A strong European 49er championships start for last week's gold medal winners Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern was ruined yesterday by a start line disqualification in race three. The Ballyholme Yacht Club pair opened their Euro account with a solid sixth placing. They moved up to a second in the second race of the day before being scored 'UFD' in race three. The sole Irish pair in the 72–boat fleet lie 28th with more qualifying races today.  

The UFD rule (similar to the Black Flag) came into effect yesterday as a means of keeping the highly competitive fleet from starting prematurely. Under the rule, a boat within the triangle formed by the ends of the line and the first mark during the minute before the start is disqualified without a hearing.

In the women's 49erFX division, Ireland's Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey also fell foul of the UFD rule in their opening race and lie 19th from 37. 

The super competitive 49er fleets lined up and stretched their legs as racing got under way from the world class Barcelona International Sailing centre close to where the 1992 Olympics were held.

The 49erFX raced in the afternoon sessions of the day and Netherland's emerging stars Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz started the championship in the same dominant manner that they took home the Princess Sofia Trophy from Palma de Majorca last week. 

The yellow fleet of the 49er got racing under way to start the championship, and all three active class medalists drew the same fleet and engaged with one another. Once again it was the London Silver medalists Peter Burling and Blair Tuke who got the best start of all.

In the Blue 49er fleet, Austrians Nico Delle Karth with Niko Resch, fresh off their Silver medal at the 2016 World Championship got off to a good start with a 1, 7, 2 to sit in second overall after the first night.

The forecast for the rest of the week in Barcelona is outstanding, with endless sun and wind on offer. It could get really windy for the final day of qualifying, so putting in solid performances on today's day 2's qualifying will be vital in case the third day gets blown out. The schedule for day 2 is for the 49erFX to start with three races followed by the 49er doing four races.

Results are here

Only a week after a spectacular gold medal in Palma, Belfast Lough's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are back in action this morning at the 49er European Championships in Barcelona.

Qualifying rounds start today until Wednesday with the finals from April 14-17. It would be an impressive performance for Team Ireland if the skiff pair could keep the momentum going in their Rio campaign.

After some earlier disappointing performances by their own accuont, last week's medal now raises the prospect of a strong Olympic Skiff result in four months time. Rio will be the second Olympics for the Northern Ireland duo and the dream of a top ten place in the mens 49er comes with it.

Last week's Mediterranean gold is an endorsement of the progress the Ballyholme Yacht Club pair have made, especially beating 2012 Olympic Champions Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen of Australia.

The joint-funded Irish Sailing Association (ISA) and Royal Yachting Association Northern Ireland team were 14th at the last Olympics and have had brief spots near the top of the fleet, including silver at the Sailing World Cup Hyeres Regatta in 2014, but last week they showed the depth of their ambition when they stepped to the top of the podium. Helmsman Seaton concluded: 'To be so solid has been important. This was really a training regatta along the way, it's important but it is a great platform for us and the confidence it brings, winning a big regatta at this stage, is immense.'

It is a major boost and Seaton is wise to put the result in context. It was not a Sailing World Cup regatta, and, as such, these events are often used by top sailors to test gear and try new tactics. With big fleets in attendance, the Trofeo Princesa Sofia was a test bed opportunity and the Belfast crew took full advantage of it but Seaton knows the real test is the European Championships in Barcelona this morning, in what will be a deep fleet, they come face to face with Blair Tuke and Peter Burling, the Kiwi world champions who have won every regatta they have entered this quadrennial.

Also racing in Barcelona this week is the Rio qualified skiff of Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey.

None of the Irish contenders for the mens Laser berth slot have made the gold fleet cut today at the important Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta in Palma. The result, however disappointing in the build up to Rio, intensifies the three way Irish Olympic test underway in Palma Bay where there has been a change in the trials lead. 

If day one of the regatta yesterday proved a straighforward boatspeed day in moderately brisk breezes, Tuesday's races today were much more about being in the right place, in the best pressure as much as possible. 800 boats are competing and 13 Irish sailors are in Palma but the Irish mens Laser trial is the focus of attention. The three contenders, from Dublin, Cork and Belfast, remain neck and neck.

Finn Lynch, the young National Yacht Club sailor who has made no secret of his cash–strapped campaign has emerged as the leading Irish boat overall after a lighter winds this afternoon. Lynch had a fifth in the opening race followed by a 23rd to leave him 52nd overall in the 152-strong fleet. Just two points stood between him and the cut for the Gold fleet that starts racing tomorrow.

