#rio – Annalise Murphy has dropped back five places overall to eighth after four races and a long day in Palma with a late–coming sea breeze delaying racing. There is a change of lead in the Laser radial with Emma Plasschaert (BEL) taking a narrow lead over Paige Railey (USA), early leader Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) and Alicia Cebrian (ESP) all on equal points. The Dun Laoghaire sailor has kept a consistent score sheet (1, 6, 6, 7) to date with finals racing scheduled tomorrow. In four other classes – including a kitesurfer – Irish sailors scored top ten results races today. 

In their build up to Rio 2016, Northern Ireland's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern launched a new 49er dinghy in Palma with champagne this week and after qualifying rounds lie 15th from 74 in their new skiff.

In a significant improvement to move up to 13th overall, Dun Laoghaire's Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey – who are still chasing Rio Qualification – counted a three and a five today.

Full results for the Irish team here.

Patience paid off and the second day in the Trofeo Sofia provided great racing and allowed to complete the qualification stage. A seventh race was completed for the kites who will go into medal race mode on wednesday.

French and New Zealanders made the most of today's races taking the lead in six classes.

"This is an excellent start in the regatta for the French team especially in RS:X, Nacra, 470 Men and Finn!" French Olympic team manager, Guillaume Chiellino can be proud of his team who has taken a rocket start into the 46th Trofeo Sofia IBEROSTAR.

Two French teams are leading the Nacra with World and European champions Billy Besson and Marie Riou in first position and Moana Vaireaux with Manon Audinet in second. Guillaume Pirouelle and Valentin Sipan are sharing the top of the score on equal points with Swedish team of Dahlberg / Bergstrom in the 470. RS:X World Champion Julien Bontemps scored his second victory to conserve a very tight lead in the Men's windsurfing on equal points with Joao Rodrigues (POR) and Makoto Tomizawa from Japan.

"We are only at the start of the competition but the French like this event where they usually perform well like last year when they scored some good performances." said Chiellino.

The talented New-Zealand team will probably be one of the main threats for the titles, like in the Finn where French and New-Zealander are head to head. Young kiwi Josh Junior has taken the edge today on the London Bronze medalist Jonathan Lobert, with a race win.

"It was a great day sailing. We had two completely different races." explains Junior. "The first was very light and dominated by the left hand side. It was good the race committee persevered as a steady 18 knots breeze came in! I am really happy to have won that race too!"

New Zealanders are conserving their lead in the women 470 where the top two teams remain unchanged. Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie sailed into consistent second places today to conserve a small lead over French Camille Lecointre and Helene Defrance.

World number 1 Peter Burling and Blair Tuke remain at the top of the 49er fleet in front of German Heil / Ploessel and Brazilian Bianchi / Lowbeer.

Tamara Echegoyen and Berta Betanzos consolidate their lead in the women skiff with the Foght Schutt sisters climbing to second. Alexandra Maloney and
Molly Meech (NZL) are taking third overall.

In the Laser men, Jesper Stalheim (SWE) conserves his lead in front of Norwegian Mathias Molatt and German Philipp Buhl. The day's best performer is Argentinian Julio Alsogaray who places second in both races and climbs to 6th overall.

In the RS:X women, Chinese Manjia Zheng takes the lead from Charline Picon with top three scores.

The final stage is now on with fleets now split in Gold, Silver and a Bronze group for the Lasers. The Finns will continue to race in fleet until the medal race.

The kites have managed to complete one more race but leaders remain unchanged with Florian Trittel (ESP) and Elena Kalinina (RUS) who have been unbeatable. The wind direction and strength was far from ideal for launching and securing good racing conditions for the kites who have struggled to race for the last three days. Tomorrow 3 short medal races will decide on the winners in both the men and women divisions.

#annalisemurphy – The National Yacht Club's Annalise Murphy dealt well with the demanding conditions in the Bay of Palma yesterday in the opening rounds of the Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofia in Mallorca.  In the Radial, experienced sailors Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR), Alison Young (GBR) and Annalise are top three after two races in gusty winds. Annalise lived up to her Irish Sports Council star billing as a 'podium athlete' and leads Irish squad fortunes so far in Spain with Irish Olympic class sailors also competing in the 49er, 49erFX and the Laser dinghy classes.

The wind played dirty tricks all day in Palma on sailors and race committees who had to juggle with big shifts and different pressure. From 4 to 20 knots, and reaching 40 in some gusts, the wind turned around the bay playing with everybody's nerves! However, the show was on with the bay covered with white caps and the 800 boats that raced their first day in the event.

The Finns were the first fleet to return ashore with two races completed. World champion Giles Scott (GBR) took the first race, managing the shifts to his advantage.

The wind played havoc in the first women 470 race with two third of the fleet in the blue group failing to finish within the time limit.

