#olympicsailing – Ireland's sole interest in Palma de Mallorca, James Espey has finished 38th overall, the third event in the ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit. The Belfast sailor scored a 26th in the final race in the gold fleet on Saturday, his best result of the tricky series.

A fantastic week of sailing has come to a close in Palma. The 44th Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mapfre delivered great racing conditions and a real test coming into the new Olympic quadrennial.

It was interesting to test here a new scoring system and format, and despite mixed opinions, the regatta has deserving winners in all classes and most of the regatta leaders conserved their yellow jersey after their medal races.

Denmark's Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard had an incredible finish and took three wins out of four Medal Races in the 49erFX.

"We tried to be very relaxed and focussed going into the Medal Races," said the excitable duo. "Our main decision was to decide whether to go right or left after the start to find a position where we could be alone and able to make our moves freely. It was great fun with this stadium format to have so many tacks and gybes! It was tiring too because we needed to concentrate and anticipate our next move."

The Danes have dominated for most of the week and have shown they are the top sailors in the developing 49erFX fleet. Their skiff experience over the years together is proving to be the right recipe for success.

After a fantastic week to add the cherry on top of the cake, the pair will be awarded the Absolute Winner trophy which recognises the sailors with the best average score over the regatta. This trophy was won last year by 2.4mR sailor Thierry Schmitter (NED).

Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL), never too far behind the Danes, took the last race win to place second. Jena Mai Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen (DEN) complete the podium.

Germany's Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel secured their first major regatta victory in the 49er having picked up their game throughout the week. "We had an average qualification stage and got into the finals in eighth position," they said. "Our first final day was great with three wins. Today we had another win and top three results only in the four Medal Races. We have great speed and enjoy the breeze, so this was a week for us."

The pair will be following the World Cup circuit in a bid to move up the rankings, "Our objective this year is to be in the World top five. We will be doing a maximum of 200 points regattas like Hyères and the Worlds but also some of the Eurosaf circuit."

Andy Maloney (NZL) nailed the Laser Medal Races and took two race wins to overturn a huge deficit over Australia's Tom Burton (AUS) who despite a steady first race had a disaster in the second, "I was set up pretty well for the last one so I could only get beaten by one guy," said Burton. "I ended up getting an OCS and he beat me. So a few tough lessons and probably something I won't do again but these things happen."

Maloney was able to capitalise on Burton's mistake and was delighted with the way it went, "It was a really good day. With the new system there were a lot of points up for grabs and it went pretty well to get two wins and I couldn't ask for much more. It feels pretty good to come from equal third to win the event. It was a bit unfortunate for Tom Burton in the last race but that happens to all of us."

New Zealand's Sam Meech rounded off the Laser podium.

In the Laser Radial Alison Young (GBR) secured a deserved gold medal having dominated the fleet all week long.

"I am really pleased to have won. I have learnt lots of lessons from this regatta and I am looking forward to the rest of the season. Going into the final medal race, only the Danish could beat me so I had to make sure of the result."

A second in the first Medal Race gave her a handsome advantage and she kept Sarah Gunni (DEN) at bay on the last race with the Dane settling for silver. Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) won the Medal Race to pick up bronze.

Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) stepped it up in the Women's RS:X on the final day and was first past the post in both Medal Races. The World #1 was all smiles on shore after racing, "I'm super happy," she said. "I just had a perfect day. I was coming into the day in fourth so a pretty good position. I was not that close to the first but with two Medal Races everything is possible so I tried to do two good races to finish the competition and it paid off."

Her two race wins knocked overnight leader Bryony Shaw (GBR) down into second and Germany's Moana Delle into third.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami Men's RS:X champion Ivan Pastor (ESP) made it two World Cup gold's in a row after two fourths in the Medal Races. The Spaniard led coming into the final day and held on to top spot. Toni Wilhelm (GER) and Kiran Badloe (NED) took the race wins and subsequently moved up to the podium places.

Giles Scott (GBR) took gold in the Finn. Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) threatened the Brits dominance when he closed the gap to one point after the first Medal Race. However, Scott made sure from the start he would leave the Dutch in his trail. "PJ and I match-raced at the start of the second race," explained Scott. "I finally succeeded in forcing him in an uncomfortable position and took a safe advance over him." On the new format Scott added, "It did work out all right for me but I don't really like it as I prefer consistency over the week and the varied conditions to be recognised in the results."

