Disqualification hits medal hopes of Star pair

Ireland’s Peter O’Leary and David Burrows needed a strong start to the second half of their Olympic regatta off Weymouth, but instead find themselves fighting to stay inside the top 10 after being disqualified from their first race.

A seventh in the second race, contested in 18-22 knot winds and big seas, leaves O’Leary and Burrows in ninth overall in the Star class.

A protest as a result of an incident with the Danish crew will have added a further level of frustration for the pair who had started well, with a punchy opening to their first race.

“It was tricky enough today with quite a lot of breeze on,” said Burrows. “It feels like we did an awful lot of work for not much reward today.”

In the 49er class, Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern posted an 11th and a ninth to also lie ninth overall.

But the first day of racing in the 470 fleet for Ger Owens and Scott Flanigan proved disappointing when theysuffered a broken spreader fitting — which holds the horizontal strut halfway up the mast which controls the mast flex — before the start.

The positive news for the Irish team is that the strong winds, which are Annalise Murphy’s preferred conditions are set to continue.

The Irish Laser Radial sailor goes back into action today with a small lead in the women’s singlehander fleet.