Irish Olympic 49er pairing Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle move up from sixth to fifth overall in a heavy weather day three of the World Sailing World Cup in Enoshima, Japan but the Belfast-Cork duo have had to discard a 'Did Not Finish' in Race four that may yet prove costly in the final analysis. After six races sailed, Seaton is using his heavy weather skills honed from eight years campaigning the skiff to carve out a big gap between youthful rivals Rob Dickson and Sean Waddilove of Howth who are in 21st from 37.

There is a concern for the strong wind performance of Annalise Murphy and Katie Tingle in the women's 49erfX skiff who retired from all three races today and who are now 36th from 36 starters. The only official world from Team Ireland on the matter is that the pairing – who did finish reasonably well (13 from 23) at the pre-Olympic regatta on the same waters a fortnight ago – is a reference to a 'tough day' on social media.

In the Laser Radials, Aoife Hopkins and Aisling Keller are in 27th and 39th respectively with five races completed in a 49-boat fleet.

With a year to go to the Olympics itself, the only Irish berth secured at Tokyo 2020 so far is in the Radial with the trial between Hopkins and Keller for the single Olympic spot yet to take place.

Finn Lynch is in 22nd place in the Lasers, with Liam Glynn in 48th from 51. Lynch who is aiming for more consistent results after failing to take an Olympic berth at the second attempt earlier this month will be disappointed with this week's scoreline especially the early part of the regatta where he took 31.0, 28.0 and (47.0) compared to the 10 and 8 scored today.

The physical limits of the 496 sailors from 46 nations racing at the Hempel World Cup Series regatta in Enoshima, Japan were pushed on Thursday as big waves rolled through Sagami Bay.

With thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean to the East and South of Enoshima, coupled with deep waters around Sagami Bay, the waves have plenty of time to build to a rolling swell. The sailors contested 2.5m high waves with regularity and ensured that each and every one had a stern test on the water.

The powerful rolling waves, combined with a stiff south westerly 20-25 knot breeze, meant that capsizes were plentiful with many sailors unable to finish some of their races due to breakages.

Despite this, every fleet sailed a good number of races to get the competition back on track after light breeze on day one and too much on the second.

One mistake cost Italy’s Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti the perfect day in the Nacra 17. The Ready Steady Tokyo, Olympic test event, gold medallists clinched the first and last race win of the day but their scoreline was slightly tainted with an eighth in the middle. Tita explained, “We made a big mistake on the laylines in the second race. We ended up in a hard situation. We were fast in the downwind so we were able to gain some positions.”

The steep and regular waves made racing in the Nacra 17 an intense and sometimes daunting experience. Capsizes and near misses were a regular occurrence but Tita and Banti had the measure of the race track.

“It looks pretty intense when you’re out there,” commented Tita. “The waves are short and quite big for the wind. It’s hard to sail the Nacra with the foils. For sure we like the conditions with wind and waves in Enoshima. We suffer a bit in the light wind. At the moment we’ve always had good winds here so we’re happy with that.”

The Nacra 17 became fully foiling after Rio 2016 and quite often those who have a high percentage of time on the foils get round the race track quicker. But that all changed on Thursday in the waves as Tita continued, “I would 5-10% of our time was on the foils. It was really hard to foil today. You’d maybe foil 100 metres and then crash. It was really hard.

“What we try to do is keep it in the water. When we are too fast we brake, which is strange for a sailboat. We put a hull in the water to brake and looked to maintain an average speed.

“The boat always wants to accelerate a lot and when you’re too fast, you crash in the waves. It’s better to slow down a bit, keep an average speed and keep safe.”

The Italians two wins and an eighth puts them fourth overall. They are nine points off Ben Saxton and Nicola Boniface (GBR), winners of the second race, with Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AUS) and Nathan and Haylee Outteridge (AUS) in second and third spot.

Last week’s Ready Steady Tokyo was a high scoring affair in the Laser Radial with consistency scarce amongst the fleet. That trend looks set to continue and following three more races, Belgium’s Emma Plasschaert holds the lead.

