#oppie – Ireland's Jamie McMahon is the top Irish boy at the Optimist Europeans in Wales after six qualifying races sailed and will be the sole Irish boy racing in the gold fleet today. The top Irish girl is Sarah Levie who is lying 40th and who will now sail in the gold fleet. Grace O'Beirne will also sail in gold. Full results are downloadable below. Racing was abandoned on race day two of the 2015 Magic Marine Optimist European Championships as a combination of poor visibility and strong gusts saw none of the 10 scheduled races completed at Plas Heli, Pwllheli but races four five and six were held yesterday in 18-25kts with massive waves to conclude the qualifying series.
There was disappointment for Hugo Kennedy who won the first race after a great fight climbing from fifth at first windward to second by the gate to eventually first only for it to transpire the Irish youth was caught 50 seconds before the start and to be scored UFD.
There are 159 boys and 97 girls entered in the Championships, with racing split into three days of qualifying and a two-day final series. There are three flights of boys (Yellow, Blue and Red) and two of girls for the qualifying series (Yellow and Blue). Spanish teammates Jeronimo Martin-Lagos Terres and Julia Minana topped the overall boys and girls rankings respectively after race day one.
Day 2 at the Europeans started in 14-15kts from the South... unfortunately visibility decreased and breeze increased so AP over H was flown after the girls had a few attempts at racing... A bit of a wait ashore, but the clearance made way to more breeze and the day was eventually cancelled.3 races tomorrowjust managed to get a few clips of Jamie and Hugo enjoying the way in.
Posted by Thomas Chaix on Monday, 20 July 2015
Three races in waves of 2-3m - 15 races in total across the five boys and girls flights - were completed, with Cargo adding two firsts and a second to her opening day race win double while Harper, a member of the Great Britain Development Team, consolidated his run of top six finishes with his first race win of the regatta in the third and final race of the day.
Six races have now completed in the series, making up for losing race day two to poor weather yesterday, and both Cargo and Harper moved to the top of their respective rankings after the discard was applied after race five. Cargo discarded a race one Black Flag Disqualification (BFD) and Harper a race two 40th. Today marked the end of the qualifying series, with tomorrow the start of the final series and the fleets split into Gold, Silver plus Bronze for boys.
Having picked up a BFD Disqualification in race one, Cargo admits safely negotiating her way into Gold fleet was her main priority. She said: "It is very windy and I like these conditions because I am tall. I started behind everyone else because I was worried not to get disqualified again."
Harper also believes his size played a part in his day three success. He said: "In the first race I got a really bad start but the I hiked really hard and I was doing ok at the windward mark and that confused me! So then I just hiked the rest of the day and it went really well. I've been feeling really good in the windy stuff, it just a shame tomorrow's not going to be as windy!
"The consistency of my results has pleased me most about my sailing. Apart from one race I've had all my results in the top six, which has been great for me."
The best male performance of the day came from Japan's Naoki Kurahashi, whose two firsts and a second moved him into fifth spot. It is extremely tight with just three points separating the top four sailors. The Netherlands' Thomas Westerhof lies second, while Thomas Rice (USA) and Singapore's Won Kye Lee are tied on 19 points in third and fourth.
Meanwhile, day one girls leader, Spain's Julia Minana is keeping the pressure on Cargo with a 2, 4, 1 today. With just the one discardable race score in the scheduled 10-race series, Cargo has no room for error in the rest of the event. Cargo's Croatian teammate Karmen Perkovic sits in third overall but tied on the same points - 28 - with Singapore's Ellyn Tan.
Minana said: "Today was a good day. The conditions is strange for me because the wind is very strong and the waves are very high and short. I like this wind."
For many of the international sailors this is their first visit to Pwllheli and the new Plas Heli Welsh National Sailing Academy, while for others it is their first experience of such a major Championship event.
Harper admits he is enjoying racing on British waters, adding: "I think the new centre is great; it's proving a great place to sail. I like having the home advantage, I've sailed here a lot before and that has been helpful."
Meanwhile, for Canada's Hunter Dejean the whole experience is proving a massive positive learning curve. She said: "The sailing is so good here, everyone is so good, it's insane. They're so solid at everything, no-one makes mistakes, their boat speed is so fast, their tactics are just insane, it's a whole other level. I've already learned so much and I'm really excited to get back to Canada."
