Donaghadee Sailing Club's Oisin McClelland opened his Finn Europeans Championships account with a 14th after a first day of big waves and light winds for the Ulsterman in Cadiz, Spain.

McClelland is the only Irishman in the 89–boat Olympic class fleet following the withdrawal of Baltimore's Under–23 Finn Bronze Medalist, Fionn Lyden, due to illness.

Nicholas Heiner, from The Netherlands, won the only race possible on the opening day. Caleb Paine, from the USA, and Facundo Olezza, from Argentina are joint second.

With 30 U23 sailors, it is the largest youth fleet at the Europeans for some time. 2015 Junior World Champion, Ondrej Teply, from Czech Republic leads from Joan Cardona Mendez, of Spain and Guillaume Boissard, of France.

A three metre swell, left over from the storm that caused Sunday's practice race to be abandoned, made for an interesting day in the Bay of Cadiz, but the light and patchy winds meant that only one race was completed, with the second race abandoned near the end of the first upwind.

Defending champion Jonathan Lobert said, "It was a tricky day with big waves and light winds. The waves were much bigger then the wind. I had a wonderful start and was leading by miles on the left side of the course and I don't know what happened but fifty metres before the top mark I suddenly lost all my lead, but then I managed to survive to finish fourth, so not too bad for a day like today."

Three races are scheduled for Tuesday, with the forecast showing stronger winds and rain. The first warning signal is scheduled for 11.00

Results after one race:
1. Nicholas Heiner, NED
2. Caleb Paine, USA
3. Facundo Olezza, ARG
4. Jonathan Lobert, FRA
5. Oliver Tweddell, AUS
6. Josh Junior, NZL
7. Alican Kaynar, TUR
8. Piotr Kula, POL
9. Edward Wright, GBR
10. Ondrej Teply, CZE

Full results here.

Ireland has two sailors among the ninety-six Finn sailors from 33 countries counting down the days to next week's Open and U23 Finn European Championship in Cadiz, Spain. 

Oisin McClelland from Donaghdee Sailing Club and Fionn Lyden from Baltimore Sailing Club are both contesting the championships as part of their campaign towards Tokyo 2020. See the entry list here.

UPDATE: Fionn Lyden is no longer taking part due to illness.

Many of the Finn sailors involved have been training for months at the venue for the first big test of the year as the fleet gears up for the first Olympic qualifier in Aarhus, Denmark in August.

The high-calibre fleet includes 12 Rio Olympians, three former world champions and three former European champions. The defending champion is Jonathan Lobert, from France, the London 2012 bronze medalist, who took the gold in Marseille last year, the sailing venue for the 2024 Olympics.

Some of the biggest threats for Lobert's title defence are likely to come from current World Champion, Max Salminen, from Sweden, last year's second and third placed, Ed Wright and Ben Cornish, from Britain, Rio bronze medalist Caleb Paine, from the USA, Australian, Jake Lilley, and Alican Kaynar from Turkey.

Kaynar won last week's Andalusian Olympic Week and has shown steady improvement since the Rio Games, including a bronze in Miami earlier this year.

The championship opens on Friday 9 March, with a series of 10 races from Monday 12 to Friday 16 March, followed by the medal race for the top ten on Saturday 17 March.

More on the event website HERE.

Ireland has always played a role in the affairs of World Sailing, formerly ISAF, formerly IYRU. The peak of Irish representation was in the years from 1998 to 2004, when Dubliner Ken Ryan served as Vice President.

Today, the representation isn’t at such a high level, but Irish Sailing is involved in key World Sailing Committees and maintains its place on the World Sailing Council. While Irish Sailing has nominated most of those listed below, Commissions are appointed by the Board and some have been appointed by the International Class they are affiliated with. Currently listed as IRL on World Sailing Commissions and committees are:

Council Marcus Spillane
Sailor Classification Commission David Meagher, Donal McClement, Jamie Wilkinson
Equipment Committee Cathy MacAleavy
Equipment Rules sub-Committee Curly Morris
Events Committee
Match Racing sub-Committee Michael O’Connor
Oceanic and Offshore Committee Paddy Boyd
Race Officials Committee Bill O’Hara
International Umpires sub-Committee Bill O’Hara
Race Management sub-Committee Con Murphy
Racing Rules Committee Bill O’Hara
World Sailing Classes Committee Curly Morris (Equipment Rules rep)

The World Sailing Annual Conference takes place later this week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Attending World Sailing's Mexico Conference from Ireland is Bill O'Hara, Marcus Spillane, Paddy Boyd, Con Murphy and Cathy MacAleavey. 