Plasschaert sailed her way to an 8-(15)-7 scoreline, not a typical set of results that would propel a sailor into top spot, but her rivals also recorded similar scores.

“It was an alright day for me,” said Plasschaert. “A medium but okay day – no big scores. No firsts, seconds or thirds but that’s okay at this stage of the event.

“I think it was pretty solid racing with nothing crazy going on. The Race Committee nailed the races one after each other. Nice waves and big winds, it was good fun. Especially going downwind.”

Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) is two points off Plasschaert and Manami Doi (JPN) is a further one point behind.

Marit Bouwmeester (NED) was the most consistent sailor on the race track and picked up a 9-3-3. However a 35th and a retirement on day one positions her in 12th overall.

Pavlos Kontides (CYP) has moved into pole position in the Laser after a first, a fifth and a second. Overnight leader Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) and Jean Baptiste Bernaz (FRA) are in second and third respectively.

Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) are the masters of 470 sailing in strong wind and big waves. That statement was confirmed on Thursday as they recorded two race wins and a second to grab the lead the 32-boat fleet. Jordi Xammar and Nicholás Rodriguez (ESP) won the final race of the day and are in second.

In the Women’s 470, Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries (AUS) advanced to lead the fleet following a 4-2-2 scoreline. They are five points clear of Elena Berta and Bianca Caruso (ITA). Race wins went to Mengxi Wei and Haiyan Gao (CHN), Berta and Caruso as well as Benedetta Di Salle and Alessandra Dubbini (ITA).

Nicholas Heiner (NED) found form again in the Finn. Heiner started the event with a pair of seconds and added a 3-3-(5) to his points score on Thursday. He has moved six points clear of Canada’s Tom Ramshaw. Overnight leader Joan Cardona Mendez (ESP) took the first race win but dropped to 18th and 15th in the following races.

China’s Yunxiu Lu sailed the perfect day in the Women’s RS:X, winning each race. As a result, Lu has opened up an 11-point advantage over Charline Picon (FRA). Katy Spychakov (ISR) was also a consistent performer, recording a third and two seconds. She is a point off Picon in third.

Korea’s Wonwoo Cho moved into medal contention in the Men’s RS:X following a 3-2-1 scoreline. Cho struggled in the light breeze on Tuesday, posting a (24)-6-13 scoreline but has thrived in stronger conditions.

He is joint third with China’s Kun Bi on 37 points. After a 2-8-8 scoreline Louis Giard (FRA) sits on 32 points at the top of the leaderboard with Pierre le Coq (FRA) second on 34 points.

In the 49erFX, a number of the pre-event favourites were all black flagged in the first race of the day. Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED), Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA), Helene Naess and Marie Rønningen (NOR) and Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen (DEN) were the most high profile casualties of the black flag.

Bekkering and Duetz hit back with two third places which pushes them into the lead.

In the final race of the day, a large percentage of the fleet capsized and only five boats were able to complete the race in the time limit available. Baad Nielsen and Thusgaard Olsen took the race win, their second of the day, following their BFD. They sit in fifth.

The 49er fleet were the last ones off the water having sailed their races after the 49erFX fleet. After three additional races, Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf (GER) lead on 24 points. Poland’s Dominik Buksak and Szymon Wierzbicki are second on 33 and Federico and Arturo Alonso (ESP) sit third on 35 points.

Racing resumes on Friday 30 August at 12:00 local time. The forecast is for further strong winds and two-metre waves.

As the Tokyo 2020 Irish Olympic Sailing Team goes in search of some consistent performances in the first regatta of the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series in Enoshima, Japan, it is London and Rio veteran Ryan Seaton teamed with Seafra Guilfoyle who has got off to the best start in the 49er class and lies sixth from 37. Howth Laser sailor Aoife Hopkins also posted some strong results and is lying 12th from 49 starters. 

As Afloat previously reported, the full Irish Sailing Team is competing this week with Hopkins and Aisling Keller in the Laser Radial; Finn Lynch and Liam Glynn in the Laser;  Seaton and Guilfoyle, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove in the 49ers and Annalise Murphy and Katie Tingle in the 49erFX. 

