The National Yacht Club's Finn Lynch scored an impressive win at the Laser World Championships in Japan today to move up 17 places overall.
The fourth day of the Championship (that doubles as an important Olympic Qualifier) has two Irish sailors in the Gold fleet final series for the top 52 boats in the 156-strong regatta.
On his first-ever appearance at a senior-level world championship Ewan McMahon (Howth, Co. Dublin) showed good boat speed but has dropped overall from 42nd to 50th.
Finn Lynch (Bennekerry, Co. Carlow) won the eighth race with a 50-metre lead at the finish after starting-well and was with the top five boats at the first mark before pulling ahead.
Currently, Lynch lies 33rd overall having been 50th going into Sunday’s races of the event.
“He didn’t need to do anything special as he is sailing well,” commented Vasilij Zbogar, Irish Sailing’s head Laser coach. “He just needed a spark to boost his confidence and that is exactly what he got.”
The win is hopefully a return to form for Lynch who has been in blistering form this season. Lynch will be attempting to keep some consistent scores going over the remainder of the series and he will be cognisant of the fact that despite three top ten finishes at the 2018 World Championships he missed qualification by about 20 points. He will also be sure to recall that it was race eight last year that proved his undoing with a disqualification while today he celebrates winning it in Japan!
Despite the significant boost of the individual Irish race win, though, Ireland remains tenth of the unqualified countries seeking only five Olympic berths on offer at this event.
Racing continues until Tuesday and with it the chance of an Irish Laser spot at the Tokyo Olympics.