Though there was no Irish dimension to the Sailing World Cup in Abu Dhabi both Irish trialists Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins will have been watching the results sheet closely in the Laser Radial class. Josefin Olsson of Sweden beat Dutch favourite Marit Bouwmeester and Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark was third.
The battle for gold in the Laser Radial was one of the most intriguing of the World Cup final, and ultimately it went to Sweden's Josefin Olsson who had trailed Holland's Marit Bouwmeester by a single point overnight. "This is my first World Cup win so it feels great," said Olsson, "It's always good to win the final. It means a lot to be up there and fight it out with the top girls and get a podium position in the end."
While Olsson finished fourth on the day, Bouwmeester slipped to eighth in the Medal Race. Denmark's Anne-Marie Rindom, first to finish, subsequently collected a penalty but was still able to beat Belgium's defending champion Evi Van Acker to the bronze medal.
The Irish Olympic laser trials for both men and women begin next month. Annalise Murphy will compete this month at the Laser Radial Worlds in Oman.
In skiff news, Dun Laoghaire duo Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey will make their final bid for Rio qualification later this month in the 49erfx. There was no 49erfx racing in Abu Dhabi.
Australia's Mat Belcher and Will Ryan led the gold rush as the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final reached its conclusion in Abu Dhabi
The result underlines the Aussies' position as firm favourites to strike gold at next year's Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro and adds to Belcher's haul of six Men's 470 world titles, three won in tandem with Ryan.
Final top three:
470 Men
1. Mathew Belcher / William Ryan, AUS, 10 points
2. Anton Dahlberg / Fredrik Bergstrom, SWE, 21
3. Stuart Mcnay / David Hughes, USA, 28
470 Women
1. Hannah Mills / Saskia Clark, GBR, 15
2. Lara Vladlau / Jolanta Ogar, AUT, 21
3. Al Kondo Yoshida / Miho Yoshioka, JPN, 22
49er Men
1. Nico Delle-Karth / Nikolaus Resch, AUT, 22
2. Stefano Cherin / Andrea Tesel, ITA, 28
3. Gabrial Skoczek / Yann Rocherleux, FRA, 35
Finn Men
1. Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic, CRO, 15
2. Alican Kaynar, TUR, 17
3. Pablo Guitian Sarria, ESP, 21
IKA - Formula Kite
1. Oliver Bridge, GBR, 10
2. Florian Trittel, ESP, 7
3. Alejandro Climent Hernandez, ESP, 5
Laser Men
1. Tom Burton, AUS, 21
2. Pavlos Kontides, CYP, 33
3. Matthew Wearn, AUS, 36
Laser Radial Women
1. Josefin Olsson, SWE, 27
2. Marit Bouwmeester, NED, 34
3. Anne-Marie Rindom, DEN, 38
RS:X Men
1. Ivan Pastor Lafuente, ESP, 30
2. Ricardo Santos, BRA, 39
3. Tom Squires, GBR, 44
RS:X Women
1. Bryony Shaw, GBR, 12
2. Flavia Tartaglini, ITA, 21
3. Patricia Freitas, BRA, 29
Full results: www.sailing.org/worldcup/results/index.php