Now in the Silver fleet, Lynch will keep a keen eye on Northern Ireland's James Espey who had a 20th and a 22nd yesterday and he dropped to 62nd overall, crucially five points behind Lynch. A 13th yesterday for Fionn Lyden of Baltimore was enough to get him into the Silver fleet so it is still anyone's guess who will be Ireland's rep in Rio, a race that looks set to go right down to the wire. The third and final selection trial is in Mexico in May.

Finn Lynch campaign video

Northern Ireland 49er Loses Overall Lead

In the 49er Skiff, although Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern have lost their overall lead from day one they are joint second. A second and a third keep the Belfast pair on course for Saturday’s medal race final.

It was a different story unfortunately, for Rio qualified Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey in the 49erFX skiff. After a consistent top ten opening day, the Dun Laoghaire pair had a more challenging day and results in the 20s leave them in 15th overal from 27.

Darragh O’Sullivan Photo: Bob Bateman

Other Irish boats competing amongst the 800–plus fleet on the Bay of Palma, Kinsale's Daragh O’Sullivan is racing in the Laser Standard class and lies 117th overall.

In the 49er class, Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove completed all three races yesterday in their debut at Palma and are 63rd overall. Mark Hassett and Oisin O Driscoll are close behind in 65th place.

Finn sailor Oisin McClelland from Donaghdee in County Down is racing in the Finn single-handed dinghy and lies 39th overall in his 74-boat class.

The result table toppers in the Men's 470 and the Laser Radial classes both count all first places - though both Olympic medallists Mat Belcher, and crew Will Ryan of Australia and Evi Van Acker discard their one bigger score, albeit a third and sixth respectively.

New Zealand's singlehanders are showing well so far. Josh Junior and Andrew Maloney now lead the Finn and Laser classes respectively after today and Sarah Winter, counting 2,2,7 to date, is fourth in the Laser Radials.

In the Laser Men's fleet Andy Maloney leads Norway's Kristian Ruth and the USA's Charlie Buckingham. Ruth is part of a strong Norwegian squad who have trained this winter on the Bay of Cadiz with 1996 Olympian Anton Garrote.

Despite the short postponement this morning the regatta schedule is pretty much on course. Three races were sailed for the 49ers, RS:X and Nacra 17s while the other classes completed two.

470
1. Mathew Belcher/ Will Rya, AUS, 3 points
2. Stu Mcnay/Dave Hughes, USA, 5
3. Anton Dahlberg/ Fredik Bergstrom, SWE, 6

470 Women
1. Amy Seabright/Anna Carpenter, GBR, 4
2. Fernanda Oliveira/Ana Barbachan, BRA, 4
3. Annika Bochmann/Marlene Steinherr, GER, 8

49er
1. Nico Delle/Nikolaus Resch, AUT, 11
2. Diego Botín/Iago Lopez, ESP, 14
3. Ryan Seaton/Matt Mcgovern, IRL, 14

49 FX
1. Jena Mai Hansen/Katja Steen, DEN,10
2. Annemiek Bekkering/Annerre Duetz, NED, 16
3. Martine Grael/Kahena Kunze, BRA, 17

Finn
1. Josh Junior, NZL, 9
2. Giles Scott, GBR, 15
3. Pieterjan Postma, NED, 15

Laser
1. Andrew Maloney, NZL, 5
2. Kristian Ruth, NOR, 7
3. Charlie Buckingham, USA, 8

Laser Radial
1. Evi Van Acker, BEL, 3
2. Alison Young, GBR, 8
3. Tuula Tenkanen, FIN, 10

NACRA
1. Billy Besson/Marie Riou, FRA, 11
2. Paul Kohlhoff/Carolina Werner, GER, 25
3. Thomas Zajac/Tanja Frank, AUT, 26

RS: X Men
1. Tom Squires, GBR, 4
2. Vyron Kokkakanis, GER, 5
3. Andreas Cariolou, CYP, 8

RS:X Women
1. Olga Maslivets, RUS, 4
2. Lilian De Geus, ISR, 7
3. Charline Picon, FRA, 7

The Irish 49erFX pairing still searching for Olympic qualification for this Summer's Olympics have withdrawn from this week's World Championships due to an ankle injury. Helmswoman Andrea Brewster sustained the knock in the lead up to last month's Miam World Cup event. Now, Brewster & crew Saskia Tidey will instead focus on getting ready for a qualification battle in Palma in March.

