Four Irish boats have reached their respective Gold fleets at the Princess Sofia regatta for Olympic classes at Palma, with Rio 2016 Olympian Finn Lynch continuing a strong performance.
The Carlow sailor slipped from second overall to fourth on Wednesday in the 187-strong Laser fleet as competition intensified between the best sailors.
Lynch had a 14th and a 23rd place which he discarded as his worst score to count an earlier fifth place.
Howth’s Ewan McMahon started his first-ever Gold fleet at senior level, duelling with Lynch briefly at one stage before placing in the early 20s in their 60-strong class.
Amongst the 49er skiffs, London and Rio veteran Ryan Seaton from Ballyholme now paired with Séafra Guilfoyle of Crosshaven have made the cut for their Gold fleet, which begins on Thursday, thanks to a fourth place plus a discarded 22nd.
Apart from the official Irish Sailing Performance squad in action, two independent campaigns for the Finn single-hander are continuing. Baltimore's Fionn Lyden reached his Gold fleet standard and currently lies 39th in his class, while Oisín McClelland missed the cut and now sails in the Silver fleet.
Racing continues to decide the top 10 places in each class that will contest a medal race final on Saturday.