Much of the focus at World Sailing Conferences is on the equipment that is chosen for Olympic Games. While the 2020 Games will use the classes that were used in Rio, the battle is on for selection for Paris 2024.

Bill O'Hara of Belfast Lough

The final decision on this will not be taken until the 2018 Conference, but the debate is well under way, with the ”at risk” classes already lobbying to avoid the chop. World Sailing is seeking to align its Games strategy with the IOC’s Agenda 2020, so this November the discussion will be of a strategic nature considering the questions of gender equity (required by 2024), mixed classes, multi-medals (without increasing the quota) and evaluating new disciplines such as team racing, match racing and offshore events.

Four of the ten events will be reviewed in 2018, which four to be determined at the May 2018 meeting. The final decision on the events and the equipment used in those events will be made by the end of 2018, most likely at the 2018 November Conference. Currently, the men’s heavyweight event (Finn), is the only event not populated by both genders and as such will be under pressure.

The 470 is also coming under scrutiny as a dated class with one-design control issues, while the RS:X is also under threat as the equipment doesn’t enjoy popular appeal.

Removal of current events paves the way for consideration of an offshore two-handed mixed discipline, but the debate will also look at a more innovative approach, such as creating a team or match racing event amongst the athletes already selected, improving the medal count without increasing the total attendance.

Elsewhere on the agenda, amongst the usual governance issues, there are a couple of interesting proposals. One is to create a “Champion of Champions” event for World Champions in keelboat classes, similar in concept to Ireland's own 'All Irelands' competition.

In another initiative, the World Sailing Board is proposing to host an Offshore World Championships, two-handed, mixed gender in one-design boats. This is seen as a move to have IOC consider this discipline for future Olympic Games. it is most likely to be under review next year.

The World Sailing Annual Conference runs from November 4 to November 12, 2017.

#Finn - Fionn Lyden and Oisin McClelland both secured a top 50 finish at the 2017 Finn Gold Cup, which came to a close in Hungary yesterday (Sunday 10 September).

Baltimore’s Lyden, at 40th, finished seven places ahead of Donaghadee’s McClelland, his chief rival for a coveted spot for Ireland in the Finn class at Tokyo 2020.

Max Salminen from Sweden claimed his first Finn world title in a close and intense medal race between the top 10 sailors yesterday, one that sailed despite a persisting light breeze.

For the Irish, however, the competition was decided by day four, with lack of wind seeing racing cancelled on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 September.

McClelland, who was competing in his second Finn Gold Cup, is one of three sailors receiving support through the Finn Class Development Programme (FIDeS), which includes part-funding to train at the Dinghy Academy in Valencia.

The Northern Irish prospect has already spent most of 2017 training in Valencia with the new group that has formed there.

“We got some pretty good training in over the summer,” he told the Finn class’ Robert Deaves. “After the European Championship [in Marseille, in May] I felt that I had made a big step forwards in boat speed and set up.”

Though he fell short of his goal of a top 30 placing in Hungary, McClelland is confident that continued training and experience in big events with tricky conditions, such as those the fleet dealt with last week, will see the desired results.

“There has definitely been glimpses of speed and getting where I’d like to be,” he said, noting one highlight was leading the fleet round the first mark in the first race of the series.

“The FIDEs funding has been a big help this season, giving me a more stress-free time to train and not worry about the money.”

Next for McClelland is a solid winter of training in Valencia. “I think this season was a lot of building,” he said. “I learnt a lot, made some steps and next year I just have to put it all together and move forward.

“Obviously the goals are a bit higher next year, but the progress is still there. I am still making progress every day I am on the water.”

