Results update: NI Sailing Team sailors race hard in mainland Europe

Six of the Northern Ireland Sailing Team are currently competing at competitions in Europe, gaining valuable experience against some of the top sailors in their respective classes.

At the Vilamoura Grand Prix in Portugal, Bobby Driscoll is competing in the ILCA 6 class, Tom Coulter is competing in the ILCA 7 class and Charlotte Eadie, Ellen Barbour and Erin McIlwaine are competing in the 49er FX class.

Meanwhile, Dan McGaughey is competing at Lanzarote International Regatta in the ILCA 7 class.

Vilamoura Grand Prix

Today marks the conclusion of day 3 of 4, however due to a lack of wind on day 2, sailors have only managed to get racing on days 1 and 3.

After 7 races in the 49er FX class, Erin McIlwaine and Ellen Barbour sit in  24^th position after a solid start to the regatta, but they are closely followed by Charlotte Eadie and her helm Lauren O’Callaghan in 27^th.

In the ILCA 6 class, Cormac Byrne sits in 54th place and Bobby Driscoll has also started the regatta well and is sitting in 22^nd place after 4 races. The 59 boat fleet is a great learning opportunity for both sailors and Bobby will be aiming to build on the recent experience he has gained in international fleets when winning the Open Bahía de Alta regatta and  finishing 13^th at Origenes Comunitat Olympic Week.

Tom Coulter has recovered well following a ‘U-Flag’ in race 1 and sits in 69^th place following a 14^th, a 35^th and a 34^th.

With one day of racing to go, points are very close in all the classes so there is plenty to play for. You can track the results here.

Lanzarote International Regatta

Ballyholme Yacht Club’s Dan McGaughey is also gaining valuable experience at the Lanzarote International Regatta. Within the fleet of ILCA 7 sailors, there are some hugely experienced racers including Olympic silver medallist Pavlos Kontides.

Today was day 2 of the regatta, which began with a postponement due to a lack of wind.

After 5 races, Dan sits in 25^th, following a 17^th, a 28^th and a 22^nd today.

Racing in Lanzarote concludes on Sunday 23 of February and full results can be found here.

NI Sailing Team

If you are interested in learning more about members of the NI Sailing Team or previous Olympians from Northern Ireland, you can read more here.