Howth's Aoife Hopkins Lying 11th At Laser Radial Euros

5th October 2017

Aoife Hopkins in 11th leads Irish hopes at the Laser Euros

Dublin sailors Aoife Hopkins and Finn Lynch currently lead Irish hopes at the Laser European Championships in Barcelona after a delayed start this week.

Racing started yesterday with two races completed. Yesterday was cloudy and the sailors launched in a light drizzle with a 10-15kt breeze.

By the time racing began the wind had dropped to 7 knots and further to 5 knots or less for the 2nd race. The conditions were described as shifty, gusty and tricky by the competitors.

Lynch, in the mens full rig division, scored a 4th and a 14th leaving him 12th overall after day one. Hopkins, in the women's radial, scored a 15th and a 7th and lay 18th overall going into the second day.

Today was a different day entirely and the day dawned bright and sunny which brought a thermal wind. Trying to make up for the races missed on day one, the race committee planned three races.

Howth Yacht Club's Hopkins scored a 5th, 5th and 12th ending the day lying in 11th overall. A fantastic achievement for the first year Trinity Maths student who won the U21 Euros this season.

The National Yacht Club's Lynch scored a 19th, 19th and 23rd, leaving him 32nd overall after a two-place drop on protest.

Aisling Keller, who has been sailing full-time for the last year and has now returned to education studying Physiotherapy in Trinity College, dropped from 43rd to 49th place after protest yesterday evening and will now sail in the Silver fleet.

Other Irish sailors in the radial fleets are Sally Bell at 69th and, in the Men’s radial, Ronan Wallace at 33rd.

Ewan McMahon enjoying his first standard rig event, having recently moved from the radial, lies 70th overall in this highly competitive fleet.

The qualifying series has now been concluded and tomorrow sailors will be divided into Gold and Silver fleets. Hopkins, Lynch, Keller and Wallace have all made the Gold fleet cut in their respective fleets. However with 3 days more of racing it’s still all to play for at the European Championships. See the latest standings HERE.

This post was amended at 11am on Friday 6 October to reflect position changes after protest.

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