Olympic hopes take hit as duo are disqualified

PETER O’LEARY and David Burrows were left looking for the positives after a tough third day of racing at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships after they were disqualified for starting too early in yesterday’s second race.

Allowed to discard only their worst score over the 10 races, the resulting 42 points from their misdemeanour yesterday serves as their discard, but they are now left having to carry the 33rd from Monday’s first race.

The Star keelboat duo were also put through the psychological wringer yesterday because such starting infringements are not signalled during racing here. The pair were gutted when they crossed the finish line to see their sail number on the board which listed the starting transgressors.

After an 11th in the first race, O’Leary and Burrows slid from eighth to 14th overall, but remain in the hunt for Olympic qualification.

Crew David Burrows reported: “It is very difficult on the race area anyway because the winds are so unsettled, shifting back and forth. Normally on a race track one side or the other will win out.”

“The second race was highs and lows for us, we fought really hard and came back from sixth to fourth on the final leg and the two of us were pretty excited about that, only to glance over to the committee boat to see our number up. So we are hugely disappointed about that because it is very costly.”

“We are still just inside qualifying which is the goal here. Any dreams of a podium position would be a bonus, but we would have to take too much risk to get there.”

In the 49er class, Ireland’s Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern could not maintain the single-digit finishes of their first racing day on Monday and slid to 16th overall with their seventh, 11th and 12th place finishes.