The Royal Irish Yacht Club pairing narrowly missed out on qualification in November last at the World Championships in Argentina. Now one European place remains available, which they can still compete for at the Princess Sofia regatta in late March in Palma, Mallorca but there is still cause for optimism in the Irish camp because on the basis of Brewster and Tidey's finishing position in Buenos aires they could well pick up the remaining African slot at the Palma World Cup in March as there does not appear to be an African nation with a 49erFx campaign.

Ryan Seaton & Matt McGovern are 15th from 56 after the first race of the 49er World Championships in Clearwater, Florida until Sunday. Having already qualified for the Olympic games, they will be using the regatta as preparation for the this summer's Olympics. Former World Cup silver medallists and Olympians at the London 2012 games, the Irish 49er skiff pairing are up against the world’s best sailors, including Australian Olympic champions Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen and the unbeaten New Zealand pairing of Peter Burling & Blair Tuke, who have not lost a competitive race in over 3 years on the global circuit.

In an ISA press release issued yesterday, Seaton commented on this year’s championships: "We feel the last few months of training and competition have been productive and this gives us another chance to prepare for the Olympics against the best sailors in the world. This is the last major championships before the World Cup series and we are looking to continue the work we have done on process, particularly around the start time. With two black flag disqualifications last week, we still have tweaking to do."

Providence Team IRL Performance Director, James O'Callaghan commented on the 49er's chances at the 2016 Worlds: “Only every four years does the Worlds get overshadowed. Even at this stage of the season the focus is on the Olympics this summer, so while a result would be a good marker to put down, it’s more important to improve skill sets in readiness for August. A World championships offers that opportunity in a high calibre fleet.”

Both Irish mens and women's skiff teams made the Gold Fleet cut in the 49er and 49erfx World Championships in Buenos Aires yesterday – but only just in a day of drama at this notoriously difficult venue.

The qualifying series could not have been more challenging for the teams vying for Gold fleet inclusion, Olympic berths, and Olympic selection. Results are here.

Belfast's Team Seaton-McGovern, who are already qualified for Rio, took a fifth & 10th place to be 23rd from 66 on day three and Dun Laoghaire's Brewster and Tidey who are looking for qualification this week came fifth and are in 19th place from 44 after a last race retiral. Crucially, the girls are currently ranked fourth nation of those seeking the three Rio qualification places available this week. Singapore currently holds the third spot, six points ahead of the Irish duo. And in an important boost for Irish hopes neither Finland or Japan, both seeking a Rio slot, made the gold fleet cut yesterday thereby dashing their qualification chances.

Starting the day, the mens 49er teams vying for Olympic berths were huddled at the top of the 49er leaderboard, with 4 out of the top 6 teams looking to qualify their nation. By the end of racing today, 7 nations are looking for the 3 (and possibly up to 5 Olympic berths) with Argentina and Poland both having 2 teams in the hunt.

The real fleet depth in the 49er is on display here in Buenos Aires as only Championship favorites, Burling and Tuke (NZL), are sailing to expectation and at the top of the leaderboard.

Many of the rest of the presumed top 10 had to fight hard, right down to the final race just to make gold fleet with Fletcher/Sign (GBR), Outteridge/Jensen (AUS), Seaton/McGovern (IRL), and Warrer/Thomsen (DEN) all in danger of falling out of the Gold fleet split in the final race of the day. Of the bunch, the Brits and Outteridge proved clutch, with Fletcher/Sign winning the final race while Outteridge/Jensen pulled off two second places to close out the qualifying series.

#49er – New Zealanders Pete Burling and Blair Tuke have won the 49er European Championships, after dominating the final day of competition on the huge Atlantic swell off the coast of Portugal. Ireland's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern finished 11th making steady progress up the fleet from an opening result in the 30s. 

The Kiwis went into the day in 3rd overall, after coming off worse from a protest by Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen the previous evening. The Aussies were sailing upwind out of the leeward gate when the Kiwis, below the layline as they were dropping their gennaker, fouled the 2012 Olympic Champions. The Kiwis' subsequent disqualification dropped them to 3rd overall, 7 points behind the Aussies who assumed the championship lead.