Postma (NED) ended up second with Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) in third. London Bronze medallist Jonathan Lobert (FRA) missed out on the podium in fourth.

Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Barbachan (BRA) came fifth in the days first Medal Race in the Women's 470 and finished with a bang in the last, taking the race win and the gold medal. "We are very happy," exclaimed Barbachan. "We didn't expect to win like this. We thought it would be a hardest race but these conditions seemed to be nice for us."

Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh Mcintyre (GBR) finish second with the American pair of Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha (USA) third.

With shifty conditions only one Men's 470 Medal Race could be completed on the final day and a fourth from Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) ensured they maintained their unbeaten life in the Men's 470. Belcher is the only sailor this week to keep his title won last year with Malcolm Page. Greece's Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis place second and Luke Patience and Joe Glanfield (GBR) third.

Despite a mid-race mishap on the final day Mandy Mulder and Thijs Visser (NED) took gold over their team mates Renee Groenenveld and Karel Begemann in the Nacra 17. "We had some issues during the races and in the first one we capsized," explained Mulder. "One boat nose-dived just in front of us and we had starboard and I was like 'uh oh we're going to hit the boat' so I went inside very quickly and then I went swimming behind the boat and it capsized. We were top three but got upright really quick and ended up sixth."

Moana Vaireaux and Manon Audinet complete the Nacra 17 podium.

"We are happy about our speed. We made some tactical errors today on the last race, but in definite, I am happy to be able to prove myself on the Olympic circuit" said Moana Vairaux.

Sailors focus now turns to ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres in the South of France. Ireland's Annalise Murphy returns to the circuit and racing gets going on 22 April through to 27.

The third day of sailing at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE was not the easiest but a better one for Ireland's Annalise Murphy in the Olympic Laser Radial class who took eighth and seventh to move from 14th to ninth overall in the 78-boat class.

Opposite winds and unsettled conditions made life difficult for sailors and race committees. Some classes managed to complete their first race in the North-Easterly and waited for the wind to turn into a sea breeze to continue with remaining races. While RS:X were sent back to shore during the change, the Finns waited over three hours on the water before they could start racing in the new wind. The fifth race of the Star had to be cancelled when the change occurred, delaying racing. In other classes like the Laser radial and the 470 women, the changed occurred during the first race. As a result some sailors didn't make it to the finish line within the time limit. Tonight, the jury room is busy with requests for redress.

With five races completed at least in each class, all sailors can now discard their worse race result which will become handy for the leaders who have for most collected a bad race in the last two days's shifty conditions. Scores are very tight at the top, half way through the regatta.

In the Laser, the top three are within two points with Olympic champion Paul Goodison (GBR) leading by one point over World Champion Tom Slingsby (AUS), and two over team mate Nick Thompson. Both British won a race today.

Other tight results are in the 470 men competition where the top four are within two points. Olympic champions Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page have won a race and are in the lead despite collecting 20 points in the day's last race. They are on equal points with French Charbonnier/Meyer-Dieu who had a good day with a third and a fifth. Third and fourth place overall are early leaders Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (GBR) on equal points with Palma defending champions and Sail for Gold winners Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos (FRA) collecting the best scores today with a first and a third.

Dorian van Rijsselberge (NED) proved he has learned from yesterday's racing conditions with two bullets in medium wind added to his good score in heavy wind Monday. He moves back to top place three points from Nick Dempsey (GBR). Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) moves up to third after a second and a third.

"It was not easy today. The first race was much tougher than the second race. They were typical Palma conditions: the left side was favoured and I went left and so I won the race." explained van Rijsselberge.

In the women division, Marina Alabau (ESP) comforts her lead with a win and a second. After discarding her DNF collected after braking equipment during windy Monday, Charline Picon (FRA) is climbing to second overall in front of Sensini (ITA) in third.