Sailing the Nacra today proved to be quite an athletic performance with gusts reaching over 30 knots. Only ten boats managed to finish the first race in both groups where capsizes and broken equipment was a common sight

Olympic medalists and World champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) are taking a perfect start in the 49er event with two victories. Northern Ireland skiff pair Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are 14th from 71. 

Tamara Echegoyen and Berta Betanzos (ESP) proved just as good with a clean score in the FX. Dun Laoghaire's Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey are 29th from 40.

Jesper Stalheim (SWE), Tom Burton (AUS) and Lorenzo Chiavarini (GBR) have claimed the only race sailed in the three laser groups. Belfast lough's James Espey lies 64th from 150.

Only eight out of 45 windsurfers crossed the finish line in the Men RS:X yellow group. Today windy race was won by World champion Julien Bontemps (FRA) and Samuel Sills (GBR) in the Men and by Maayan DAVIDOVICH (ISR) and Sofia Keplacka (POL) in the women.

For the second day in a row, the kites didn't race. The wind was either too strong or too gusty to allow for proper racing.

Racing continues today for all classes.

#annalisemurphy – Laser helmswoman Annalise Murphy was among twenty top athletes to benefit to the tune of €40,000 in Sports Council funding yesterday in an overall allocation for 2015 totalling some €1,571,000.

Murphy topped the list of nine sailors who earned government funding towards Rio 2016. Others such as skiff pair Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern of Belfast each earned €20,000

The Dun Laoghaire solo sailor who was described this month as 'Ireland's great hope' by Chairman of the Sports Council Kieran Mulvey was the only Irish Olympic sailor to receive the top award as a 'podium athlete'.

Three years ago the National Yacht Club debutante came agonisingly close to Ireland's first sailing medal in 30 years when she finished fourth overall at London 2012 in the Laser Radial class. In 2013, Annalise won European Gold when the championships were sailed on her own home waters of Dublin Bay.

Sailing awards made by the Sports Council yesterday were: 

Annalise Murphy Podium €40,000

Ryan Seaton World Class €20,000

Matthew McGovern World Class €20,000

Andrea Brewster International €12,000

Saskia Tidey International €12,000

James Espey €12,000

John Twomey International €12,000

Ian Costelloe International €12,000

Austin O'Carroll International €12,000

#SailingWCMiami – A third in race five yesterday at the Miami Olympic classes regatta kept Ireland's Annalise Murphy hopes of overall victory this Saturday very much alive. The Dun Laoghaire sailor, who finished fourth in the London Olympics, is in second overall but a 36 in race six spoiled an otherwise very consistent scoresheet (2 2 5 3 3 (36) in a world class fleet.

The American regatta signals the intense build–up for Rio, an event for which Annalise Murphy has already qualified Ireland. 

599 boats and 768 sailors who were adjusting sail settings all day given the blustery conditons. If it wasn't the wind direction that was changing, it was the wind speed which made it all the more notable that three classes produced back-to-back race winners.

'I wasn't so hot with a 36th' Murphy admitted last night but she was not alone with an erratic result as the Biscayne Bay winds proved volatile. Behind the National Yacht Club sailor is silver and bronze medallists from London 2012, Belgian Evi Van Acker and Dutch number one Marit Boumeeester. However the star of the week so far is, Denmark's Anne-Marie Rindom, 13th in London 2012, who counts a score of 3 5 1 1 1 (7) to stay four points clear of Annalise.

Ireland's Eric Ruigrok lies 75th scoring 35th in race five in the 79–boat fleet.

In the mens Laser class Rio prospect Finn Lynch, also of the National Yacht Club, continues to hold a significant margin over his 2016 rivals, James Espey and Darragh O'Sullivan. Lynch, the under–19 World Champion, is ten points clear of London 2012 rep James Espey in 43rd place. 

In the 49er skiff duo Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern lie 35 from 58 and in the women's 49erfx, Dun Laoghaire trialists Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey lie 18th from 40. 

Dave Ullman, among many things the 1996 US Rolex Yachtsman of the Year and a three-time 470 world champion, is now coaching U.S. Olympic hopefuls. He was a keen observer of the day's events. The direction shifts, he said, were coming at "15 to 20 degrees, but more than that it was about velocity-on and velocity-off. Downwind, if you were in the velocity, you could make big gains.

"It was much windier today than the forecast called for," Ullman said, "but the racecourse is fine. The race officials are doing a good job with some challenging circumstances.

"But, it was cold out there."

He wasn't the only one who said so.

Wednesday was the third of six days of racing for ten Olympic classes. Top qualifiers will sail a Medal Race on Saturday. Competitors in three Paralympic classes will conclude their racing on Friday.

Men's 470

A second win in six races settled Luke Patience and Elliot Willis of Great Britain into a six-point lead in their 44-boat fleet, and they had reason to be glad that race six went as long as it did, and ended when it did. They had boats to pass. And then it was over. Second-place skipper Mat Belcher of Australia observed that Patience and Willis had a good second weather leg, "They went heavily to the right, and that got them around a lot of boats."

