Murphy and Lyden take early leads
London 2012 Olympian Annalise Murphy had a second place and race win yesterday, again displaying her famous skill in fresh conditions.
The first event discard allowed her to drop the second place so she currently counts all race wins towards her final standings.
First she must qualify for the gold fleet series that begins tomorrow, though there seems little doubt of her failing to do so on this form.
Her test will come when the fresh conditions of the weekend give way to a light and variable breeze today.
Meanwhile, Baltimore Sailing Club’s Fionn Lyden is on top of his 90-strong Men’s Laser Radial event which is also split into two flights for the qualification rounds thanks to a race win and two second places since Sunday.
Spain’s Juan Kevin Cabrera Gonzalez is also well-matched in his flight and a real battle in the gold fleet for the remainder of the week is on the cards.
Local sailor Finn Lynch from the National YC is also sailing well with a race win to his credit, though local knowledge isn’t making as big a difference for him as it might as he is counting a fifth place and lies fifth overall.
In the Senior Men’s event competing in the full rig Laser, Brazil’s Robert Scheidt is making rapid improvements in form, increasing his result by one place each race so far to win yesterday’s second race.
He is now one of four boats tied on points and poised to seize the overall lead of the class from Australia’s Ashley Brunning, who has a slim two-point lead.
This fleet will split into gold, silver and a bronze division from tomorrow as there are 124 entries for this discipline.