All the results are here

Brazil’s Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze got off to a perfect start in the 49erFX as racing commenced.

Fresh from last week’s gold at Ready Steady Tokyo, the Olympic test event, the Brazilians could not have asked for a better day, winning both of their races in their bid to retain the title they won one year ago.

After an idyllic weekend that was blessed with clear blue skies and a stable breeze in the mid-teens, the waters of Sagami Bay were somewhat calmer on Tuesday. It took until the latter part of the afternoon for a reasonably stable 5-9 knot south westerly breeze to fill in and fleets headed out from 14:00 local time.

Five fleets completed their scheduled races with the remaining fleets one race short. These will be added to Wednesday’s schedule.

Grael and Kunze, Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallists, are targeting a second gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Hempel World Cup Series Enoshima is held on the same racing areas that will be used at Tokyo 2020 and provides a clear insight into who will claim the coveted Olympic medals in just under one year’s time.

If previous results are anything to go by, the Brazilians are on track to claim a second gold.

They won the World Cup regatta in 2018 and followed it up with gold at JSAF Enoshima Olympic Week. Their recent test event victory has heightened their status as favourites but they know not to get too complacent.

“The success of last week was pretty questionable,” commented Grael. “The other girls sailed really well and we had a tough week.”

“But it’s consistency, I would say,” expressed Kunze. “We only won one race in the test event. It changes so much here because one day there’s a sea breeze and the next it’s coming from the shore so you have to be adaptable to be successful.

“Our training partners, Alex [Maloney] and Molly [Meech] from New Zealand and the Norwegians, [Helene Næss and Marie Rønningen] are doing super the good. The British [Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey] also did great last week.

“There’s always a few teams having ups and downs so you always have to be prepared and be careful.”

The Brazilians lead on two points with Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low (SGP) and Carla and Marta Munté Carrasco (ESP) tied on eight points.

Consistency was at a premium in the 49er. Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf (GER) were the only team to post three single digit scores and they share top spot with Dominik Buksak and Szymon Wierzbicki (POL) after three races.

The 51-boat Laser fleet completed two races and Croatia’s Tonci Stipanovic holds the day one lead.

At Ready Steady Tokyo, Stipanovic finished outside of the top ten and was not happy with his week, “The last regatta was so bad. Only on the last day I sailed good with a first and a third. All of the other races were so so bad. I’m happy with a five and a three today, it’s like it was two first places.”

Stipanovic is three points clear of Pavlos Kontides (CYP) and explained his day, “There are more boats and it is for sure much harder [than the Olympic test event]. Today I had two good starts and I managed to sail clear all the time. I was always at the front at the top mark. I had some bad downwinds but at the end I’m happy.”

Race wins went to Ryan Lo (SGP) and Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR).

Japan’s Manami Doi grabbed first overall in the Laser Radial with a 3-5 scoreline. Ready Steady Tokyo winner Emma Plasschaert (BEL) won the race one and followed up with a tenth which positions her in second. Malaysia’s Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif occupies the bronze medal position.

The light wind masters were always going to prevail in the RS:X fleets and that was so.

Peina Chen (CHN) has all too often dominated the Women’s RS:X in light air and a bullet in the first race of the week showed signs she has not wavered. A ninth, her discard, and a second followed and she is first overall. Wai Yan Ngai (HKG) and Yunxiu Lu (CHN), winner of Ready Steady Tokyo, follow.

Angel Granda-Roque (ESP), Mateo Sanz Lanz (SUI), Mengfan Gao (CHN) and Pierre Le Coq (FRA) jostled for position in the Men’s RS:X fleet and are separated by three points. Apart from Granda-Roque’s 11th from race two, which he discards, the quartet did not place outside of the top four between them. The Spaniard holds the early lead.

Two races were completed in the highly competitive Nacra 17 fleet. Ben Saxton and Nicola Boniface won race one and backed it up with a fourth to lead. Nathan and Haylee Outteridge (AUS) were also consistent, sailing their way to a 5-3 scoreline, and occupy second. Quentin Delapierre and Manon Audinet (FRA) took the day’s other race win.

