Mcclelland best of Irish duo at windless Aarhus

LIGHT winds off Aarhus, Denmark yesterday turned the opening day of the World Championships into a marathon for the first classes to begin their series.

The continental heatwave conditions af loat kept some competitors at sea for more than eight hours waiting for breeze.

Their patience was eventually rewarded albeit with just one brief race for the 90 competitors in the Finn single-handed class.

Split into two f lights to handle the numbers competing, Ireland’s two contenders ended in the same group which provided a useful benchmark for their performances.

Fionn Lyden from Baltimore Sailing Club and Oisin Mcclelland from Donaghadee Sailing Club are both campaigning for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics independently of the Irish Sailing Performance squad that has 12 sailors attending in three other events. After an attempt at one race yesterday, the Finn f leet was recalled when the breeze died and a further two-hour delay followed.

When the wind did eventually fill in, Mcclelland had the better start of the two Irish boats and he held a consistent top third placing for most of the race and ended 16th. Lyden’s start costly as he was bunched behind the front row and did well to recover ground over the two laps of the windward-leeward-style course. He placed 21st having earlier been in the high-30s.

Light winds are forecast for today when the Finns resume their programme.