While the Irish 49er Fx women's team must be feeling bitterly disappointed at the failure to qualify for Rio on Saturday, there is plenty of cause for optimism as the fat lady doesn't sing for a while yet. Of the 20 places allocated by the IOC to the class, six remain. These are allocated as one to each continent, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America and South America. While, at first glance, it may seem that the only opportunity left to Ireland is at the European qualifier at Palma in March, if there are no qualifiers at the continental events, then the place reverts to the 2015 World Championship.

Selection update here

As New Zealand and Australia are already qualified and no other country from Oceania has yet entered the continental qualifier at the Melbourne World Cup, it appears likely that the Oceania slot will go to Norway, as the first country to miss out on qualification. Ireland could well pick up the African slot at the Palma World Cup as there does not appear to be an African nation with a 49erFx campaign.

If Ireland has to rely on the European Qualifier, also at Palma, then the battle will be with Finland, Croatia, Austria and Estonia of whom only Croatia made gold fleet at the worlds (assuming Norway gets the Oceania slot)

The US must also be relieved that Canada got in ahead of Ireland as this will leave them with only the US Virgin Island to beat to take the North American slot at Miami in January.

Afloat's prediction for the remaining qualifiers - Norway to get the Oceania slot, Ireland the African one. USA for North America, Croatia to see off Austria Finland and Estonia in the European battle while India and Chile should round out the places.

A difficult penultimate day yesterday leaves Royal Irish Yacht Club pair Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey with a mountain to climb if they are to win a prized Rio berth in the final day of competition at the 49erfx World Championships in Argentina today.

With four races left to sail the Irish debutantes are lying 23rd overall and crucially seventh nation in the hunt for only three Olympic spots. Countries ahead of them also looking to qualify sit just outside of the top ten. Singapore (11), Argentina (13), Norway (15), USA (17) and Canada (19) all sit just inside the top twenty. Results are here

Despite earning a superb fifth place in the final gold fleet race yesterday, the Dun Laoghaire duo are 27 points adrift of the last Rio berth on offer after also scoring a 23, 25 and (UFD) for a start line infringement in race 11.

The FX fleet saw some challenges across the board today with shifty conditions toying with a lot of the sailors mental games. Leading for most of the regatta, Danish team Neilson/Olsen had been knocked out of 1st and into 2nd by the start of the final race in today’s sequence. Marie Olsen noted that today was definitely a tricky one for the two Danes, finishing well into the teens for two out of the four races today. The past world champions Brazil’s own Grael/Kunze, who had a slow start early on in the regatta but have found their groove as the first three races of the day they’ve finished in either 1st or 4th. The pair was knocked back into 2nd by Neilson/Olsen as they finished one point ahead in the last race for the day. Four points separate the two boats, but the two boats have been biting at each other’s heels.

Rounding out the top five are Italy’s Conti/Clapcich in 3rd; Great Britain’s Dobson/Ainsworth in 4t; and finally Hansen/Salskov-Iversen in 5th sitting just one point apart from the 6th place Spanish team of Echegoyen/Betanzos.

The British ladies, Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth, were sitting in tenth going into the day, but decided early on they wouldn’t be sitting there for long. Sophie Ainsworth commented, “We said today when we got out there that it was going to be a really tricky day and that we hoped we were wearing our ‘Jagger’ pants. It’s pretty much how we summed up the day, because you know you can try and make your own luck, but sometimes you get dealt a better hand.” Better hand indeed for these two, apart from their final race of the day in which they took a bit of a digger into 21st, the pair sailed their own races and finished 5th, 1st, and 3rd. These two were definitely wearing their Jagger pants, Mick would be proud!

The Danish pair, Jena Mai Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen, who were sitting in 4th going into today, only dropping one place felt the mental pangs early on starting off with a 16th. The shifty conditions and uneven pressure were getting ahold of Hansen’s mental confidence and affecting her style. She notes, “It was tough mentally like, trying to see the right things, trying to make the right decisions, that was really tough because maybe sometimes when you look at other boats it seems like ‘ok left is going really good, oh no, now right is going really good,’ it was difficult to choose.”

The ladies both decided to stop trying to reinvent their style and stick to what they know works – clean starts and getting ahead of the pack early to be able to control what they wanted to do instead of being controlled. When asked about what why she felt she couldn’t start the day on the right track Hansen also mentions, “We were a bit too reserved today in the starts, and normally thats not like us.” The last race Hansen was able to let her aggressive side out and get off the line enabling the pair to win the start and finish 2nd overall.

Both Irish mens and women's skiff teams made the Gold Fleet cut in the 49er and 49erfx World Championships in Buenos Aires yesterday – but only just in a day of drama at this notoriously difficult venue.

The qualifying series could not have been more challenging for the teams vying for Gold fleet inclusion, Olympic berths, and Olympic selection. Results are here.

Belfast's Team Seaton-McGovern, who are already qualified for Rio, took a fifth & 10th place to be 23rd from 66 on day three and Dun Laoghaire's Brewster and Tidey who are looking for qualification this week came fifth and are in 19th place from 44 after a last race retiral. Crucially, the girls are currently ranked fourth nation of those seeking the three Rio qualification places available this week. Singapore currently holds the third spot, six points ahead of the Irish duo. And in an important boost for Irish hopes neither Finland or Japan, both seeking a Rio slot, made the gold fleet cut yesterday thereby dashing their qualification chances.