With four more races scheduled before Saturday's Medals Race, Patience and Willis have scores of 1-2-(5)-4-3-1 to a count of 5-1-2-(12)-2-7 for Belcher and crew Will Ryan. The six-point delta allows for discarding worst scores. Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis dropped out of their leadership position (two firsts on Tuesday) and now are looking at (25)-4-1-1-8-10 for third place.

Farther down in the lists, Matthias Schmid's Austrian crewman, Florian Reichsteaedter, like everyone out there in a 470, spent his day balancing on the wire, adjusting in and out with the puffs. "There was no system to it" he said. "Sometimes you had to be on the left. Sometimes you had to be on the right. And it was up and down, up and down all day. Eight knots. Eighteen knots.

"And it was cold out there."

His handshake proved that.

And we may have already mentioned that. But, to be fair, it was Miami-on-the-water cold. Readers in northern climes, please hold those cards and letters.

Women's 470

The London 2012 gold medalists Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, aka Team Jolly, tightened their grip on the lead in the Women's 470 with a pair of firsts, demonstrating that, yes, there must be an answer to the dilemma of a dicey racecourse. "We're sort of getting used to the wind being up and down and shifty," Aleh said.

She offered, "If you can't pick the right place to be on the racecourse, try to not pick the wrong place. We didn't always have the best start or the best first leg, but we would keep chipping away and chipping away until we could look around and say, Oh, we're in front. We'll take it."

Team Jolly, sailing out of Auckland, New Zealand, has placings of 2-2-1-(7)-1-1. The London 2012 silver medalists, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark of Great Britain, are nine points back at 6-1-(7)-1-3-5.

Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntire, also of Great Britain, are in third, another ten points back.

49er

Diego Botin and Iago Lopez's (ESP) overnight 14 point lead was shattered by a culmination of bad results and tight performances from their rivals.

John Pink and Stuart Bithell (GBR) and Joel Turner and Iain Jensen (AUS) kept things together, remaining at the front of the pack and now share the lead on 42 points. But for Botin and Lopez, a U flag penalty, a tenth and an 18th allowed the British and Australian teams to advance, leaving them one point behind.

Last to arrive back on-shore, last to take their sails down and last out of the boat park, Botin and Lopez looked deflated on the slipway. After their bright start they received a thorough debrief from their coach upon conclusion of the third day. All is not lost. They remain in contention; teachings will be applied and tomorrow is another day.

For Turner and Jensen, their short term partnership, is a one off for Miami with Jensen's usual helm Nathan Outteridge missing out for personal reasons.

"It's the first time I've sailed the 49er without Nathan for a long time," said Jensen. "Joel's doing great and he's picking some clever shifts out there and we're doing a lot better than we expected considering we only had three days in the boat together before this."

Routine, rhythm and reliability are three buzz words for Outteridge and Jensen. The pair sailed together as teenagers, winning the ISAF Youth Worlds, and a partnership in the 49er was inevitable.

Seven years after forming, three 49er world titles and an Olympic gold medal later, Miami is the first time Jensen has been without his formidable helm in the Men's Skiff, "If you sail with someone for years, like I have with Nathan, you get stuck in your routine. It's always the same but if you sail with someone else it forces you to problem solve differently and that's beneficial for when you go back with the other person.

"The roles are still the same with Joel as with Nathan. There are subtleties with the way he [Turner] sails and the way Nathan steers and approaches things. Neither is right or wrong, it's just the individual style."

Whilst the partnership is flourishing in Miami, when teased with the question - reckon you'll stick with Turner? - Jensen replied, "Joel's doing an awesome job and I think he'll be a force in the 49er for years to come, he's 19-years-old and got a bright future but in the next couple of years I might just stick with what I know."

Outteridge will be flying in on Thursday, ensuring his crew sticks to what he knows and to enjoy the Miami racing from the coach boat.

49erFX

When those around you all discard 41 points from a DNF or a DNC, the odds will always be stacked in your favour. That's the case for Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) who have opened up a 25 point lead in the 49erFX.

The Kiwis were just one of eight teams to complete the single race on the first day and they are reaping the rewards. Their discard is a 21 and they hold a comfortable advantage after nine races.

Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) are second overall on 62 points whilst Nina Keijzer and Claire Blom (NED) sit third on 90 points.

Maloney and Meech certainly won't be resting on their laurels with six fleet races and Saturday's Medal Race ahead of them but things are certainly going their way.

Women's RS:X

Two wins and a second is a perfect day for some but not for 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final gold medallist Bryony Shaw (GBR).

On the face of it, the Briton dominated the day but in her words, "It's strange, it didn't feel like a perfect day out there. I made a lot of mistakes actually. It was really shifty and puffy and I think it was my awareness, especially on the downwinds that really pulled me through.

"I made a couple of silly calls by going a bit too extreme at the start so I had to make some pretty big comebacks today."