The surprise silver medallists were Germany's Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme who have had a meteoric rise up the rankings this season. The up-and-coming young team won Kiel Week a few weeks earlier, and now with a 2nd place in Porto they hold a useful points lead in the German trials for Olympic selection for Rio 2016. This was the first of three regattas that the Germans are using for their trials process.

The bronze medal went to John Pink and Stu Bithell who bounced back from their disqualification last night with a great performance on the water, edging Outteridge and Jensen off the podium by just 2 points.

Today's victory marks an unbroken run of 18 regatta wins for Burling and Tuke who have been invincible since taking the Olympic silver medal at London 2012 behind arch-rivals Outteridge and Jensen.

Final top five:

1. Peter Burling / Blair Tuke, NZL, 32 points
2. Justus Schmidt / Max Boehme, GER, 44
3. John Pink / Stuart Bithell, GBR, 46
4. Nathan Outteridge / Iain Jensen, AUS, 46
5. Lukasz Przybytek / Pawel Kolodzinski, POL, 35

Results downloadable below

#49er – Belfast duo Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern continue to climb back up the leaderboard of the 49er European Championships in Portugal. Very light airs made for a tricky fourth day at the 49er and 49er FX regatta in Porto. After a long wait ashore for the breeze to fill in, the 49erFX sailors were sent home without any gold fleet finals racing today. By late afternoon a light breeze was blowing out to sea, and the 79-boat 49er men's fleet went out for two tricky races to complete their qualifying regatta before the gold fleet split.

Seaton and McGovern are now in 13th place having scored another nine and a three yesterday evening to move up from 18th overall. By contrast, the reigning Olympic Champions, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, suffered in the fickle conditions, falling from 3rd to 11th overall after scoring 13,22. Their big rivals, the reigning World Champions from New Zealand, keep on chipping away with some solid results.

Qualifying is now complete for both the men's and women's fleets, so Friday sees the start of Gold Fleet finals. The forecast is for better breeze, and you can watch all the action on the live TV broadcast which is scheduled for the start of racing this morning at 1030am local time HERE.

Top five
1. Jorge Lima / Jose Costa, POR, 24 points
2. Peter Burling Blair Tuke, NZL, 32
3. Lukasz Przybytek / Pawel Kolodzinski, POL, 35
4. Dylan Fletcher Scott / Alain Sign, GBR, 38
5. Jonas Warrer / Anders Thomsen, DEN, 39

Full results downloadable below.

#irish49er – Belfast's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern took to Twitter this afternoon to declare 'The comeback is on' after posting strong results for the sole Irish 49er team at the European Championships in Portugal. The Northern Ireland sailing duo, who have qualified Ireland for Rio, had a better day today counting a 2,3,9. Download the full results below. The three top ten placings put them in 18th overall from 79 starters. It's a significant improvement from 30th after yesterday's first three races and it puts them on course for gold fleet competition. It is, however, still some way off a top three overall, a finishing postition required if they want to improve their Irish Sports Council funding. 

Awesome Leaping 49er At Porto Europeans
Conditions on day 3 of the 2015 49er & 49erFX European Championship were perfect on the Atlantic swell of Porto. Check out London Gold medalists Nathan Outteridge and Iain 'Goobs' Jensen jumping their 49er clear out of the water as they approach the windward mark (above).

"We were just practicing our foiling," joked Nathan Outteridge, who is also the helmsman for America's Cup Team Artemis in their foiling catamarans. With sunny skies, rolling seas, and great wind, he'll have to check his grin a bit to beat  local leaders Jorge Lima and Jose Costa (POR) and Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) who have taken the last 16 49er regattas in a row, a record that stretches back to their Silver in London 2012.

#49er – Belfast lough's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are lying 30th at the 49er European Championships in Porto, the second city of Portugal. After four races sailed the Rio qualified pair's top result was a fourth in today's second race. Download results below. Results in this regatta are important for the Northern Ireland duo. Though they have already qualified for Rio, this event represents one of only three annual opportunities  to meet Irish Sports Council funding criteria. The sole Irish pair will need a top three finish to move up a financial bracket.

A port tack flyer launched the Portuguese into the lead in Porto. Jorge Lima and José Costa have claimed an early lead in the 49er European Championships on home waters in Porto, the second city of Portugal. With the 79-boat fleet split into three qualifying divisions for the first three days of competition, the inshore course favoured the right-hand side strongly throughout the day, especially so in light airs that never exceeded 8 knots.

