The final World Cup Regatta of the 2012-2013 Sailing Series came to a close early for the two Irish Olympic sailors competing. However, racing continued on Saturday for sailors that made the top 10, Ireland was not represented in the show down.
The recent ISA press release focused on Annalise Murphy’s poor start in the qualifying series of the event that ultimately cost her the chance of competing in the final medal races. She is now to apply all her concentration on preparation for the World Championships and Europeans still to come later in the summer. However, as they say, it is clear a lot of work needs to be put in between now and then for Murphy to turn her fortunes around. It must indeed have been a bitter blow that she missed out on what was probably the best chance of achieving medal status at Weymouth, an area with the most similar conditions to our own here in Ireland. While it’s clear she is an outstanding sailor given the right conditions, tricky conditions do not appear to be her forte and this is not helped by the fact that she is outside the ISAF optimum weight guidelines for the Laser Radial which are 55kg-70kg. We now look forward to the World and European Championships and hope for positive results
Meanwhile in the 113 boat Laser fleet, Northern Ireland’s James Espey got off to an incredible start. Winning the first race, Espey was tied for second place after three races on Day 1. The solid start gave him the platform needed to qualify for the Gold fleet. He showed glimpses of his potential in gold but lacked the consistency to maintain a high overall placing. Nevertheless, he will take great confidence from this performance and it sets him up well for a busy summer schedule.
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