Semaine Olympique Francaise
(French Olympic Classes Week in Hyeres)
Day Five Top 20 finishes for the Irish Sailing Team at French Olympic Classes Week
It was the final day for the Irish Sailing Team at the Semaine Olympique Francaise (French Olympic Classes Week) in Hyères, with two top 20 finishes, but no boat qualifying for medal racing tomorrow. Only the top ten boats in each class go forward for the medal race.
Carlow sailor Finn Lynch finished in 13th overall in the ILCA 7 (Laser) after coming 5th in both races of the day. Teammate Ewan McMahon (Howth YC) moved up again in the fleet to finish 23rd overall.
“Finn just missed the medal race by 12 points which isn’t much” commented Vasilij Zbogar, Irish Sailing Laser Coach. “He struggled a bit with his arm at the start of the week but made a good comeback and today Finn had a good performance and showed he can be at the front. Ewan finished in 23. Our target was top 20 but [he was] very close. It was a tough week, so now we rest and prepare for the Worlds”.
Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove (Howth YC and Skerries SC) finished in 15th place in the 49er class after the day’s three races. “It was a different day today with less wind and a trickier racecourse to work out” commented Matt McGovern, Irish Sailing 49er coach. “They had the right strategy which paid off in the second and third races but in the first race they had to avoid a crash in front of them so they didn’t finish as high in the rankings as they needed to”.
New 49er team Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan (Royal Cork YC) finished in 30 place overall.
New 49er team Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan (Royal Cork YC) finished in 30 place overall, with Aoife Hopkins (Howth YC) finishing in 34th in the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial).
The regatta concludes tomorrow, Saturday 30 April.
Full results here: https://sof.ffvoile.fr/results/
Day Four Irish Sailing Teams move up the fleet at French Olympic Classes Week
Today was the fourth day of racing and first day of the final series at the Semaine Olympique Francaise (French Olympic Classes Week) in Hyères.
Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove (Howth YC and Skerries SC) have moved up the 49er fleet into 16th place after scoring a 6, 7 and 20 in the three races of the day.
“There’s still a lot of points up for grabs so the medal race is still in sight – they need three good races tomorrow” commented Matt McGovern, Irish Sailing 49er Coach.
49er teammates and new pairing Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan (Royal Cork YC) remain in 30th place overall, scoring 29, 28 and 27 in today’s races.
In the ILCA 7 (Laser) both Finn Lynch and Ewan McMahon have moved up the rankings. Finn Lynch (National YC) now lies in 22nd and Ewan McMahon (Howth YC) moves up to 27th overall after a 9 and 22 in today’s two races.
Full results here: https://sof.ffvoile.fr/results/
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Day three Gold fleets for the Irish Sailing Team at French Olympic Classes Week
Midway point of the Semaine Olympique Francaise (French Olympic Classes Week) in Hyères, and the qualifying series has finished with the very large fleets now splitting into Gold and Silver for the finals.
Both 49er teams have made the Gold Fleet after today’s racing. Olympians Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove (Howth YC and Skerries SC) are in 19 place after an 11 and 3 in the first two races, but were disqualified for being over the starting line in the third race of the day. Meanwhile new pairing Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan (Royal Cork YC) are in 30 place overall (18, 8, 23 in today’s races).
Matt McGovern, Irish Sailing 49er Coach commented “Today our course had perfect conditions, 10-12 knots of very stable and consistent wind, no shifts and no lulls, the only factor was the quality of the starts and boat speeds. That's exactly what Rob and Sean did in the second and third races, but unfortunately in the last race they were over the starting line and got disqualified. Seafra and Johnny are doing really well for their time in the boat, their starts are letting them down but they work their way up the course place by place. It's a deep fleet with a lot of quality so gold fleet is a huge achievement for them”.
In the ILCA 7 (Laser) both Finn Lynch and Ewan McMahon are into Gold Fleet. Finn lies in 25 overall after finishing 13 and 2 today. Teammate Ewan is in 35 overall after a 6 and 22 place in the two races of the day.
Vasilij Zbogar, Irish Sailing Laser Coach commented “Today was medium-light winds so really nice racing. Finn and Ewan both made the Gold Fleet which I’m happy with. But obviously not happy with the results. Finn still has some issues with his arm from Palma so let’s see how it goes in the next two days. It doesn’t show in the results yet but Ewan is sailing better and some small mistakes are keeping him from top 20. We have two more days, four more races, so I’m looking forward to that – the points are very close”.
Aoife Hopkins in the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) has ended the day in 40 place overall and misses out on the Gold Fleet final series of racing.
Full results here: https://sof.ffvoile.fr/results/
Day Two update from the Irish Sailing Team at French Olympic Classes Week
After the second day of racing at the Semaine Olympique Francaise (French Olympic Classes Week) in Hyères, 49er team Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove have had a 22, 3 and 4 in the day’s three races. They discard the 22 and lie in 18 place overall. New pairing Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan continue to lie midfleet in 29 place in the 61 strong fleet.
A trickier day today for Aoife Hopkins in the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) who had a BFD in race 3 which meant she was over the line at the start of the race and disqualified, followed by a 44 in race 4. She lies in 31 overall.
The ILCA 7 (Laser) fleet only managed to complete one race today. Ewan McMahon finished in 18 place which he will discard, leaving him 24 overall. Teammate Finn Lynch finished in 14 place in the same race and lies in 41 overall in the very large fleet of 129.
You can find all the results here: https://sof.ffvoile.fr/results/
Day 1, Monday 25 April 2022
Day one down for the Irish Sailing Team at French Olympic Classes Week
The first day of racing has just finished at the Semaine Olympique Francaise or French Olympic Classes Week in Hyeres, France. Aoife Hopkins in the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) posted a 28th and 4th place in her first two races and lies in 17th place overall in the 65 strong fleet. In the ILCA 7 (Laser) Ewan McMahon scored a 6th and 8th place with teammate Finn Lynch 10th and 16thin in races 1 and 2, and they lie in 18th and 34th respectively in a very large fleet of 129.
Racing began on the first day with bright sun and clear skies with winds averaging 20 knots. The 49er race course was close to the shore which meant flat water and fast speeds for Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove, and new pairing Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan lying midfleet in 23rd and 27th place respectively in the 61 strong fleet.
Hyères is just 50 miles west down the coast from Marseille which is where the Paris 2024 Olympic regatta will be held.
You can find the full results here: https://sof.ffvoile.fr/results/