Irish Olympic sailor Annalise Murphy claimed silver at the prestigious Delta Lloyd Regatta in the Netherlands on Saturday.

The Laser Radial sailor was competing in this event as part of her preparations for Rio in 2016 against a star-studded fleet that included Olympic silver and bronze medal winners, Marit Bouwmeester and Evi Van Acker.

Murphy came into the final day’s medal event two points behind local favourite Bouwmeester, who went on to win the medal race and event. The Dún Laoghaire sailor was under pressure the whole time from Van Acker and despite capsizing once, managed to keep the gap wide enough to ensure she picked up the silver medal with the Belgian taking bronze.

“I’m thrilled to podium at this event,” said Murphy. “Having medalled here, I’m now really looking forward to next month’s World Cup event in Weymouth, which is even tougher, with 40 of the world’s best sailors competing in a new competition format.”

ISA performance director James O’Callaghan said: “It was great to see Annalise raise her game so much for the trials. She now gets Ireland’s only Laser Radial spot for this summer’s test event in Rio.”