There was disappointment in the Irish camp when light winds produced a shake-up of the women’s skiff fleet, leaving Dun Laoghaire's Clementine Van Steenberge and Jessica Riordan (pictured top), who led the World Youth Sailing Championships on Thursday morning, in seventh place overall with three races left to sail on Lake Garda, Italy.
Alicja Dampc and Alicja Tutkowska of Poland charged to assume pole position in the standings.
A total of 10 points on the penultimate day of racing saw them build a nine-point lead ahead of Argentinian duo Olivia Riesgo and Delfina Palazon.
Una Heinilä and Silja-Sophie Laukkanen of Finland were among the most notable performers, as a bullet in the final race of the day saw them enter the final day in fifth.
“We feel very happy to be representing Finland at the Youth Sailing World Championships, it was a really tough win but we’re super happy about it.
“We didn’t have a special tactic but just to have a really fast boat speed and maintain it with lots of wind.
“We want to do our best and get a good result, hopefully a medal.”
The National Yacht Club and Royal St. George pairing are now some 25 points off the lead, with other one-time leaders Annabelle Vines and Amelie Hiscocks of Great Britain now outside the top ten in 11th place.
Men’s/mixed skiff racing was postponed, and all four ICLA 6 races across men’s and women’s events were postponed due to low wind leaving the positions of the Irish team as Afloat reported previously here.
Results here