Shaw, the defending champion, is firmly in control. She is 17 points clear of the second placed Olga Maslivets (RUS) and is carrying a superb 2014 conclusion forward into the New Year, "I feel like this [leading in Miami] is momentum from winning in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year and the event we had in Rio. It's nice to come out here and put on a good show.

"I really feel like 2015 is my year and it's important for performance. I want to try and be selected for the games and win a medal in Rio, so I need to be performing at that level now."

Men's RS:X

Consistency was at a premium for the first day of gold fleet racing in what was an up and down day for all.

Only the second placed Nick Dempsey (GBR) put together a trio of top ten finishes, 8-8-3, whilst those around him finished out of the top ten at least once.

It's still France atop of the leader board, but with a new face lighting the path ahead. Overnight leader Louis Giard (FRA) has dropped to fourth whilst Thomas Goyard (FRA) claimed a 12-4-2 which is enough for a slender one point lead over Dempsey.

Dorian Van Rijsselberge (NED) took out the first bullet of the day and is third overall. The remaining victories went the way of Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) who is in seventh and the 14th placed Mattia Camboni (ITA).

Laser

If others demonstrated that it is possible to win two race back-to-back on a wacky race course, five-time Olympic medalist Robert Scheidt of Brazil demonstrated that the best can stumble. He won his first race of the day, then burned his throw-out race on a 27th.

Scheidt's closest competition, Australian Matthew Wearn, went with him and burned his throw-out on a 20th.

Neither of the two leaders can afford another bad race. Scheidt has a seven-point cushion over Wearn, but Germany's Philipp Buhl is only one point behind Wearn, and only four points separate him from Julio Alsogaray of Argentina and Nick Thompson of Great Britain.

At 106 boats in two divisions, the Laser is by far the largest class here and as hard as any when it comes to getting to the top. A few years ago, American Jensen Mctigh was acing it in the Snipe class. Here he's paying his dues ("I'm probably the youngest person here") with three-digit standings, but he's seeing the racecourse as clearly as anyone. McTigh's take from his end of the Laser fleet, "The shifts were bigger yesterday, but those blew evenly across the course. Today the shifts were smaller, but they never stopped. They never stopped."

Finn

It was Ioannis Mitakis day in the Finn fleet on Biscayne Bay today.

Mitakis, who represented Greece in the 2012 Olympic Games and won the European Finn Championship the same year-leading the Medal Race start to finish-today took back-to-back firsts. Fleet leader Giles Scott of Great Britain faded.

Faded, but not far enough to cost Scott the lead that he hopes will keep an 18-month winning streak intact.

With a worst score of sixth to discard, Scott now has finishes of 1-1-1-5-4-(6). Computing throw-out races, he has a five-point lead over Jake Lilley of Australia and a 12-point lead over Mitakis. Anything can happen, but Lilley is carrying a 22nd as his discard. Another bad race would probably sink him below the podium. It's game faces all around.

Nacra 17

It's a high scoring affair in the Nacra 17 with consistency a rarity in a highly competitive fleet.

Defending Miami champions Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri (ITA) and Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves (GBR) share the lead on 50 points. The teams recorded two scores outside the top ten with one top ten finish.

Anything can happen in the 49-boat fleet and early front runners Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders (NZL) fell victim to a 29-14-28 day that sees them drop to seventh. Not helped by a late night disqualification after a jury hearing the pair count all three scores and are 36 points off the top. But as shown, anything can happen.

Paralympic Events

There's a tussle at the top in the 2.4mR between Megan Pascoe (GBR), Helena Lucas (GBR) and Bjornar Erikstad (NOR) with one point of separation. An intriguing two days is ahead with four more races to decide the winner.

Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) are on track to make it two ISAF Sailing World Cup Regatta wins in a row with a two point lead over Marco Gualandris and Marta Zanetti (ITA) in the SKUD18. Defending champions Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR) complete the podium after six races.

In the Sonar, Alphonsus Doerr, Brad Kendell and Hugh Freund (USA) and John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas (GBR) are tied atop on 11 points.

Results

#SailingWCMiami – Irish Laser Radial Sailor Annalise Murphy moved up one place to be just two points off the lead after four races at Miami Olympic sailing classes yesterday. A third in race four – in winds up to 20 knots – puts the National Yacht Club sailor behind leader Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark. It's an uplifting start to 2015 with Gold fleet racing starting today, Wednesday. Overnight leader, GBR's Alison Young who scored two wins in the opening rounds crashed out of the top ten with a 23 and 25 yesterday to be 18th overall. Ireland's Erica Ruigrok lies 74 from 79 in the women's class. 

A 13th in race five has allowed the National Yacht Club's Finn Lynch extend his lead over three Irish sailors in Mens Laser division. Lynch lies 39th from 106 starters, some 12 places clear of London 2012 Irish rep James Espey in 51st place. Darragh O'Sullivan is 97th. Strangford's Chris Russell who was scored as a 'DNC' yesterday no longer appears on the results sheet.