Croatia’s Josip Olujic won the sole Finn race of the day, beating Nicholas Heiner (NED) and Joan Cardona Mendez (ESP). Hempel World Cup Series Enoshima acts as the Finn Asian qualification regatta for Tokyo 2020 and China’s He Chen, James Dagge (HKG) and Ahmad Ahmadi (IRI) are all fighting for it. Chen finished in 17th, followed by Dagge in 19th and Ahmadi in 21st.

The Japanese Sailing Team is used to seeing a compatriot lead in the Women’s 470 fleet as Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka have dominated for many year’s. However, a new name tops the tree. Yuki Hayashi and Chika Nishidai took the single race win in the 19-boat fleet and lead.

In the Men’s 470, the sole race victory was snapped up by Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox. Japan’s Kazuto Doi and Naoya Kimura and Italy’s Giacomo Ferrari and Giulio Calabrò followed.

Today’s forecast is for strong breeze which may delay or even postpone racing but the schedule is for a 12:00 start.

Sweltering late summer heat in Japan has prompted sailing officials to relax rules on the wearing of lifejackets during the recent Tokyo 2020 test events, as France 24 reports.

Doctors recommended competitors in the Ready Steady Tokyo windsurfing final on Wednesday (21 August) remove their lifejackets in order to combat “dangerous” overheating, said French windsurfer Charline Picon.

This followed changes that allowed athletes to wear jackets fitted with ice packs, she added, while World Sailing is reportedly working on changes over issues with breathability in the Lycra clothing worn.

Other changes under consideration include compulsory cool-down breaks for athletes, and a limit on how hot the water temperature can be before events are halted.

Irish aquatic athletes made a strong showing this week at Enoshima on Sagami Bay, about 60km south-west of Tokyo — with Finn Lynch just narrowly missing the Laser medal race, and 49erFX sailor Saskia Tidey awaiting confirmation of a Tokyo berth with Team GB after her bronze medal win with Charlotte Dobson.

France24 has more on the story HERE.

The Royal Irish Yacht Club’s Saskia Tidey and her Team GB sailing partner Charlotte Dobson have launched a crowdfunding campaign to support their efforts to qualify for the 49erFX class in next summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The pair, who finished seventh among a strong field of contender at the 49erFX Europeans last month, say they have reached a “hurdle” in their present fundraising efforts.

“The level of financial backing we have needed to maintain podium positions has now exceeded beyond what our campaign budget is capable of.”

But with additional backing, they say, “we absolutely believe we can complete and deliver the training programme we have planned to bring home a medal”.

Saskia and Charlotte have set a £5,000 of which they have raised nearly a quarter in less than a week.

For more on the pair’s campaign, see their GoFundMe page HERE.

Read the pair’s full appeal below:

We are Olympians Saskia Tidey & Charlotte Dobson. Team mates onboard our 49er FX Olympic class skiff dinghy representing Great Britain on the British Sailing team. We need your help!

After the Rio 2016 Olympic games concluded we left with fire in our bellies and our eyes and hearts set on the goal to medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

For three years we have battled on the International World Sailing circuit to bring home medal winning performances for Great Britain. It has been a honour to fly the flag and and a privilege to be under the pressure of striving for greatness.

Unfortunately we have reached a hurdle in our campaign which we are finding increasingly difficult to jump. The level of financial backing we have needed to maintain podium positions has now exceeded beyond what our campaign budget is capable of. With additional funds we absolutely believe we can complete and deliver the training programme we have planned to bring home a medal.

This summer we will represent Great Britain at the 2019 Olympic Test event in Japan. Please follow our journey and donate before August 2019 to help us reach the gold standard program we need to continue to succeed!

With Tokyo 2020 just around the corner we are seeking help and support from anyone would would like to join our journey and help us keep on the podium for Great Britain in 2020!

Sailing is a sport that can be overlooked and misunderstood but it is an exhilarating sport which is accessible to everyone and we would love to entice more viewers to enjoy it too!

Please help us on on our journey!

