Conditions have deteriorated in Weymouth for Day 4 of the Sail for Gold Regatta but that hasn’t prevented Annalise Murphy from climbing even further up the leader board following another race win.
Continuous rain and winds of between 20 and 25 knots have prohibited many fleets from getting out on the water. The race management team made the decision to move most of the racing into the more sheltered harbour area however this meant a reduction in course space. With the forecast for tomorrow looking to be even worse, the focus for today was on providing races for the Gold Fleets. This meant that the only Irish sailors lined up to sail today were Annalise Murphy, Peter O’Leary & David Burrows and the 49er boys Ryan Seaton & Matt McGovern.
Annalise Murphy and the rest of the Laser Radial Gold Fleet completed their two races of the day in the early afternoon. Murphy capitalised on the familiar conditions scoring a 1st and a 3rd. She now moves up to 5th overall.
Ryan Seaton & Matt McGovern finished 12th in their first and only race of the day. They’re now 10th overall. Meanwhile the Star class spent the day waiting ashore for a chance to sail which never materialised. This means Peter O’Leary & David Burrows maintain their position of 3rd overall.
ISA Performance Director James O’Callaghan commented on the regatta so far “We’re at the midway point and it’s great to see the teams in strong positions. Hopefully we’ll get more racing done over the next two days which will add to the venue experience before the Games”.
Unfortunately Ger Owens & Scott Flanigan in the 470 Silver Fleet, James Espey in the Laser Silver Fleet and the Paralympic Sonar team were not racing today.
Tomorrow will be the final day of racing before the top 10 in each class progress to the medal races on Saturday. Conditions do not look to be favourable but organisers are optimistic at getting all if not some of the competitors out on the water.
