Just one point separates the top four in the star-studded ILCA 7 field after two hotly-contested opening races as the Paris 2024 Olympic Test Event got underway in Marseille, and Ireland is lying second overall thanks to an explosive start by the National Yacht Club's Finn Lynch.
Reigning Olympic champion Matt Wearn (AUS) made a perfect start to the Test Event by winning the first of those, ahead of Michael Beckett (GBR) and Lynch.
Lynch then finished fourth in the second, with Beckett in fifth, to take both to seven points – one clear of Wearn and Portugal’s Eduardo Marques, who recorded finishes of fifth and third.
Beckett said: “It was pretty interesting. There was a big range of breeze, from two or three knots up to 15, so it was a high-stakes game. You were almost gambling your way around the course like a poker game.
“I’m happy with my results and looking forward to tomorrow. It’s interesting doing this format, one person per country, which I’ve not done before. I’m just trying to learn as much as I can.”
An eight-point gap follows to Norway’s Hermann Tomasgaard, with world champion Jean-Baptiste Bernaz (FRA) a further three back.
The second race of the day was won by Emil Bengtson, the Swede bouncing back from a 34th-place finish the first time around to move back into contention.
He led home Pavlos Kontides (CYP), last year’s World Championship silver medallist, sitting eighth overall after the first day of action.
Results are here