SAILING Ireland's Second Europa Cup Win: Denmark 2009

Despite a black flag in the penultimate race, Dun Laoghaire sailor Matty O'Dowd has clinched his first Laser Radial Europa Cup win in Denmark, just one month before he heads to the ISAF Youth Worlds in Brazil. The victory is Ireland's second consecutive Europa Cup win on the trot following the win by Annalise Murphy in Europa Cup Netherlands. The Europa Cup series has been a consistant showing of form for sailors in the run up to the season's major events such as the ISAF Youth Worlds and Laser Europeans etc...

O'Dowd went into the final day with a one-point lead over Danish sailor Pascal Timshel and British sailor Jon Emmett. Timshel and O'Dowd were both black flagged in the first race today, but Emmett could only manage eighth, meaning he held a tenuous one-point lead in the final race.

On-the-water calculations by O'Dowd and his coach Ian Neely, a former New Zealand Olympic coach, meant they knew what had to be done in the final race. A good shift early on meant O'Dowd had the upper hand, and with Timshel down the pan and Emmett languishing in the teens, Polish sailor Aleksander Arian was the one to watch.

O'Dowd finished sixth, with Arian three places back. It was enough to give the Royal St George under-17 gold, with Emmett retaining second place and Arian in third.

O'Dowd has a tough training schedule planned between his arrival home and his departure for Brazil, during which time he hopes to find a sponsor for the event. Neely will accompany O'Dowd to Brazil for the event. A podcast from O'Dowd can be heard courtesy of Afloat.ie here.

Kinsale sailor Aidan McLaverty improved his overall standing to eighth today, with Saskia Tidey from the Royal Irish YC also moving up to places to 24th overall after scoring a 13th place in the final race. Howth's Alan Ruigrok maintained his 13th place overall with two results in the mid-teens.