An 11th scored in race six has pulled the Irish mens 49er skiff back towards the top half of their 58–boat fleet. Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern lie 32nd now after six races sailed, up four places from Monday's start. There is improvement too for Irish 49erfx skiff pair Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey who are 25th from 40. 

If the Chamber of Commerce had stayed up all night working at it, they could not have served up a better day for racing at ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami.

The second day offered a steady diet of breeze in the teens, the allure of a sun-drenched Biscayne Bay, and the kinetic beauty of boats in ten Olympic and three Paralympic sailing classes being put to their best and highest purpose.

We're still early in a regatta scheduled for six days of racing, including a Medal Race on Saturday for top-ten qualifiers. At stake are qualifying points and slots for the finale of the six-event international series that has become the proving ground of the would-be Olympic sailor.

The finale will take place in Abu Dhabi U.A.E. late in 2015, and after that – After that, an athlete is either ready for Rio and the 2016 Olympic Games, or not.

A 5th and a 3rd today in pretty tricky conditions puts me into 2nd overall @SailingWCMiami. Gold fleet starts tomorrow!

— Annalise Murphy (@Annalise_Murphy) January 27, 2015

 Top three by class:

470 - Men's Two Person Dinghy
1. Panagiotis Mantis / Pavlos Kagialis, GRE, 8
2. Luke Patience / Elliot WIllis, GBR, 7
3. Mathew Belcher / Will Ryan, AUS, 8

470 - Women's Two Person Dinghy
1. Jo Aleh / Polly Powrie, NZL, 5
2. Hannah Mills / Saskia Clark, GBR, 8
3. Sophie Weguelin / Eilidh McIntyre, GBR, 15

49er - Men's Skiff
1. Diego Botin / Iago Lopez, ESP, 7
2. David Gilmour / Rhys Mara, AUS, 21
3. Nico Delle Karth / Nikolaus Resch, AUT, 22

49erFX - Women's Skiff
1. Alexandra Maloney / Molly Meech, NZL, 10
2. Martine Sofiatti Grael / Kahena Kunze, BRA, 27
3. Leonie Meyer / Elena Stoffers, GER, 29

Laser - Men's One Person Dinghy
1. Robert Scheidt, BRA, 7
2. Matthew Wearn, AUS, 11
3. Nick Thompson, GBR, 12

Laser Radial - Women's One Person Dinghy
1. Anne-Marie Rindom, DEN, 5
2. Annalise Murphy, IRL, 7
3. Marit Bouwmeester, NED, 9

RS:X - Men's Windsurfer
1. Louis Giard, FRA, 10
2. Dorian van Rijsselberge, NED, 14
3. Byron Kokkalanis, GRE, 15

RS:X - Women's Windsurfer
1. Bryony Shaw, GBR, 12
2. Olga Maslivets, RUS, 13
3. Lilian de Geus, NED, 14

Nacra17 - Mixed Multihull
1. Gemma Jones / Jason Saunders, NZL, 9
2. Ben Saxton / Nicola Groves, GBR, 16
3. Vittorio Bissaro / Silvia Sicouri, ITA, 21

Finn - Men's One Person Dinghy
1. Giles Scott, GBR, 3
2. Jake Lilley, AUS, 6
3. Edward Wright, GBR, 16

2.4mR - One Person Keelboat
1. Megan Pascoe, GBR, 5
2. Bja Rnar Erikstad, NOR, 5
3. Helena Lucas, GBR, 5

Skud 18 - Two Person Keelboat
1. Daniel Fitzgibbon / Liesl Tesch, AUS, 6
2. Marco Gualandris / Marta Zanetti, ITA, 7
3. Alexandra Rickham / Niki Birrell, GBR, 8

Sonar - Three Person Keelboat
1. John Robertson / Hannnah Stodel / Stephen Thomas, GBR, 3
2. Aleksander Wang-Hansen / Per Eugen Kristiansen / Marie Solberg, NOR, 7
3. Paul Tingley / Logan Campbell / Scott Lutes, CAN, 7

 

 

#SailingWCMiami – First it was sunny and bright then It was storming and raining sideways and then It was sunny and bright. Just like home. Those familiar conditions may have helped Ireland's Annalise Murphy get the 2015 Olympic saiing season off to an auspicious start in Miami yesterday posting two second places to lie third overall in the women's Laser radial class. Erica Ruigrok finished 74th from 77th, not completing the second race.

Murphy's National Yacht Club club–mate Finn Lynch also stole a march on the Irish sailors racing in the 104–boat Mens Laser fleet. The 21–year–old trialist is 33rd, three places ahead of 2012 Olympic representative James Espey. Cork's Darragh o'Sullivan is 88th with Strangford's Chris Russell not competing in either of yesterday's opening rounds. 

Belfast's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are 36th from 54 in the 49er skiff. Disappointingly, Ireland's womens skiff pair of Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey did not finish in their 40– boat fleet with only eight teams crossing the finish line.

