#KielWeek - Irish high performance and pathway sailors had a strong showing at Kiel Week in Germany, with Finn Lynch just missing out on the Laser medal race at 13th overall, while Liam Glynn (38th) made the Gold fleet.
In the hotly contested Finn class, Oisin McClelland (33rd) pipped Fionn Lyden (35th) by two places in the final standings, staking his claim on the lone Tokyo 2020 berth that’s set to be decided in Aarhus this August.
Perhaps the highlight of the week for Ireland was in the 49er class, where Mark Hassett and Oisin O’Driscoll (40th) scored a third-place finish in one of their 10 races ahead of numerous gold medallists, European and world championship combos. Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle led the Irish placers in 22nd overall, while Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove were 32nd.
In the Laser Radial, meanwhile, Aisling Keller (21st) and Aoife Hopkins (23rd) will be boosted by their performance as the weeks tick down towards the all-important Sailing World Championships, where a quarter all all Olympics spots in Tokyo are up for grabs.
In other results, Jack Fahy finished 13th in the Laser Radial Open, ahead of Peter Fagan (16th), Tom Higgins (37th), Neil Staunton (41st) and Clare Gorman (52nd). Fagan also placed 35th in the men’s Laser Radial behind Hugo Kennedy in 20th.