Irish team at the ILCA Laser Standard Men's Worlds at Miho Bay, Japan - Day 5
by Gail MacAllister 8 Jul 2019 20:59 BST
4-9 July 2019
Start line on day 5 of the ILCA Laser Standard Men's World Championship © Junichi Hirai / Bulkhead Magazine Japan
Fighting spirit required for Olympic qualifier in Japan
Just two races remain in the Olympic qualifier at Laser World Championships Gold fleet in Japan. A strong finish to the event is required from Lynch to keep him in the mix for qualification.
The penultimate day on Monday saw Finn Lynch (Bennekerry, Co. Carlow) end in 37th overall as he was unable to repeat the race winning performance he showed on Sunday.
On his first ever appearance at a senior-level world championship Ewan McMahon (Howth, Co. Dublin) had two back of fleet results that showed him pushing hard for experience including a 'Black flag' disqualification for early starting that masked an excellent top five position early in the race.
"I just want to see the fighting spirit tomorrow," commented Vasilij Zbogar, Irish Sailing's head Laser coach.
The series concludes in Sakaiminato on Tuesday before a break for a week when the women's Laser Radial World Championship begins with Aoife Hopkins (Howth, Co. Dublin) and Aisling Keller (Tipperary) both aiming to secure a place for Ireland at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.