While most of their competitors were battling for a start line advantage at the right-hand end near the committee boat, Lima and Costa decided to take their chances with a port-end start. It paid off handsomely, with the Cascais team taking an early lead in both of the last two races of the day, and leading both heats from start to finish. Banking scores of 2,6,1,1, the Portuguese hold a 1-point advantage over Poland's Lukasz Przybytek and Pawel Kolodzinski, who also sailed a brilliant day in their qualifying fleet with scores of 1,2,4,2.

Asked what was their secret today, Lima replied: "Local support, from our sponsors, our families and friends. We are from the South, these are not our local waters and we haven't done that much training here. But it's good to be in our home country with the support of our own people, and that makes a difference." Lima and Costa wear the yellow Seiko rash vests for day 2, but with a total of 20 scheduled races and just four completed, they know it's far too early to be counting their chickens. "It's a good position to be in, but we have to perform every day if we have a chance of winning these Championships."

For the Poles, lying in 2nd overall is particularly important as this regatta is one of the trials for Olympic selection for Rio 2016. The same is true for the Germans, and it's been a disappointing start for the defending European Champions, Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel who lie in 35th overall. Worryingly for them is that recent winners of Kiel Week, young guns Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme, are sitting in 4th place overall with scores of 6,1,1,7.

Other good performers on day one were British team, John Pink and Stu Bithell, in 3rd overall, and the 2012 Olympic Champions from Australia in 5th, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen. Not such a good day for the 2012 silver medallists from New Zealand however, with Pete Burling and Blair Tuke sitting in 8th overall. A 4,6,2 wasn't too bad, but a UFD disqualification in heat three was the Kiwis' undoing. "The start hooter came up a bit later than we expected," shrugged Burling. "We knew it was close. Speed was OK though, just a couple of decisions we made that could have been better." Even after an average first day, the Kiwis remain the hot favourites for overall victory, now on an unbroken winning streak of 16 major regattas since London 2012.

#Missing - An Olympic sailor from the US who competed in the 49er class at London 2012 has gone missing in Florida's Biscayne Bay, as The Guardian reports.

Last night (Saturday 27 June) the US Coast Guard suspended its search for 30-year-old Trevor Moore, who competed with skipper Eric Stork in the same class as Irish Olympians Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern.

An inflatable dinghy containing Moore's belongings was found adrift at Dinner Key in Miami on Thursday evening (25 June), prompting a massive search operation over 510 square miles.

US Sailing Statement On The Disappearance of London 2012 Olympian Trevor Moore -

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 28, 2015

The US Coast Guard (USCG) announced on Saturday, June 27 the suspension of the search for London 2012 US Olympic sailor Trevor Moore (Miami, Fla.). Moore, 30, was last seen on Thursday, June 25 on a small motorboat in Biscayne Bay off Miami. Coast Guard search and rescue teams covered over 510 square nautical miles of territory and completed more than 29 search patterns since initiating the operation. The USCG was assisted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, City of Miami Police Department, the National Park Service, Miami Dade County Fire Rescue, and dozens of local volunteers. The volunteer search is ongoing.

"We are deeply saddened by Trevor's disappearance on Biscayne Bay, and wish to extend our sympathies to the Moore family," said Josh Adams, Managing Director of US Olympic Sailing. "In his time as a Laser and 49er sailor, Trevor has performed at a high level and made major contributions to the US Olympic sailing effort. He was a member of the 2012 Olympic team and several past editions of the US Sailing Team Sperry, a teammate and friend to many. In addition to the US Coast Guard's highly professional search for Trevor on Biscayne Bay, an extensive volunteer effort was organized and led by sailors on all manner of craft, which is a testament to the impact Trevor has had on the sailing community. Our thoughts are with his fiancée Libby Patton and the entire Moore family."

After winning College Sailor of the Year honors for Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 2007, Moore competed in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Trials in the Laser class, finishing 4th. Moore later teamed up with Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) and won selection for London 2012 in the two-man 49er class. After competing at the Olympic Regatta in Weymouth and Portland, UK, Moore switched from the crew position in the 49er to skipper, and campaigned for Rio 2016. He retired from campaigning in the Summer of 2014, and has remained involved in Olympic sailing as a coach.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will lead the ongoing investigation into Moore's disappearance.

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