Lynch lands silver in Dún Laoghaire

Ireland’s Finn Lynch claimed a silver medal in the Laser Radial class at the Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Dún Laoghaire this afternoon.

The 16-year-old’s second place finish is the best ever result by an Irish representative in the 42-year history of the event.

Lynch, who races for the National Yacht Club, progressed from eighth to third in the overall standings in the 58-boat fleet, before ultimately securing second spot after a ninth place finish in the final race.

The young Blessington sailor remains eligible for the Under-19 event for a further two years.

A beaming Lynch, who is a member of the Irish Sailing Academy, reveal afterwards: “It feels great. Simple as that.

“I was pretty deep in the first part of the race today but had a good second stage and took places all the time.

“It was never really my goal to medal here, I just wanted to get a good result. I think the support here has really helped in the end.”

“I have trained so hard for this since February, including a month in Europe.

“There were ten of us doing a huge amount of training with the Irish Sailing Association Academy. That was great for my sailing.

“I have trained constantly this year. I want to qualify again for this for next year and maybe go one better, but then after that it’s the Olympics.”