McClellan also spoke highly of his rival Lyden, who came into the Finn Gold Cup on the back of a bronze ay the U23 Worlds at the same venue on Balaton.

“With another competitor from the same country, it’s going to make you wake up better in the morning. When you are feeling a bit groggy in the morning it’s definitely great motivation.

“We get along well and we are making plans to train together next season as well.”

#Finn - For the more veteran sailing enthusiasts, Johnny Durcan’s recent brush with death may have brought to mind a similar incident in Dun Laoghaire during the 1970 Finn Europeans.

“I was completely waterlogged. My lungs were full of water. I had given up,” says Gerardo Seeliger of that fateful day on Dublin Bay when his Finn came a cropper in high winds.

However, much like Australia’s Simon Hoffman and Spain’s Santiago Alegre went to Durcan’s rescue, Seeliger owes his own life to Hungarian Finn sailor György Fináczy — who had spotted the Spaniard’s upturned hull and abandoned his own race to pull him out of the water.

Back then, Hungary was behind the Iron Curtain, placing restrictions on its citizens’ travel abroad. That meant Fináczy was unable to receive the special prize for good sportsmanship from the Spanish Olympic committee as nominated by Seeliger.

However, sailing competitions were an exception — prompting the inaugural Palamos Christmas Race, which started with just Seeliger and Fináczy but soon grew into one of the world’s premier Finn class events.

It’s 47 years since that dramatic day in Dun Laoghaire, and both Seeliger and Fináczy have since become legends in their class. This week they met for the first time in 30 years at the Finn Gold Cup in Hungary, where Baltimore’s Fionn Lyden and Donaghadee’s Oisin McClelland, at 44th and 49th respectively overall, are battling for position going into day five.

Fionn Lyden of Baltimore Sailing Club, who initially drew attention as an immediate star of university sailing in his first year at College in Cork in 2015, may only have become active in the demanding Olympic Finn Class in December. But his progress in it has been rapid, and last month’s 2017 U23 Finn Worlds on Late Balaton in Hungary saw him taking the Bronze Medal in a style which impressed the most seasoned observers of this special and demanding class, and has made him Afloat.ie “Sailor of the Month” for August 2017.

This week sees the 21–year-old Lyden in the maelstrom of the 124-boat Finn Gold Cup – the Worlds – at the same venue. The Baltimore SC and UCC–supported rising star goes into it with extra confidence on the strength of his showing in the U23 series, and Ireland has an emerging talent who is attracting remarkable levels of international interest.

An obviously able young sailor who shows a refreshing interest in the highly-technical aspects of his specialised boat, Fionn Lyden bears a passing resemblance to the young Bruce Springsteen, and has shown he can sail with the best of them in the quintessential Olympic class. As the old saying would have it, what’s not to like?

Fionn Lyden’s alter ego, the young Bruce Springsteen in full performance mode

Another long day of waiting for wind was rewarded with two late races on Day 4 of the U23 Finn World Championship in Balatonfüred, Hungary. Oskari Muhonen, from Finland, won the day to now lead the fleet by five points. He very nearly won both races. Baltimore Sailing Club's Fionn Lyden had a stellar day to climb to third.

As reported earlier by Afloat.ie, the UCC engineering switched from the Laser to the Finn last Christmas and has been training hard ever since. The Top Irish youth sailor is only seven points off the lead.

Facundo Olezza, from Argentina, had a day to forget and dropped to second.

The long postponement was lifted just after 15.30 when a light southerly established itself on the lake following a day of zero breeze and sweltering temperatures. By race time it was 6-8 knots and the best breeze the sailors had seen for three days.

Lyden led round the top after favouring the left from Henry Wetherell, from Britain, and Joan Cardona Méndez, of Spain. Lyden still led at the gate but a crazy second beat let Wetherell through to the lead. He looked to have it sealed but Muhonen caught him downwind, and was ahead at the gate, but on the outside. Wetherall just crossed the finish ahead, but overlapped with Muhonen, with Lyden a comfortable third.

Three of the top 10 picked up a UFD starting penalty, including regatta leader Olezza.

