When the Irish 49er skiff hit the windward mark in Saturday’s medal race final of the Princess Sofia regatta in Mallorca, Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern exchanged the briefest grimmace at one another.

Baltimore Sailing Club’s Fionn Lyden delivered a wake-up call to the two leading contenders for the Irish place in the Laser class for Rio 2016 yesterday at the Palma Olympic classes regatta.