Miami, April 11 to April 17 (scheduled to finish Thursday)

DAY 2, RACE 2

Mixed fortunes for Irish but great result for O'Leary & Milne keeps Olympic dream alive

4 Olympic Places available in Florida in 6 Race Championships

On Saturday the 2nd race of the six race series took place at the World Championships of the Star sailing class in Miami, Florida. The event has additional importance as it is the 2nd and final opportunity for qualification for the 2008 Olympic Games. 4 nation spots are available and there are three crews competing in to secure one spot for Ireland.   

Peter O'Leary & Stephen Milne's outstanding performance saw them finish 5th of the 104 competitors. This followed their 19th place in the first race, bring them to 7th overall.

However it was a disappointing day for the other Irish crews Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks, best of the Irish on day 1, and Maurice 'Prof' O'Connell & Ben Cooke, were disqualified for infringing on the start line, pushing them down the overall standings as they get a score of 105.   

O'Leary & Milne occupy the 2nd nation sport for Olympic qualification.  However there is still a long way to go in this ultra competitive discipline with discard scores an important factor in determining the final outcome.  The fleet race together for the six races with the top five results scoring for each boat.

Peter O'Leary & Stephen Milne, race 2, 5th, race 1, 19th, overall 7th

Max Treacy & Anthony Shanks,  race 2, 105th, race 1, 7th, overall 47th

Maurice 'Prof' O'Connell & Ben Cooke, race 2, 105th, race 1, 30th, overall 68th

12 Nations qualified already in the Star class for 2008 Olympics. 

11 from 2007 worlds in Portugal, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy,

New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, USA and the host China.

Ireland has already secured 3 nation places in 11 of the competition categories for the 2008 Olympic regatta: Finn, Laser Radial and 470.

More information at

   http://www.starworlds2008.com/