Irish Sailing's Finn Lynch opens European Championships with two top six places
by Treasa Cox 16 Nov 2022 10:04 PST
16-21 November 2022
Two top six places for Ireland's Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) on the opening day of the ILCA 7 European Championships in Hyères, France today is an ideal start for the final major event of the season in the build-up to Paris 2024.
Conditions built steadily during the short day afloat to a brisk offshore wind that brought mixed results for the seven Irish sailors competing.
Rio 2016 Olympic veteran Lynch lies 12th in this 169 boat event in the ILCA7 class (formerly known as the Laser Standard) with two more days of qualifying races remaining to decide the Gold fleet split.
"It was a great day in very tricky conditions so to come away with a six and a five is very good for day one," the Carlow sailor said after racing. "The four or even five days of regattas like these you just need to stay in the game, stay in the game and then see where you are on the last day."
The course was shorter than expected at just 0.7 nautical miles so getting a good start was important. "Where to start on the line was important because there wasn't that much catching up to be done on the upwind (first leg) so you needed to start in the perfect position."
Meanwhile, triple youth Gold medallist Eve McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) opted to take a penalty in a post-race arbitration session for an incident at a busy mark-rounding in the second race of the day.
In 59th overall after day one, she will be looking to climb the rankings to contest in gold fleet.
Meanwhile, the remaining McMahon siblings were also in action in the Men's event. Jamie McMahon delivered an eleventh place in the second race of the day which with his earlier 36th place moved him to 64th overall in his flight. Older brother Ewan was unable to find form in either race and incurred maximum points.
Howth clubmate Rocco Wright laid down a very clear statement of intent in the ILCA 6 men's event where he leads overall after a race win and second place for the day. Although not an Olympic class in itself, as a stepping-stone to senior level the transition year student continues his upwards trajectory after his Youth World Championship win earlier this summer.
The series continues with more qualification races on Thursday and into Friday before the final rounds build towards Monday's (21st November) conclusion.
Event website and results: 2022-senior.eurilca-europeans.org/results