Following three days of qualification round racing at the ILCA7 World Championships, Ireland’s Finn Lynch (National YC) is comfortably into the Gold fleet series that starts in Puerto Vallarta in Mexico today (Thursday).
The Carlow sailor slipped from eighth to eleventh place overnight when gear failure in race six left him unable to compete. He had placed tenth in the first race of the day.
Ewan McMahon (Howth Yacht YC) has ended the regatta after missing out on Gold fleet qualification due to an illness that left him unable to hike fully in the medium wind conditions
“It was another good day with perfect sailing conditions of 12 to 18 knots,” said Irish Sailing’s Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar. “We’re learning this venue and the mix between the sea breeze and gradient wind that makes it very tricky to sail.”
The wind conditions have placed an added premium on the physicality of the boat which has impacted on McMahon’s prospects for Mexico.
“Ewan isn’t able to perform because of his injury, it doesn’t make any sense to (continue) sail and make things worse,” said Zbogar. “There’s too much pain and too much anti-inflammatories and pain-killers (needed).”
However, Rio 2016 Olympian Lynch has fared better in the series so far.
“Finn had an okay day and was in seventh or eighth in the first race but made contact with another boat so ended tenth. In the second race, his downhaul rope broke but fortunately, it was the last race and it is discarded so it’s acceptable – the points are close, and there’s a lot in play in the finals.”
The event permits one discard to apply to the qualification round while a second discard will be available in the final round.
The ILCA7 (formerly the Laser) is the Men’s single-handed event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Qualification for the Marseille regatta in just over two years’ time will be at next year’s combined Sailing World Championships in The Netherlands with another opportunity at the 2024 worlds.