Race 6 was started without delay to make best use of the breeze and this time Lars Johan Brodtkorb led at the top but he infringed Muhonen, who took the lead and sailed away for a huge win. The next boat was not even round the leeward mark as he crossed the finish.

Lyden controlled second place all the way with Jack Arnell, from Britain, moving up to third on the second beat, but was then passed by Brodtkorb on the final downwind.

As the fleet finished, the wind was still in place, albeit lighter, and the race team tried to get a third race in but after two false starts they called it a day with the setting sun spreading its golden light across the usually green Lake Balaton.

Lyden said of the day, “I thought we were done with sailing today, but then they sent out which was good. Both starts were very pin end biased and I managed to get away quite nicely. I was good both top marks and from there I just tried to cover the fleet as best I could to protect the left hand side, which seems to be good here.”

He said he is enjoying his first Finn regatta. “It’s good so far. It’s a really friendly and nice class, and I am looking forward to the Gold Cup as well next week.”

“I love sailing the Finn. I love the more technical side to it and the downwind with free pumping.”

Muhonen moved from sixth to first overall after his day’s work and is now where he wants to be.

“After the bronze in the youth Europeans this year I was thinking about the gold here, as well as getting some good training before the gold cup, but I would just be happy with a medal.”

Muhonen has only been in the class for just over a year. “I came into the Finn because I got to big for the Laser.” Before that he sailed Optimist, Europe and Laser. He won a few National titles in the Europe, and was 10th at the Laser youth worlds.

On Friday’s racing he said, “It was a pretty good day. Not as shifty as the first days.”

On the race win, “I got a pretty good start in the middle and let the Irish guy cross me and went for the left and the pressure. And then I was first at the top mark and pretty much stayed there.”

He trains a lot with his fellow Finn sailors Mikael Hyrylainen and triple Olympian Tapio Nirkko, as well as Max Salmimen from Sweden. “We also get a lot of help from the Federation, so that’s good as well.”

At the Europeans this year he finished as top Finnish sailor. He has his sights firmly set on the long term goals. “My long term goal is definitely Tokyo; and Olympics after that as well.”

He says the most attractive part of Finn sailing to him is the downwind. “Downwind sailing is pretty great, with free pumping and the physical aspect. It’s definitely a good boat to sail.”

“Also the social side of the class is great. Especially this regatta, which has been very well organised.”

He feels he is having a good regatta so far. “It feels good to be leading now, definitely. Two more days to go.”

If today shows anything it is that Balaton still has a lot of surprises in store, and no one can rely on anything. Day 4 produced lots of high scores throughout the leader board and lots of lessons learned. There are still a maximum of six races left to sail, so the championship could be considered only half way through, with just two days to go.

Results after 6 races
1 FIN 8 Oskari Muhonen 20
2 ARG 48 Facundo Olezza 25
3 IRL 22 Fionn Lyden 27
4 GBR 71 Henry Wetherell 30
5 NOR 9 Lars Johan Brodtkorb 41
6 USA 91 Luke Muller 46
7 CZE 5 Ondrej Teply 48
8 SWE 11 Johannes Pettersson 50
9 GBR 96 Hector Simpson 52
10 FRA 9 Guillaume Boisard 52

Fionn Lyden holds fourth overall after light airs continued to dominate the Finn Silver Cup in Hungary. As Afloat.ie reported yesterday, Baltimore's latest additon to the roll of sailors seeking a place on the Tokyo 2020 start line has got his campaign off to a positive start against some of the top youth sailors in the world. Lyden's move to the heavyweight Finn dinghy makes the headlines in the Irish Times Sailing Column here this morning. 

Sebastian Kalafarski of Poland confidently won the only race possible on the third day of racing at the 2017 U23 Finn World Championship for the Silver Cup. However Facundo Olezza of Argentina still holds a 13-point advantage at the top. Luke Muller from USA moves up three places to second while Brit, Henry Wetherell drops one to third.

After a day of waiting around on shore for breeze the fleet was finally sent out mid-afternoon as a light southerly slowly developed. After one false start, the fleet got away in 4-6 knots, but it was relatively steady in direction for a change.

