Winds gusting to near gale force at times played havoc with the race management operation of the opening day of the Princess Sofia Trophy for Olympic classes on the Bay of Palma in Mallorca.

Three Irish boats were in action ahead of the full event swinging into play from Tuesday.

The unseasonably cold north wind whipped up a short choppy sea and steep waves that course-layers struggled to set. Wind chill for the five-hour session was around five degrees.

Rio 2016 Olympian Finn Lynch from Carlow proved best of the three Irish single-handers racing in the ILCA7 class.

Having missed out on a place for Tokyo 2020, Lynch found form once again at last year’s World Championship when he won the silver medal in Barcelona.

Howth brothers Ewan and Jamie McMahon were both racing on Monday and the combined scores of all three boats place Ireland third by nation for the number of boats in the top 30. The turn out in the class is 160 boats.

Lynch had a ninth and a fifth place on Monday while Ewan McMahon had a 14th and a sixth, while younger brother Jamie had a 12th and 10th places for the day.

Their sister Eve McMahon is not competing this week as the World under-17 Bronze medallist is preparing for her Leaving Certificate.

Meanwhile, the strong conditions are expected to continue on Tuesday when the 49er skiffs start their series.

High winds are more likely to suit the Irish crews in particular and a windy start to the event with good scores will be crucial for Gold fleet qualification.

Carrying good results into the Gold fleet round in turn improves prospects for the Medal Race final that the top 10 boats in each of the 10 events qualify for at the end of the series.