The top of the Laser radial fleet had mixed results in the shifty breeze. Paige Railey (USA) is keeping top place despite failing to finish within the time limit and collecting high scores. With the discard coming into play and good results in the previous day, the American is not affected by the DNF. Evi van Acker (BEL) is in second position and Bouwmeester (NED) in third. Great racing day for Fatima Reyes (ESP) who climbs to fifth overall thanks to a second and a first, and for Sarah Winter (NZL) who is now 6th after taking two bullets.

Japanese crew Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata (JAP) have increased their lead in the 470 women class over Cohen/Vered (ISR) and Aleh/Barbarich-Barber (NZL). With many protest still being heard the 470 women results could change.

The Stars sailed from the Real Club Nautic de Palma, had their race abandoned when the North-Easterly changed for the sea breeze. In the end, only one race was sailed, won by Mark Mendelblatt and Ian Fatih (USA). Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR) keep the lead of the regatta with a third place. They are five points from Kusznierewicz/Zycki (POL) and 11 from Scheidt/Prada (BRA).

The Finns and the 49ers were last off the water. Ben Ainslie and Giles Scott are one point apart in the Finns with the Olympic champion conserving his lead. Tomas Lebreton (FRA) is climbing to third.

"It's been an interesting event." explains Ainslie. "The first day we obviously had a lot of wind and that was hard work for everybody – I haven't raced in that amount of wind for a long time, so that was a good experience but hard work! The last couple of days has been a bit lighter and trickier winds and it's been good racing."

With four top five results including a race win, Manu Dyen and Stéphane Christidis (FRA) are taking the lead in the 49ers. The defending champions are 15 points ahead of Peter Krugger Andersen and Nicolai Thorsell (DEN) in second position. Pietro and Gianfranco Sibello (ITA) are in third.

"We had a very good day with four races in the top five; We have a good lead so it is a good position to go into the finals tomorrow. We won the event last year and would like to win the title again." explains Manu Dyen.

Thierry Schmitter (NED) conserves the lead in the 2.4 after taking his fourth victory. After a bad move in the second Schmitter cross the finish in sixth place:

"Today the first race went well. During the second race I went completely to the right, and there was no wind at all. Therefore I was the last one at the first windward mark. I can not remember in my sailing career to be the last one at the top mark! Then I went left and came back to finish sixth."

Four points away in second overall is Heiko Kroger who finished the day by claiming the second race. Megan Pascoe (GBR) is third with consistent top 4 results.

In the Women Match racing, the six teams in the Repechage Group were first up sailing three flights of their round robin. The New Zealand team of Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen, and Susannah Pyatt had a very successful morning winning all three of their matches.
"It was a good day. We had good sailing conditions for all of our matches apart from the hour or so we postponed. The Race Committee did a good job with what they had this morning and it was good racing all around. We were happy with our results. We didn't make too many mistakes and kept everything pretty simple. We got pretty decent starts – we were ahead every start which definitely helps and then we had great crew work and great communication around the course.  Overall, a good day." remarked Stephanie Hazard after racing.
Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) and Claire Leroy (FRA) lead the Gold Group with three wins each. And in the Silver Group Anna Kjellberg (SWE) leads the way with 3 wins from 3 matches.
Tomorrow will see the completion of the round robins with the top two from the Repechage Group joining the six teams from the Gold Group in the knock-out Quarter-Finals.
Repechage Group Results:
Hazard (NZL) 3-0; Skudina (RUS) 2-1; Le Berre (FRA) 2-1; Souter (AUS) 1-2; Roca (ESP) 1-2; Groeneveld (NED) 0-3.
Gold Group Results:
Tunnicliffe (USA) 3-0; Leroy (FRA) 3-0; Lehtinen (FIN) 2-1; Macgregor (GBR) 1-2; Barkow (USA) 0-3; Hahlbrock (GER) 0-3 (-0.5 penalty).
Silver Group Results:
Kjellberg (SWE) 3-0; Goncalves (POR) 2-1; Meldgaard (DEN) 2-1; Spithill (AUS) 2-1; Abrahamsen (DEN) 0-3; Monina (ITA) 0-3.
Bronze Group Results:
Echegoyen (ESP) 2-0; Bekkering (NED) 4-1; Zimmermann (PER) 1-1; Wang (CHN) 1-2; Kutovaya (RUS) 1-3; Abbott (CAN) 0-2.