Day 2: 26 July 2021

Form reset needed for Annalise Murphy's Olympic dream 

In spite of stronger winds for the second day of racing in the women's single-handed event at Tokyo 2020, Ireland's Annalise Murphy was unable to stage a breakthrough day after races three and four of the series.

Although winds were slightly stronger than Sunday and generally in her favoured range,  a 24th place in the opening race was followed by a 37th which is dropped from her score as the event discard comes into play.

“I actually thought it was going to be a good day for me today - I love those conditions,” said Annalise Murphy after coming ashore at the Olympic Sailing venue at Enoshima Island.  “Small things just didn’t go the way I wanted them to.”

The day’s results drop her from 23rd place overnight to 32nd overall on 71 points.  With six races remaining and some weather uncertainty to contend with, a top ten finish for the regatta is still a possibility.

“Having such a bad day makes it really hard for me to get a result that I want from this regatta with only six races left," she said.  “I’m upset for Rory (coach), for my family and everyone who supported me because I really wanted to do them proud.”

Two more races are scheduled for Tuesday before a rest day on Wednesday.  The nearby typhoon continues to produce mixed forecasts but so far, the regatta programme is running to schedule.

"While the original goal looks tough to achieve it's important to recognise it is a high scoring regatta and we have only completed 4 from a potential 11 races," said James O'Callaghan, Performance Director with Irish Sailing.  "It's going to be tough but Annalise will dig deep and fight to the end."

Meanwhile, Ireland’s second boat features the Olympic debut for Rob Dickson and Sean Waddilove from Howth Yacht Club and Skerries Sailing Club respectively in the Men’s 49er skiff event. Racing begins on Tuesday with the first three races of their series scheduled.

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Day 1 - Challenging Light Weather at Enoshima