Murphy shines at Weymouth

IRISH boats were on a high last night in Weymouth following the third day of racing at the London 2012 Olympic sailing venue.

Annalise Murphy leads her class overall after two race wins yesterday while veterans Peter O’Leary and David Burrows hold fourth place in company with multiple gold medallists and champions.

O’Leary is also a gold medallist, having won the Star class at this event sailed last August, when German Frithjof Kleen was a late stand-in for David Burrows.

The Malahide sailor has since rejoined his Crosshaven helm and both are intent on a podium finish again.

The pair yesterday placed seventh and fourth and are presently lying fourth overall though they must close a nine-point gap to Poland’s Mateusz Kusznierewicz who is in turn pursuing Sweden’s Freddie Loof and Brazil’s Robert Scheidt in a closely-packed leading group.

But yesterday’s highlight belonged to Murphy who is now consistently delivering master-class performances to the Laser Radial fleet when it comes to strong winds and rough seas.

The 91-strong Laser Radial class is still split in two flights but at this halfway stage, the Dun Laoghaire single-hander’s recovery from a poor showing on Monday night, when she placed 33rd, has been a morale boost for her and the other Irish crews amongst the 1,050 competitors gathered in Portland.

However, the strong winds are forecast to ease considerably from this morning and her light airs skills will come under the microscope.

Murphy has taken a place in the medal race final six ties in the last year but is hunting a podium place, and it should be within her reach. The medal race final on Saturday features the top 10 of the 91 boats.

Meanwhile, other Irish boats weren’t faring quite so well.

The 49er skiff class faced exciting yet demanding conditions for their single race of less than 15 minutes yesterday afternoon when Ed Butler and Ben Lynch placed 17th, placing them 16 places ahead of the main 2012 contenders Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern whose 12th place did little to lift them from 42nd overall.