Follow our story on Instagram @gbr_44fx

Help Spread the word! 

Charlotte & Saskia xox

The Olympics is not the “Holy Grail” for Jenny Egan despite her recent international success in sprint and marathon kayaking.

In a new Q&A with the Irish Examiner, the Leixlip-based paddler talks her beginnings in the sport (“Mum says I was in a boat before I was born”), the setbacks she’s faced along the way, and why her passion for kayaking outweighs any disappointments.

Last August, Egan became was the first Irish athlete to medal at the ICF Senior Canoe Sprint World Championships with a bronze — something she rates as highly as a podium finish at the Olympics.

“Of course, it would be a dream come true to qualify and race at Tokyo 2020, but I remember one Irish Olympian who pointed out that there are European and World Championships every year and you could be a world champion, but maybe not perform at the Olympic Games, as it only comes around every four years, whereas, these events are of an extremely high level and are every year.”

The Irish Examiner has much more on the story HERE.

With only one result out of five so far in the top half of her fleet (two groups with 24 in each group), it looks like Annalise Murphy sailing with Katie Tingle will not make the 49erFX gold fleet at the World Cup Series in Genoa.

The Olympic silver medallist and Tingle had a 13th and a 19th yesterday in tricky light winds at their first World Cup event together.

“Annalise and Katie are doing really well considering it's their first competition in a new boat,” said Rory Fitzpatrick, Head Coach with Irish Sailing. “They aren’t quite into Gold fleet yet but they are on a steep learning curve and making rapid progress along it."

Murphy and Tingle are currently in 32nd place overall in their 49-boat event.

Qualification rounds in most classes conclude today and stage final races on Saturday to determine medal race top-10 finishers.

At the World Sailing Cup Series in Italy today, Ireland's Finn Lynch is eyeing the top of the Laser leaderboard after four races sailed in a continuation of top form for the National Yacht Club sailor. After top medal race results achieved in Florida in January and Spain earlier this month, the 22-year old is now sitting in third overall in another stand-out performance in some tricky five to seven-knot breezes in the Gulf of Genoa.

If the solo sailor can match or better his seventh in Miami or fourth in Palma it will be a perfect Mediterranean birthday gift for the Carlow native who turns 23 next Tuesday.

Finn Lynch is excelling in ultra-competitive racing and timid five-knot winds on the Gulf of Genoa Photo: Sailing Energy

Three Laser blue races and two yellow races were completed. Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) sailed his way to a second, tenth and a 36th. His 36th does not yet count as the yellow fleet are a race behind. He holds the lead, with Lynch hovering in the background with a second scored in race four, but Stipanovic currently discards his tenth but his discard will be his 36th once the yellow fleet catch-up.

Finn Lynch's impressive results so far in Genoa put him in third overall

Most of the competitors hold high scores so once the yellow fleet complete their fourth, plenty more shuffling around is expected in the 111-boat fleet.

Radial Still Waiting to Race

The Laser Radial pushed to complete a race but it was just not possible as the wind died towards the latter part of the afternoon. Line Flem Høst (NOR) and Maud Jayet (SUI) remain tied on a point each after one yellow and blue race. Tipperary’s Aisling Keller and Howth’s Aoife Hopkins are waiting for a second race in the series.

Full results are here. Check out all our Irish Olympic sailing coverage in the build-up to Tokyo 2020 here

Annalise Murphy has received a major boost to her 49erFX campaign for Tokyo 2020 as Mercedes-Benz has extended its support to the Olympic silver medallist.

The National Yacht Club hero recently resumed training without direct funding support from Sport Ireland, as her absence from competition due to Volvo Ocean Race commitments ruled her out of the €40,000-per-annum programme.

But now the 29-year-old Rathfarnham sailing star has renewed her ‘Tier One’ partnership arrangement with Mercedes-Benz, availing of a new X-Class pickup to transport her and team-mate Katie Tingle to events here in Ireland and abroad.

“Having the Mercedes-Benz X-Class is a major boost to my training regime and my ambitions for Tokyo,” she says. “I am really looking forward to giving my preparation the X-tra power that the stylish new X-Class delivers.”

