It was a very tough day because the breeze was very flukey and we had big wind shifts all day," exclaimed Scheidt. "I got a six, one and ten so I'm happy with my day because it's the first big regatta back in the Laser. It wasn't a great day, but not a bad one either so I'm pretty happy with that."

With Scheidt proving he still has what it takes to mix things up he will have his work cut out to catch light wind specialist Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) who took two race wins and the opening day Laser lead, "I knew I had to sail good because I am light and we have stronger winds in the next few days so I did what I could do best," said Stipanovic. "The first race I didn't catch the shifts so good but everything was almost perfect after that so for today I'm really happy."

The Croatian has a perfect scoreline having discarded his eighth in the opening race whilst Bruno Fontes (BRA), Giovanni Coccoluto (ITA), James Espey (IRL) and Scheidt all follow on six points tied for second.

World #1 in the Women's 470 Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Barbachan (BRA) and World #2 Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar (AUT) have taken in World Cup regattas in Miami and Palma with consistent results in both events. The Brazilians have won both and the Austrians have missed out on the podium twice, finishing fourth in the USA and Spain.

After the opening day in France Oliveira and Barbachan lead the Austrians by two points and Ogar is happy with the way things have been going despite missed opportunities, "It's not nice to finish fourth all the time but we leave the medal positions for the Worlds and Europeans," she said with a smile. "We always say we'll get the bad luck now and the medals in the future."

With light winds on the plate today and more of the same predicted on day two Ogar is happy with the way it's going, "Today was a pretty tricky day with light and shifty winds but we like these conditions and the first two races were really good with a first and second but in the third place we were black flagged but still really good and we're still improving."

Tied in third overall in the Women's 470 on six points are Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha (USA) and Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron (FRA).

In the Men's 470 New Zealand's Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Wilcox recorded two race wins and a fifth to take an early advantage in 63-boat fleet. In split fleets of 32 and 31 the Kiwis enjoyed a successful light wind day in their fleet that included World #1 pair Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) who ended the day down in eight.

Home nation Men's RS:X favourite Julien Bontemps (FRA) enjoyed the tricky breeze on the opening day to take an early advantage in the 51-boat fleet. A second behind Race 1 winner Piotr Myszka (POL) set him up nicely to for victory in the day's second race. Myszka was unable to replicate his performance in Race 2 and finished down in 17th but with the discard kicking in he holds the joint lead with Bontemps.

Bryony Shaw (GBR), runner up at ISAF Sailing World Cup Palma, started Hyères off positively with a race win in the sole Women's RS:X race of the day after a dying afternoon breeze brought racing to a close. French sailors Eugenie Ricard and Charline Picon trail the Brit.

First off the water on the opening day in Hyères was the 68 strong Finn fleet. Australia's Oliver Tweddell and Great Britain's Ed Wright hold the joint lead after a race win apiece but less than impressive results in their other races could see them dislodged from the top with Josh Junior posting the most consistent results of 2-7.

Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign (GBR) picked up two bullets and a second from three 49er races to take an early advantage. They lead compatriots David Evans and Ed Powys (GBR) and Spain's Federico Alonso and Arturo Alonso who are tied on two points.

Germany's Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz lead the 49erFX fleet following a consistent display of light wind racing. A race win, second and a third gives them a three point gap over Great Britain's Charlotte Dobson and Mary Rook in second and five point advantage over Frances Peters and Nicola Groves (GBR).

Two races in the Nacra 17 were completed on the opening day as Maxim Semenov and Alena Pankratova (RUS) and Renee Groeneveld and Karel Begemann (NED) took the race wins to share the lead.

In the 2.4mR Megan Pascoe (GBR) and Lasse Klötzing (GER) share the lead and London 2012 Paralympic Games Sonar gold medallists Udo Hessels, Mischa Rossen and Marcel Van de Veen (NED) lead the fleet.

Racing resumes on Tuesday 23 March at 11:00 as the Qualification Series comes to a close ahead of the Final Series on 24 April.

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Irish Olympic Sailing FAQs

How long has Ireland been sailing at the Olympics?

Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.

Who has sailed for Ireland at the Olympics, and when?

How many Olympic medals has Ireland won in sailing?

Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.

Who is on the current Irish Sailing Olympic team?

The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.

What is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland?

Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.

Who is responsible for selecting Ireland’s Olympic sailors?

Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.

What is the Performance Pathway?

The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families

Who is the Irish Sailing Performance head coach?

Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.

Who is Irish Sailing’s Performance Director?

The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

Who is the most famous Irish Olympic sailor?

Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021.

Who are the Irish Sailing Performance coaching staff?

Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.

How is performance sailing in Ireland funded?

The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.

What is the Irish Sailing Foundation?

The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.

How are the funds raised for the Performance Pathway spent?

The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.

What is the organisation structure of the Performance Pathway?

The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX

What is the governance structure for performance sailing?

The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.

What is the Olympic Steering Group?

Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.

How is progress monitored on the Performance Pathway? Who decides when sailors are selected or dropped?

At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.