Choppy waters fail to upset pair as they sail into silver medal spot

On the waters off Weymouth, Peter O’Leary and David Burrows’ opening day results in the Star fleet suggest they managed to leave controversy ashore, delivering a promising opening which will provide Ireland’s sailors with all the encouragement they need when they start racing today.

O’Leary and Burrows posted a second and sixth for their Games debut to lie second overall, just three points behind Brazil’s world champions Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada.

Though they did start only modestly in the difficult, shifty wind conditions and initially rounded towards the back of the 16-boat fleet, on the second windward leg they placed themselves on the right side of a big wind shift which elevated them to second.

They finished only 30 seconds behind 2004 bronze medallist Xavier Rohart, sailing with Pierre Alexis Ponsot, who also benefited from the same shift in direction.

O’Leary and Burrows made the best start in the fleet in the second race, leading around the windward mark first time up, but this time their second round was not as profitable and they dropped places.

But the sixth place which they scored marked them and the Brazilian duo as the only pairs to retain any real measure of consistency across the two races.

Defending gold medallists Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson could only make an 11th from the first race but had all but closed down Scheidt and Prada by the finish, to take second in race two.

The Irish duo remained nicely composed through their day, with Irish Sailing Association’s performance director James O’Callaghan considering later that they had put all other issues aside on the water.

“I think they are just totally focused on their performance and will do all that they need to deliver their best results,” said O’Callaghan.

“They are athletes who have got themselves to the top level in the sport and who have worked tirelessly for this Olympic regatta and I am sure they are not going to let this unsettle them.

“They are happy with their day. The start in the first race was not what they would have wanted but they kept chipping away and got themselves back into contention.”

Though O’Leary hustled through the mixed zone, the area through which all athletes are obliged to pass — although comment is in no way a prerequisite, crew mate Burrows stopped briefly.

“It was certainly tricky out there but overall it was a good day for us. It was hard to read on the water and to get a strategy that was right, so you really had to keep your head out the boat and respond.”

Asked if matters pertaining to his helm had phased them in any way, he responded emphatically: “No,” before O’Callaghan interjected: “I am afraid that on that matter it is presently sub judice and we cannot make any comment.”