Soon to be a regular sight at 49erFX events, the 190hp X-Class is finished in the Kabara black, silver and grey livery similar to that on her previous Mercedes-Benz Vito Mixto van.

Equipped to tow her and Katie’s 49erFX, its features include 4MATIC 4x4 automatic transmission, chrome style bar, bed liner and bed cover in body-matching colour, reversing camera, cruise control power, rear sliding window and a style pack that includes roof rails and side steps.

Wishing Annalise every success on her road to Tokyo, Fergus Conheady, sales manager for Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles, said: “We are proud to continue our support for Annalise, one of Ireland’s most admired Olympians.”

The renewed support for Annalise Murphy could not come at a better time, as she and Katie prepare for their first big test of their qualifying campaign at the World Cup event in Genoa, Italy next week.

Royal Irish Yacht Club's Saskia Tidey has taken bronze for Team GB in the 49erFX class with her sailing partner Charlotte Dobson at the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma at the weekend.

Brazil’s Olympic gold medalists Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze were in the box seats for the overall win in the FX skiff class, leading into the Medal race by 17 points they needed only a solid final race to be assured of an impressive return to the class after Grael competed in the Volvo Ocean Race with Akzo Nobel. A capsize near to the finish line of a breezy, on-the-edge final race perhaps cost them a chance of winning the women’s class before the medal race.

“We missed out there.” Grimaced Grael, “With the rain coming through it was pretty windy with big shifts on the race course. But it was fun. I guess we have to wait for tomorrow now.”

Grael and Kunze lost no time in getting back to the FX after the Volvo Race finished but helm Grael says they are still getting back to fitness:

“We did the worlds, the test event in Japan and Miami. We are getting back to it, missing a bit in the strong winds and that was maybe a little bit evident today. These last two days we have felt the lack of training in the strong breeze.”

Two of Ireland’s most promising sailors in Aoife Hopkins and Katie Tingle have been the subject of separate profiles in recent days.

Katie Tingle has been making her big comeback after a broken arm put her and Annalise Murphy’s 49erFX training regimen on pause last autumn.

But it’s also been part of a longer return for the Cork sailor, who swapped competitive racing for coaching after success in the Optimist class as a junior last decade.

A reconnection with former junior peer Annalise on the Wednesday night scene in Dublin led to a fateful phone call a year ago, from the Olympic silver medallist to the primary school teacher: did Katie want to join her 49erFX Olympic campaign?

“I don’t think she’d have asked me if she didn’t think I could do it and I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t think deep down that I could do it either,” Katie tells The42.ie.

The 29-year-old was already deep into training and conditioning when Annalise returned from her stint in the Volvo Ocean Race, and the two started getting to grips with their new boat on Dublin Bay — the Olympian learning from Katie who had previous experience in two-handed dinghies.

However, a freak incident just weeks into training left Katie with a broken arm — and out of the water for four crucial months.

As needs must, Annalise shortly after resumed training over the winter in the warmer climes of Portugal, with Adam Hyland in Katie’s stead — while Katie hit the gym as soon as doctors allowed get back on the road to sailing fitness.

Earlier this year Annalise and Katie, how fully healed up, reunited and got back in their groove with the challenging 49erFX as their first big test — and first Tokyo 2020 qualifier — looms in Genoa just two weeks from now.

Aoife Hopkins weight training | Photo: Irish Sailing

Another young sailor who faces a big test in Genoa is Howth Yacht Club’s Aoife Hopkins.

The Laser Radial ace not only steps into the significant gap left by Annalise Murphy, whose Rio 2016 silver medal was in the class — she’s also in competition with teammate Aisling Keller for the single slot available to Ireland.

Aoife tells The Irish Times how she juggles the training regimen of her Tokyo 2020 campaign with the demands of her maths degree at Trinity College, not to mention the various expenses associated with performance sailing at the highest level.

In a boost to their aspirations, Aoife and her fellow performance sailors now benefit from Irish Sailing's new Performance Headquarters in Dun Laoghaire, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.