The first day of championship racing at the 470 European Championships on Dublin Bay off the Royal St George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire proved a difficult one for the leading mens 470 pairs of RYA/Team GBR.

Of the three races sailed yesterday (15 July) it was only in the final one that Nick and Joe Glanfield (Lymington) managed to sail to form and record a fourth place after a 22nd and an 18th, while Graham Vials and Dan Newman (Co Durham) sailed to an 11th as their best finish of the day.

Strong currents, awkward choppy waters, and very indecisive breezes conspired to produce some poor finishes for many of the title hopefuls. “We ended up pumping the boat round in the first race which should never have been held. It was a total joke. “Complained helmsman Nick Rogers. Once the gradient breeze had faded racing was postponed until a sea breeze arrived and built to 10 knots but it remained hard to decipher with big shifts in direction.

” It was very difficult downwind with the choppy sea. We are usually blistering downwind and take places but it doesn’t seem to work for us here on Dublin Bay. It’s going to be a long slog now and we’ve got job to do but we’ll just hang in there.” Rogers admitted.

In the Women’s fleet Christina Bassadone and Jenny Heeley scored a 10th and an 11th while the top placed RYA/Team GBR pair are Josie Gibson and Saskia Clarke who hang on to 10 place overall. Women’s Olympic gold medallists Armstrong and Stowell lie second in the Women’s Championships, while Ukraine’s Eugieniy and Igor lead overall.

Gold Fleet

1, Eugeniy/Igor (UKR) 10pts (4,3,3)

2, Kiger/Gal (ISR) 17 pts (8,8,1)

3, Zandona/Page (ITA) 20pts (17,1,2)

4, Willmot/Page (AUS) 26pts (9,11,6)

5, Murinho/Nunes (POR) 27.0 (5,7.15)

6, Molund/Martin (SWE) 39.0. (1,14,24)

7, Zellmer/Krabbe (GER) 39.0 (1,14,24)

8, Kakis/Kaan (TUR) 39.0 (11,19,9)

9, Martinez/Cantero (ESP) 42.0 (7,28,7)

10, Kazuto/Kenjiro 43.0 (2,22,19)

Selected RYA/Team GBR

14 Rogers/Glanfield (Lymington) 44.0 (22,18,4)

20, Vials/Newman (Co Durham) 54.0 (20,21,13)

. Silver fleet

1, Manuel/Paz (ESP) 3.0 (1,1,2)

2, Plummer/Hawkley (GBR/Dalgety Bay) 8.0 (2,2,4)

3, Guimarass/Alexio (POR) 15.0 (4,4,7)

Women

1, Bekatorou/Tsoulfa (GRE) 8.0

2, Armstrong/Stowell (AUS) 14.0

3, Via-Dufresne/Azon (ESP) 17.0

Selected RYA/Team GBR

10, Gibson/Clarke 61.0

22, Bassadone/Heeley 93.0

27, Cuthbert/Watson 113.0