Irish duo last of fleet in Star event
The fickle ways of the seasonal Meltemi winds failed to favour Royal Cork duo Mark Mansfield and Killian Collins this afternoon, as a 13th place finish in race 5 saw them down to last overall in the Star fleet.
It has been an inauspicious start for 42-year-old Mansfield, a veteran of three Olympics, who has skippered his 23ft keelboat to a race run of 11, 15, 11, 13 and 13 so far.
"It was a very tricky day, the wind was blowing from every angle," said Mansfield, whose best games finish was 12th Atlanta.
"It was the local seasonal wind, the 'meltemi', then sea breezes, then changing again. We're just not getting the consistency so far, but we have the time to make up ground. We have to put results like this behind us.
"Our second race was cancelled today so tomorrow we have to hit the top five and keep hitting it to Saturday."
Midway through the fifth race, the Irish pair were up to fifth, just 32 seconds behind leaders Ross MacDonald and Mike Wolfs of Canada.
Mansfield and crew Collins slipped seven places back on the final legs to end with an unfortunate 13 points.
In the 49er class, Dublin-Down pairing Tom Fitzpatrick and Fraser Brown slipped one place to 16th overall, after finishing two-and-a-half minutes behind Danish race winners Michael Hestbaek and Dennis Andersen.
The Howth club mates have three more races, ending their debut Olympics on Thursday.