Highlights from Day 3 of the 2017 U23 Finn World Championships below: 

The left side paid with those starting at the pin in the leading group. Joan Cardona Mendez, from Spain, rounded first from Muller and Kalafarski, who started at the boat end. The main group went right on the run, which allowed Kalafarski to sneak through to leeward and round the gate ahead. He locked into the lifting shift up the second beat and was untouchable from then on, holding a nice lead at the top and down to the finish in the gradually fading wind.

Lars Johan Brodtkorb, from Norway, who had made a great start at the pin, rounded fifth and then caught the leaders on the second upwind to round second, which he just held to the finish from a fast chasing pack. Cardona Mendez crossed in third.

By this point the wind had evaporated in the hot Balaton air, but the race committee persevered and 40 minutes later a new breeze arrived. However it didn’t last long and after one false start, the fleet was sent home soon after.

The single race though meant that the championship is now valid one with four races completed and looking at the forecast for the next few days, that is a relief for the organisers.

Muller commented, “It was a bit tricky. I tried to get off the line clean and the guys who turned out best tacked right off the line and held on port for a long time and from there it was really just staying in pressure and keeping the boat speed up.”

“We finished in quite light breeze and then the wind died off. We had surges of pressure come down and the PRO was really trying to gun for another one.”

“I am really happy how I am sailing and working with Luther [Carpenter, his coach] is fantastic and a really big privilege.”

Kalafarski was clearly pleased with the race win. “I started near to the race committee and going to the right side and later I tacked and went with the front group. I was fourth at the top.”

“I like the light wind, and the weather from today is very good for me. I want tomorrow to be the same. I feel very good, it’s fantastic to win the race.”

One of the new sailors here this week is Guillaume Boisard, from France, now in ninth overall after a 14th today.

“Sailing the Finn was for me one of my biggest ambitions. This boat is technically demanding and I really like its physical dimension. I consider the Finn as one of most interesting boat to sail. A lot of settings and adjustments exist on this boat, and all these little details can make, at the end, a huge difference between good and very good Finn sailors.”

Boisard, now 20 years old, started sailing in Optmist at Aged 7 before moving through the Europe and Laser classes. His best results were runner-up in the Europe Europeans and a fifth in French Laser Nationals.

He now trains with the group at French National Center in La Rochelle. “My last good results will probably help me to get an athlete high level status for the next season, and in this way I could get some financial help.”

He says he really benefits from the very dynamic La Rochelle dynamic Finn fleet and especially the new French training camp called ‘Master Academy’.

“I sail two to four times a week with very good sailors. I want to mention Laurent Hay, recently second at the World Masters in Barbados, I'm very thankful to him because of all the advice he gave me this season.”

“Sometimes Jonathan Lobert and Fabian Pic sail with us, which is very interesting for me. I had a training session with all of them before coming to Balaton. It makes me feel completely confident for this Silver Cup.”

“Light wind is my specialty, and I would like to benefit from the Balaton Lake to make a good performance.” His goal for the week is top 10 overall. “My strategy and tactics bring me to good positions most of the time and further up in the light wind, where I'm often pretty fast. My technique on the downwind is also one of my main strengths.”

He says he is really enjoying the Finn challenge. “The technical dimension of this boat and all these unique feelings we can only get in this boat. For example, I love free pumping, and you can't really find it sailing on other boats, except the Europe class.”

There seems little chance at the moment of any free pumping soon. The championship may be valid, but only four races have been sailed from seven scheduled so far out of a total of 13.

Expectations for a sailable wind on Friday are small. Already the start time has been delayed until 12.00. There is a chance some breeze could develop during the afternoon, but it depends who you listen to and for how long.

Results after 4 races
1 ARG 48 Facundo Olezza 14
2 USA 91 Luke Muller 27
3 GBR 71 Henry Wetherell 29
4 IRL 22 Fionn Lyden 34
5 CZE 5 Ondrej Teply 38
6 FIN 8 Oskari Muhonen 39
7 SWE 11 Johannes Pettersson 42
8 NOR 9 Lars Johan Brodtkorb 43
9 FRA 9 Guillaume Boisard 44
10 ESP 235 Joan Cardona Mendez 50

Full results here

Baltimore Sailing Club's Fionn Lyden is in the top five of the Finn dinghy under 23 worlds,  the Finn Silver Cup, which started yesterday in Balaton in Hungary.