Numerous challenges were posed to the competitors in wet and windy day of action. Racing commenced shortly after 10:00 local time with a confirmed number of 856 sailors from 63 nations competing across the ten Olympic and three Paralympic events.

Results here.

Laser

Robert Scheidt, winner of five medals in five Olympiads, two of them gold, described the series opener as, "Windy. Tough. What you have to do this early in the regatta is avoid the big problems."

Which is not so easy when a squall is the takeaway.

"In the first race there was a time on the second weather leg where we couldn't see through the rain, couldn't find the marks," Scheidt said. "Finally Bruno (Fontes) saw a bit of colour out there in the grey stuff, and we both went for it, and we made big gains."

Figure the breeze at the moment was high 20s or perhaps even 30 knots, so a boat aimed the right direction - and on its feet - had a lot going for it. "After that," Scheidt said "I didn't have a special second race, but I didn't need to. I was happy with a second and a fourth." Those finishes left Scheidt second to Fontes, first, and New Zealand's Andy Maloney, second at 4-1 in the other division of the split fleet.

The other piece of Laser class news happened in the other division of the split fleet, where the Aussie, Tom Burton, who has been on a winning streak, dug himself a hole with finishes of 18th and 20th.

Men's 470

Perennial threats Luke Patience and crew Elliot Willis of the UK comfortably topped a fleet of 45 entries in the 470 class, on a challenging day, on scores of first and second.

As in other fleets, the people at or near the top of the leaderboard were grateful to be just that. Australian 470 skipper Mat Belcher figured, "The job was to get around the course. We were happy with a first and a fifth and a boat that was still working. We have the whole week to make points." Perhaps it is fair to add, Belcher was busy gluing and screwing new parts onto his "still working" mast as he spoke.

And Belcher has earned whatever confidence he can muster. A five time world champion - all in a row - he and crew Will Ryan won the inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup Final title in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in November.

Asenathi Jim and Roger Hudson of the Republic of South Africa stand second off a 4-6 day, followed by the French threat of Sofian Bouvet and Jeremie Mion, 3-8. They're the defending champions. At this regatta one year ago, Bouvet and Mion broke a seventeen-regatta winning streak that Belcher and Ryan had been riding.

Stories stories, everybody had a story. The Japanese duo of Tetsuya Matsunaga (a second generation sailor) and Yugo Yoshida used both sides of the course, "sometimes" to good effect, said Matsunaga, "It was very shifty. It the second race, we went left and the wind came from the right. We rounded the top mark 20th or so. I really don't know." But that "20th or so" turned into a 10th for a 2-10 day and fifth in the standings.

Women's 470

In the Women's 470 racing, London 2012 gold medalists Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie of New Zealand, "had just made it around the gybe mark" of race one, Aleh said, when THE SQUALL hit.

"We looked back and the blast was fairly flattening the fleet. You wanted to ask, where did everybody go? But we got the kite down, we stayed on our feet and we made some nice gains."

The day wrapped up with Aleh and Powrie leading the standings off a pair of seconds.

Two top British teams, Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark and Sophie Weguelin, won a race apiece and stand second and third, respectively.

"The team of the moment," in the words of a close series observer, fared less well. That would be Austria's Lara Vadlau and crew Jolanta Ogar The 2014 World and World Cup champions presently stand ninth off finishes of 15th and 16th - remarkably consistent, but.

Again, stories and stories. Americans Anna Haeger and Briana Provancha were gybing at the mark when squall's blast arrived. It did not go well. Haeger and Provancha had an 11-10 day and some body pain to take home.

Men's RS:X

Louis Giard (FRA), conqueror of the inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup Final title, resumed in Miami from where he left off in Abu Dhabi - leading the way.

Although he sits pretty on two points at the top, he discards an 11th, which could prove deadly to his points total if he finishes lower than that as the week pans out. A scoreline of 3-1-2 is more of a solid foundation to build upon and second placed Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) is the proud owner of that run.

"All the races were good with lots of shifts and a lot of ups and downs," commented Kokkalanis. "I managed to do well by finishing third, first and second. I had to catch up in the first and third race but the second race was really good. I had a good start and was fighting hard with Nick Dempsey, it was really fun and a good day."

Solid foundations are key for a week long RS:X competition. Races are short, frequent, intense and compelling. Thirteen more are scheduled for the week with gold fleet racing commencing on Wednesday and Kokkalanis knows he has to be in top shape to defend his title, "Tomorrow I will take the same approach and try to do my best as always. That's what everybody is trying to do.

"I'll try to stay on top and then the real racing, gold fleet, starts on Wednesday. All the good guys will be together so until then I'll try and get as few points as possible."

Tom Squires (GBR) laid an equally impressive foundation, a 1-3-3, rounding off the top three after day one.

Women's RS:X

In a field that features Olympic medallists, World Champions and an ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, home nation sailor Marion Lepert had a dream start.

