ISAF World Sailing Championships
ISAF WORLD SAILING CHAMPIONSHIPS: Cascais, Portugal, July 3 to 13, 2007.
Third Competition Day: July 5
Irish Sailors competing in classes Finn, Star, Laser and Laser Radial
O'Connell & Cooke make the gold fleet, lying 12 th overall after 6 races.
Solid start by the two Irish sailors in the Finn class
Star
The 5th and 6th races in the Star series took place this afternoon.
Maurice O'Connell & Ben Cooke, finished 8 th and 6th to reach 12th overall.
Max Treacy & Anthony Shanks, finished 6th and 23rd to lie 38 th overall.
These classifications are calculated with one discard score from the opening six races.
After six races the competitors are divided into a gold and silver fleet. With their excellent form O'Connell & Cooke qualified for the gold fleet of the top 30 boats. Following tomorrow's rest day, they will resume competing for a high finish and a nation spot for Ireland at next year's Olympic Games, with 11 on offer at this regatta. Despite a strong effort Treacy & Shanks will race in the silver fleet and cannot finish higher than 31 st overall.
Finn
The Finn class commenced today with two races. 73 entries resulted in the fleet being divided into two sections.
Tim Goodbody and Aaron O'Grady are competing for Ireland in this event. 19 of the 26 nation sports at the 2008 Beijing Games will be allocated at the end of the regatta.
Tim Goodbody placed 10th and 13th in his section to lie 21st overall.
Aaron O'Grady placed 25th and 14th in his section to lie 37th overall.
Laser Radial
The 3rd and 4th races took place in the Laser Radial. With 107 entries from 50 countries the fleet was divided into two.
Claudine Murphy, finished 9th and 26th to lie 53rd overall.
Debbie Hanna, finished 33rd and 25th to lie 54th overall.
Annalise Murphy, finished 49th and 27th to lie 61st overall.
Ciara Peelo finished 38th and 21st to 63rd overall.
The Irish competitors race tomorrow for a place in the gold fleet. They will need big performances to get into contention, perhaps with Claudine Murphy best placed as she will be able to discard her low score form yesterday's black flag in race 2.
Laser
150 sailors from 60 countries are competing in the class, meaning the fleet is split into three races. Races 3 and 4 took place today.
Roger Craig finished 22nd and 23rd to lie 65th overall.
James Espey, finished 27th and 31st to lie 100th overall.
Races 5 & 6 tomorrow will determine the gold fleet with exceptional performance required to get into that fleet for the rest of the week.
James O'Callaghan, ISA Performance Director: "O'Callaghan and Cooke have put in an outstanding effort so far, reaching gold fleet on the back of consistent high finishes is a fine performance. They are very much in the mix at these Championships.
The two Finn boats started their campaigns solidly today and didn't race themselves out of contention. It will be a long competition and it is important not to lose touch in the early stages. The Laser and Laser Radial sailors have a big day tomorrow and need to produce something special if they want to get into the gold fleet.
Tomorrow is a rest day for the Star class and the RS:X class commences. The Irish representative in that class Richard White will be joined in action by the representatives in Finn, Laser and Laser Radial.
These results are provisional and are subject to appeal. Protest may be lodged up to 90 minutes after the final race of the day has finished.
Further information from
Bernadette Fox, 087-956 9012
Paul McDermott 087-648 6295
pmcdermott@irishsportscouncil.ie
Notes
The Championship is a single regatta that determines the world champions in the 11 Olympic sailing classes. Furthermore it will determine up to 75% of nation places for the Olympic regatta at the 2008 Olympic Games.
The Irish squad, comprising in total 19 sailors in 14 boats, compete in 7 of the 11 disciplines. While each class competition varies slightly the format is usually 10 races over 6 race days, with a final race for the top ten boats to determine medal positions.
A Team Ireland Media Guide has been prepared. It is available on www.irishsportscoucil.ie and www.sailing.ie and on request from Bernadette Fox.
Updates on Irish performances at the World Championships will be provide daily. The competition is scheduled to start at 1.00 pm each day, with final results available in the evening time.
Issued on behalf of the ISA by the Irish Sports Council