In a huge boost to their campaign for London 2012 Irish duo Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern won this morning's 49er high performance dinghy medal race at Holland's Delta Lloyd Regatta. The impressive win moves the Irish pair to fifth overall.

Britsh duo Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes won the 49er Class after a very tight medal race.

Before the race Morrison and Rhodes only real competition was the Australian team Outteridge/Jensen. Morisson: “We did not mind that we did not win the medal race. All we had to do was keep close to the Australians. In this wind it was very hard, but we did.”

It wasn’t the first time Morrison and Rhodes won the Delta Lloyd Regatta. ”We won this Regatta in 2008. After that we have not won another regatta. And now we have a medal again. So we like it here”, Morrison says.

Despite a string of top ten results from Annalise Murphy, early slippages kept the Dun Laoghaire sailor out of the Laser Radial top ten at the Delta Lloyd regatta in Medemblik. Annalise's finishes were inside the top ten for the last seven races, with her scorecard reading 2-4-9-7-5-9-2. Tiffany Brien put in a solid performance to finish in 16th, both of which represented the best Irish results at the event.

The only other boat to finish within the top half of their fleet was the 49er of Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern, who also broke into the top ten repeatedly to finish 27th in their 71-boat fleet. Ger Owens and Ross Killian were forced out of the event after nine races of fourteen and finished 63rd.

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RESULTS

 

 

After six races at the Delta Lloyd regatta, both Irish 49er crews have posted a top ten result and the gap between them has narrowed. Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern still lead Ger Owens and Ross Killian, with the newcomers in 40th and the northern crew in 36th place.

Light airs were the order of the day yesterday, however 17 knots are forecast for today which should test the crews further.

In the Laser Radials, Annalise Murphy posted a second in race five to move into 14th overall, with Tiffany Brien recording a DNF in the light airs, putting an end to a string of consistent finishes. She now lies in 17th.

Barry McCartin and Thomas Chaix are struggling to make an impact in the highly competitive 470 fleet, currently the last boat in the fleet to have completed all races to date.

Racing continues today.

RESULTS

 

Thirty Olympic medallists are ready for the Delta Lloyd Regatta 2010 which runs from Wednesday until on Sunday May 30th. The 2010 edition has set record high pre-entries in all classes including the 2.4, with a total of 707 boats from 53 countries. As usual, the largest fleets are in the Laser, RS:X men and 470 men. Ireland has seven crews racing in the event.

`We have two years to go until the 2012 Olympic Games. All campaigns are at full strength, which makes it an interesting and strong competition. We look forward to welcoming the top international sailors to Medemblik`, says Arjen Rahusen, Chairman of the Delta Lloyd Regatta.

The Dutch team will be present in all classes with many chances for medals. Dorian Van Rijsselberge (RS:X) and Thierry Schmitter (2.4) will defend their titles at home. Marit Bouwmeester who is leading the standings after a victory in Melbourne will try to add another SWC title. She will face 2009 winner Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) or 2010 Palma winner Tina Mihelic (CRO), among a talented field in the laser radial.

2009 Champions will be back to defend their title in ten out of the eleven Olympic and Paralympic classes competing in the Delta Lloyd Regatta, with the exception of the Star class.

Blanca Manchon (ESP) in the RS:X and Ed Wright in the Finns will also aim to retain their 2009 World Cup title.

Paul Goodison (GBR) will start the event as hot favourite in the Laser class. The 2008 Gold medallist and world N.1 has just claimed victory in the Semaine Olympique Française in Hyères.

Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garros won the 3rd SWC event in Palma de Mallorca during the Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mapfre and will be keen to prove themselves again in a strong 470 fleet. In the women division, World N.2 Ai Kondo and Wakato Tabata (JPN) are back to fight for their title. Main opponents include last year runner up Emmanuelle Rol and Hélène de France. The french pair claimed victory in Hyères and lead the Sailing World Cup standings.

In the 49er, double World Champions, Australian’s Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen are making their come back to the European circuit for the Delta Lloyd Regatta. They are aiming to defend their title. The Sibello brothers (ITA), in good shape after their recent win in Garda, want to prove why they are leading the World ranking.

The British trio of Lucy MacGregor, Annie Lush and Ally Martin will face 23 teams in the Women Match racing division sailed for the first time in Medemblik on the new Elliott boats.

The only Champions absents among last year’s winners will be Brazilians Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada in the Star class. After winning both the Rolex Miami OCR and the Semaine Olympique Française in Hyères, the Norwegians Eivind Melleby and Petter Moer are the favourite for the Delta Lloyd Regatta title as well as the 2010 Sailing World Cup.

The Delta Lloyd Regatta will mark the come back to international competition this year for Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) in the Finn class, for Polish duo Matesz Kusznierewicz (2 Olympic medals) and Dominic Zycki in the Star or Double world Laser champion, Australian Tom Slingsby.

Roy Heiner returns to Finn sailing
After claiming a Finn bronze medal in Atlanta in 1996, Roy Heiner (NED) had turned to match racing, Soling and Ocean racing. A recent and successful comeback to the Finn scene during the Dutch Open championship last September has motivated Heiner for more! He will participate in this year Delta Lloyd regatta in the Finns, fourteen years after his medal and retirement from the Finn scene!