Missing the shift for Irish sailors at European championships in Hyères
by Treasa Cox 19 Nov 2022 14:11 PST
16-21 November 2022
After three days of fresh to strong conditions off the Côte d'Azur, light and tricky winds today (Saturday 19th November 2022, Hyères, France) had a dampening effect on the prospects for the Irish sailors competing at the ILCA European Championships.
Slight changes in wind direction during a race can dramatically alter a sailor's standing on a race course and heavy reliance is placed on predicting such alterations.
The ILCA7 men's Course A was tucked in under a nearby mountain of the Massif des Maures range which produced some significant windshifts for the two races completed for the day.
Rio 2016 Olympian and world silver medallist Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) had been hoping that the first day of Gold fleet racing would lead to a breakthrough from 15th overall into the top ten.
Instead, he was caught in both races on the wrong side of the early shifts and he placed 41st and 44th which dropped him to 28th overall. The event is still relatively high scoring and with four races remaining in the series, a comeback from the Carlow sailor is not unlikely.
Meanwhile, in the ILCA6 women's event, Eve McMahon (Howth YC) had been having a good opening Gold fleet race, sitting in the top ten on the first upwind leg. However, she later suffered when other boats took more chances that paid off and she ended in 24th place and 29th overall.
In the ILCA6 Men's event, Rocco Wright (Howth YC) in second overall started the only race of the day which he was leading until the wind changed so the race was abandoned. Nothing further was sailed after five hours afloat for either ILCA6 women or men's events.
The race management team will try to sail three races on Sunday, the penultimate day of the regatta when results will prove critical for Monday's final outcome of the championships.