Finn Lynch secures Irish Olympic regatta spot

Carlow sailor Finn Lynch has secured a place for Ireland at next year's Paris Olympic regatta following a tense final day at the Allianz Sailing World Championships in The Hague this afternoon.

Lynch went into the final day in 14th place by nation and needed two safe results to keep that place open.

He scored 19th out of 80 boats in Race 9 but then ended the regatta with a 38th in Race 10 and sailed ashore thinking he had failed.

Irish Sailing performance manager James O'Callaghan, along with his mother Grainne Adams, was waiting on the slip with the good news with Lynch securing a 23rd finish over and 15th by nation.

Lynch competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics as the youngest competitor in his class but missed a place for the Tokyo Games.

He has since won silver at World Championship level and is the number five ranked sailor in his event, the men's single-handed class.

Describing today's result as getting a "monkey off his back", he will immediately focus on preparations for the Olympic regatta in Marseilles and selection for the Irish squad.

The result comes at the same time as Irish sailors Ben O'Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain, along with Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey, won top places at the 29er skiff European Championships in Poland on the pathway to senior classes.