Finn Lynch has continued his good form in 2025 by claiming bronze at the latest Grand Slam event in Germany.
Lynch (National Yacht Club) entered the ILCA 7 (Dinghy) medal race at Kieler Woche 2025 in third overall and managed a third place finish to retain his podium spot in the final rankings.
On Tuesday the Carlow sailor delivered a strong comeback during the final stages of Gold Fleet racing, with results of second, 11th, and a first to secure his place in the top three.
This is his second Grand Slam bronze medal of the season, following on from a third at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma.
Finn Lynch has continued his good form in 2025 by claiming bronze at the latest Grand Slam event in Germany #RTEsport pic.twitter.com/DpY6DWO18T
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 25, 2025
Speaking after the event, Lynch explained he was concerned about dropping places on the final day in what were "extreme" weather conditions.
"Coming into the medal race, I had a very small chance of going higher, but I had a big chance of going lower in the overall results, so it was a very difficult race," he explained.
While two Italians Lorenzo Brando Chiavarini and Dimitri Peroni claimed gold and silver, it was the German sailor, Philipp Buhl, that put Lynch under pressure in claiming a podium position.
Lynch added: "I didn't expect the German to attack me before the start, but that was really great to match race with somebody as experienced as Philipp Buhl. You can't buy that experience.
"At the bottom mark I was in the bronze medal position, so then it was more about just staying in between Philipp and the next pressure, because he was the rival that was the closest to me.
"It was a huge range (of conditions), super light winds and super strong winds.
"Sailing on the extremes, this is quite similar to what we had at the Worlds in China, so I'm looking forward to some medium winds soon."
In the 49er class, Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove (Howth Yacht Club & Skerries Sailing Club) produced a superb performance to finish second in their medla race to jump from seventh to fifth in the final standings.
Kieler Woche is one of the world's largest sailing festivals, attracting over three million visitors annually. Now part of the Sailing Grand Slam series, it forms a key leg of a high-performance international circuit that includes four elite European regattas and one in the future Olympic sailing venue of Los Angeles 2028.
