With two wins and two second places scored, Howth Yacht Club and Royal Cork's Ross McDonald tops the leaderboard at the 1720 National Championships in Baltimore, West Cork.
Despite the consistent scoreline, the reigning European class champion, who is a firm favourite this weekend, has only a one-point cushion, after one discard applied, over Royal Cork Yacht Club's Mia Murphy on five points, with three different race winners emerging on day one. Murphy is sailing with past champion Nicholas O'Leary as part of her crew.
Local helm Fionn Lyden threatened with an opening race win in the 22-boat fleet to be eight points off the lead.
On the first day of the three-day championships, Race Officer Anthony O'Leary confronted the strong breeze forecast by sailing a fourth race, one more than originally scheduled, to allow for the potential loss of sailing on Saturday. If the strong winds arrive, there are contingency plans to race inside Baltimore Harbour.
Fresh conditions, with 16-20 knots of breeze and a 2-2.5m swell, led to some retirements on Friday, including that of the class president, Robert Dix, who retired after race one.
Results below