The move by the 2012 West Cork Laser triallist to the Tokyo 2020 mens heavyweight dinghy shows the depth of his Olympic sailing ambitions.

The talented University College Cork Engineering student counts 11, 4, and 7 to be fourthe from 45 with racing abandoned yesterday due to lack of wind.

Lyden, twice an Afloat.ie Sailor of the Month in 2012 and 2015, made history in 2015 by becoming the first helm to win all races (9) in the Irish Youth Helmsmans Championship, which then entitled him to race in the Seniors, in which he duly won the Silver Medal.

Although clearly one of the most remarkable talents to emerge in Irish sailing in recent years, he has chosen a Corinthian path. Thus most of his efforts and energy over the past few years have been dedicated to study in University College Cork but the move to the Finn is certainly an exciting development that is off to a great start in Hungary.

Despite spending four hours on the water, no more racing was possible at the U23 Finn World Championship at Balatonfüred. The sailors were twice sent out on the water, but both times came back empty handed.

Everyone expected to lose a day or more of racing, but no one expected to lose the second day, which had the second best forecast of the week.

The day began with an AP ashore, which then continued afloat for an hour before the sailors were sent back to shore to wait under a further AP. Finally they were sent back out again as a relativity stable 6-8 knots had settled over the course area. This started to drop and shift as soon as the fleet arrived and despite two attempts to get the race away, at 17.00 the fleet was sent shore again.

Results are here

A 28 and a 32 scored at the 53–boat Finn 2017 European Open Championships leave Ireland's Oisin McClleland from Donaghdee Sailing Club in 29th overall. The Northern Ireland solo sailor is competing at the Yachting Club de la Pointe Rouge, Marseille, France. The competition includes an Under–23 division. 

Ed Wright from Great Britain opened the 2017 Championship with two emphatic race wins after a strong mistral kept the fleet on shore for most of the day. France's Jonathan Lobert was consistent with two fourth places to sit in second, while two fifth places for Anders Pedersen of Norway leaves him in third overnight.

After the practice race was abandoned yesterday, the mistral was still in place for the first full day of racing and though the early indication was that racing would start on time, this was soon rethought as gusts of 37 knots and a very steep sea was recorded on the race area. So the fleet sat on shore under AP under mid afternoon, when finally the wild wind abated slightly, but enough to get some racing underway, though the wind was still topping out at 30 knots.

Each race started with one general recall and then the black flag. The race was really one of two halves: in the starting area big waves and 25 knot winds; at the top mark, 10 knots, flat water and 60 degree shifts, with the windward mark set a few hundred metres of the high ground of L'ile de Pomegues.

The first race was initially led by class veteran Rob McMillan, now of Australia, who had a 30 second lead round the top mark. However his training partner, Wright, had taken the lead on the second upwind to extend down the reaches for his first win of the day, followed by Hungarian Zsombor Berecz and Ben Cornish of Great Britain.

The second race was much the same with the strong winds at the start line giving way to huge random shifts the further the fleet progressed up the course. This time Wright led all the way round, to win from Sweden's Max Salminen and the young Nenad Bugarin from Croatia.

The fleet finally came ashore after 19.00, exhausted, but happy after an awesome day of Finn sailing.

Racing in the opening series continues until Saturday, with the Semi-final and Final scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Top ten after two races
1. Edward Wright, GBR, 2
2. Jonathan Lobert, FRA, 8
3. Anders Pedersen, NOR, 10
4. Max Salminen, SWE, 11
5. Ben Cornish, GBR, 11
6. Zsombor Berecz, HUN, 12
7. Milan Vujasinovic, CRO, 17
8. Oliver Tweddell, AUS, 19
9. Ioannis Mitakis, GRE, 21
10. Henry Wetherell, GBR, 21