From two races Lepert notched up a fourth and a bullet to top the pack of 37. She holds off Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) and Olga Maslivets (RUS), who are second and third respectively.

A recent graduate from youth competition, Lepert made in-roads in the Techno 293 where she claimed a silver medal at the 2011 World Championship. She moved up to the RS:X and a fourth at the 2013 Sail First ISAF Youth Worlds confirmed her promise. Albeit a dream start, Lepert will have her work cut out to maintain such a performance it in amongst a field of seasoned professionals.

Nacra 17

Taming the Nacra 17 beast came as a challenge to many of the 49-boat Mixed Multihull fleet. With gusts hitting the 30 knot mark, thrills and spills were inevitable and that was certainly the case with as many as 26 boats either unable to finish the second race or deciding enough was enough in advance of the start.

A night of boat work and maintenance will be in order for several of the competitors whilst leaders Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders (NZL), Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri (ITA) and Billy Besson and Marie Riou (FRA) will all rest easy after a job well done from three races.

49erFX

Like the Nacra 17 sailors, the Women's Skiff competitors on the 49erFX also found the Miami breeze extremely tough to handle.

Of the 40 teams, just eight of them successfully worked their way around the course to complete the single race of the day.

Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) are two of the most experienced 49erFX competitors around, with well over two years of boat experience behind them. With a range of knowledge behind them they comprehensively claimed the day's race win by more than a minute.

Nina Keijzer and Claire Blom (NED) came through in second with ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne winners Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks (AUS) in third.

49er

Spain's Diego Botin and Iago Lopez got off to a flying start in the 49er, controlling the proceedings in the blue fleet. Right from the off they put in a composed performance in a competitive pack to take the opening race bullet.

They remained at the front for the next bout, coming through in second behind John Pink and Stuart Bithell (GBR) before they rounded off a superb day by taking the final race victory

Being at the top of the 49er leader board, after the opening day, is not uncommon ground for Botin. The young Spaniard had an outstanding start at the 2014 editions of World Cup Mallorca and Hyères. However, he was unable to convert that into consistent results over a gruelling six day ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta.

For now, Botin and Lopez lead, but with five days and 13 races remaining, time will tell if Botin can continue his form.

Results were mixed in the yellow fleet with no team taking the bull by the horns. Federico and Arturo Alonso (ESP) sit second after they recorded a discarded 20th and a second and a third. David Gilmour and Rhys Mara (AUS) occupy the final podium sport at the early stages.

Finn

Hand it to hardy Briton Giles Scott, who has taken over the throne of the longest-serving dinghy class in Olympic sailing. The Finn has been raced in 16 Olympiads. It is known as the boat in which Paul Elvstrom redefined the racing sailor as an athlete. And it is known as the boat that tests athletes as no other.

Scott has not lost in 15 months, and he didn't do it through cherry-picking the easy stuff. He won seven ranked regattas in that time, and on Monday Scott won both races. His countryman, Ed Wright, has often come closest to unseating him, but following the opening day of racing here Wright stands fourth on scores of 3-7.

In second is Australia's Jake Lilley, 2-3, with Croatia's Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic third, 8-2.
American hope Caleb Payne retired from the second race.

Paralympic Events

It was a double bullet day for John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas (GBR) the Sonar. They dominant Brits top the leader board and are followed by Paul Tingley, Logan Campbell and Scott Lutes (CAN) who saw the back of the British boat on two occasions with a pair of seconds.

John McRoberts and Jackie Gay (CAN) started well in the SKUD18 with a second and a first. They lead on three points with Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR) second on five points.

Racing is scheduled to resume at 10:00 local time on Tuesday 27 January.

#annalisemurphy – No sooner had she returned to Dublin from last week's Moth Worlds in Australia than Laser Radial ace Annalise Murphy was on her way to Florida yesterday for the second regatta of the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup series this Saturday. In a pre–Olympic year, the stakes are high for Rio as the Olympic circuit moves up a gear.

Ireland is sending a very full squad to Florida if Miami registrations are anything to go by. 13 Irish sailors are signed up across five key Olympic sailing classes, including four in the mens Laser, two in the women's radial, a mens 49er, a women's 49erfx plus a paralympic Sonar keelboat. Expectations are running high for Olympic places but although Ireland secured three Olympic berths for Rio in Santander last September, the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) has yet to publish its own selection criteria on how Irish sailors might contest these slots.

It had been suggested the criteria would be published last October but there is still no official publication of same. Last September, David O'Brien wrote in the Irish Times that sailing places for Rio could come down to 'gut feeling', saying selectors must have as primary guiding factor the maximisation of Irish medal performances in 2016 and subsequent games. It prompted Afloat's Water Rat to draw up a Different Approach to Olympic Sailing Nominations: No Trials, Just Pure Selection?

