49erFX Skiff sailing duo Charlotte Dobson and Royal Irish Yacht Club's Saskia Tidey, of Dun Laoghaire who was a member of the Irish Sailing team for Rio but who now sails for Team GB, had a dream 2,1,1 from their first three finals races of the Trofeo Sofia in Palma yesterday to hold Rio gold medallists Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze four points astern in second.
Helm Dobson said, “In fact we had good starts and as soon as we could get clear then we were really fast. Once you get clear in gold fleet it is good. We would like just a little bit more wind to really be able to stretch but we have good confidence after the winter and have momentum after Miami. We have been using the new TruSail programme which has helped a lot. This year is about selection to start with but we figure you go out to win regattas it looks after itself.”
There'll be more competition for Dobson and Tidey when Ireland's own 49erFX campaign starts in ten days time. Olympic silver medalist Annalise Murphy and Katie Tingle hit the water at the World Cup in Genoa, Italy to make their international debut.
Full results are here Check out all our Irish Olympic sailing coverage in the build-up to Tokyo 2020 here