Meanwhile, as sailors continue to train, this week Biscayne Bay will come alive with the sails of 651 boats, featuring 848 sailors from 63 nations and Ireland is taking its place on five start lines.

In the mens Laser there will be Chris Russell from Belfast, Finn Lynch from Blessington, James Espey from Bangor and Darragh O'Sullivan from Cork Harbour. Annalise is joined by Erica Ruigrok of Skerries in the Radial. Also slated is Belfast pair Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern in the 49er skiff, Dublin's Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey in the 49erfx and Kinsale's John Twomey, Ian Costelloe and Austin O'Carroll in the Sonar. 

@Annalise_Murphy Good luck... @SailingWCMiami

— Cuðbeorht (@cuthbertable) January 19, 2015

The 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami marks the second anniversary of competition for the Nacra 17.

Beijing 2008 Tornado Olympic gold medallist Fernando Echavarri (ESP) will take to Nacra 17 racing for the first time in Miami. Echavarri has paired up with 2011 470 World Champion Tara Pacheco who formerly sailed with Iker Martinez. Pacheco and Martinez, who were coached by Echavarri, split up towards the end of 2014 with Martinez teaming up with Marina Lopez.

Echavarri joins a list of highly experienced competitors in the Miami Nacra 17 fleet. Two time Nacra 17 World Champions Billy Besson and Marie Riou (FRA), Sofia Bekatorou and Konstantinos Trigonis (GRE), Franck Cammas and Sophie de Turckheim (FRA) and Puerto Rico's Enrique Figueroa, sailing with Franchesca Valdes Ortega, all have vast experience that they'll put into practice in Miami.

Great Britain's Giles Scott will spearhead the Finn fleet, aiming to defend his title and continue his unbeaten run of six ranked regattas and the Aquece Rio - International Sailing Regatta 2014 (Olympic Test Event).

The racing will be available to watch in 2D and 3D via the live tracking. HERE.

#MothWorlds15 – Kiwi sailing sensation Peter Burling dominated the 2015 Moth Worlds in Sorrento, Australia last Friday but two Irish sailors featured in the top class field too. The National YC's Annalise Murphy finished in 56th place and Howth's Alistair Kissane finished in 58th place from 158 entries

In the very heavy winds of the last race Olympic Radial champ Annalise scored 30th, putting her second lady overall. She told Afloat.ie: 

'My gantry exploded when I was in eighth coming down the last downwind to the finish. Managed to grab my rudder before it sank. I'm ok, just annoyed, it would have been an epic way to finish! I am seriously battered though!

Emirates Team New Zealand sailor Peter Burling won the  following his domination of the event with 9 race wins in the 14 race series. "There are some great guys in this record fleet, I am absolutely stoked to win," said World 49er Champion Burling who will have little time to celebrate and is then heading to the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Miami, then it's back to America's Cup duties.

The Irish results were made all the more significant taking account of the quality of entries at the event in Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club – including five members of the Americas Cup winning Oracle USA team, sailors from the Artemis and Emirates teams, world champions and Olympic gold medalists including Tom Slingsby who sailed with John Bertrand to win the Etchells Worlds in Howth in 2010.

Kissane managed a very steady set of results including 26th and 20th place in the final two races. According to the Howth Yacht Club website, Kissane spent six hours repairing his Moth before the final day – a product of racing these foiling boats in the high wind and sea conditions that were prevalent in the latter part of the championships.

 

#mothworlds –  Race officials were forced to abandon racing on day four of the McDougall + McConaghy 2015 International Moth World Championship being hosted by the Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club (SSCBC) at Sorrento in Victoria because of strond winds at the venue, the first stong winds the worlds fleet has had since Lake Garda, three years ago. 

At a meeting with Moth competitors this morning, Event Director, Peter Osbourne (from the SSCBC) asked for a show of hands for racing. Most in the Gold fleet elected for racing. All but a couple in the Silver fleet voted against.

Officials asked competitors to stay ashore while they waited for visibility to improve, along with the general conditions, including pouring rain and blustery conditions.

 

Day 2 also brought about some strong winds and action packed racing. Ireland's Annalise Murphy features in the above vid. 

 

 

#AnnaliseMurphy - She may have made her name as a Laser Radial sailor, coming so close to an Olympic medal in the class at London 2012, but it's the new moth class that makes Annalise Murphy love sailing today.

Murphy shares her passion for the foil with Yachts and Yachting on the second day of the Moth Worlds in Australia, where she joins fellow Rio 2016 contender Ryan Seaton and Howth Yacht Club's Alistair Kissane in the Irish contingent.

And she describes the event as a "lifetime opportunity", saying that "it's so much fun to be able to go and race against all the legends of the sailing world... being able to race against guys who are Olympic medallists and America's Cup guys, I might never get to do that again."

But having sailed moths for just over a year, it's still an adjustment switching from the more easily handled Laser to the fast, twitchy foil - especially since she's using the same rig as the boys.

Yachts and Yachting has more on the story HERE.