Starting the day, the mens 49er teams vying for Olympic berths were huddled at the top of the 49er leaderboard, with 4 out of the top 6 teams looking to qualify their nation. By the end of racing today, 7 nations are looking for the 3 (and possibly up to 5 Olympic berths) with Argentina and Poland both having 2 teams in the hunt.

The real fleet depth in the 49er is on display here in Buenos Aires as only Championship favorites, Burling and Tuke (NZL), are sailing to expectation and at the top of the leaderboard.

Many of the rest of the presumed top 10 had to fight hard, right down to the final race just to make gold fleet with Fletcher/Sign (GBR), Outteridge/Jensen (AUS), Seaton/McGovern (IRL), and Warrer/Thomsen (DEN) all in danger of falling out of the Gold fleet split in the final race of the day. Of the bunch, the Brits and Outteridge proved clutch, with Fletcher/Sign winning the final race while Outteridge/Jensen pulled off two second places to close out the qualifying series.

Royal Irish Yacht Club pairing Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey added a sold ninth to their scoresheet yesterday in the only race of the day to keep them in sight of Rio Qualification at this week's 49erfx World Championships in Buenos Aires.

This puts the Providence Team IRL pair in 12th overall and crucially within the top three nations seeking to qualify for 2106.

Races were attempted on a patchy ENE course, but the first race was abandoned on the second leg due to absolutely no pressure to be had course wide. FX sailors all felt the angst and pangs of boredom as they waited roughly an hour and a half for a steadier, yet still very light, southerly to build and only produce one race for the day.

The Irish 49er duo Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern, from Belfast Lough took a 13th and 16th place in the only two races of the day. This leaves them in 31st overall, about half way down the overall fleet. The men’s 49er fleet was postponed from midday on until about 3:30pm. The breeze at this stage was less variable than the morning and stayed ESE ranging from 8-12 knots.

Three top ten results on day one of the 49erfx world championships in Buenos Aires has boosted Irish chancees of a place at the Rio Olympics next year. Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey are tenth overall in a fleet of over forty after four light air races yesterday. The Royal Irish pair seek one of three Rio qualification places available at this Argentinian Championships.  Two of the countries yet to qualify for the women’s Olympic fleet, from Norway and Ireland, both sit in the top ten. See full results here

Yesterday afternoon posed a bit steadier direction in same ENE vein, but the pressure variance was between 4-14 knots. They might've had more breeze to start but as the races were sailed, the breeze pressure slowly dropped making the final race a pretty light one! Apart from the top ten finishers, some higher point finishes were common amongst mid fleet in this final race.

Currently standing in the top three slots are: 1st- Denmarks' Nielsen/Olsen, 2nd-France's Steyaert/Compan, And 3rd- Italy's Conti/Clapcich. Denmark's Nielsen and Olsen had a slam dunk of a day winning the first three races and throwing out only a 5th place finish. Countries yet to qualify for the women's fleet from Norway and Ireland sit both in the top ten.

The FX fleet will start tomorrow leaving the 49er fleet to hopefully see more breeze come in during their afternoon session. Wind forecast is looking similar to today's and possible chance of thunderstorms early AM.

Meanwhile, Belfast mens 49er pairing Ryan Seaton & Matt McGovern are in 17th overall, following a 17, 13 & third.

Ireland’s 49erFX team of Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey will compete for a qualifying place at the next Olympics at the class world championships in Argentina this morning. As Afloat.ie previously reported, the Irish pair are seeking one of only three qualifying places remaining.

The World Championships are a qualifier event for the Olympics in Rio next year, and sailors  Brewster & Tidey  of the Royal Irish Yacht Club are vying for a place in the games next summer. There are a number of teams looking to qualify and grab one of the three places available. Team Brewster Tidey are amongst those in the running and could qualify the Nation for the Games with a strong showing at the tricky venue.

Competing in the mens World championships running at the same time in Argentina are Providence Team IRL 49er pairing Matt McGovern and Ryan Seaton. Having already qualified for the games they will be looking to beat their previous 8th placing at Worlds. Former World Cup runners up and Olympians at the London 2012 games, the only Irish 49er pairing are up against some stiff competition, including Olympic Champions Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen, and recently crowned ISAF World Sailors of the Year, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke.

Competing at a notoriously difficult, and shallow venue, Buenos Aires is sure to test all competitors to the maximum of their abilities. The venue is often compared to Lake Balaton in Hungary, and is expected to lead to an interesting chop for the 49er to move through, and the wind is expected to be light. Both teams have been practicing and competing at the venue since the beginning of November and already have a good feel for the place.

Speaking in advance of the championships, Andrea and Saskia said: "We feel the last few months of training have been very productive and we are happy with our preparations for the Worlds. It now just comes down to us putting it all into practise on the day! We are now just looking forward to going racing."

Providence Team IRL Performance Director, James O'Callaghan commented on the 49er's chances of qualifying: "Andrea and Saskia have been preparing for this event all year. There are a number of nations also looking to take one of the three qualification places on offer and the Irish girls are defintely in the mix. It's a really big ask and I'm pretty optimistic that they will do it."

Denmark has been a pretty windy venue for Irish Olympic 49erfx campaigners Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey judging by this photo sequence taken after the Rio trialists crossed the finising line this week. Posting the pictures on Facebook, crew Tidey wrote of the 'graceful cartwheel pitchpole'. '...Not sure how Andrea didn't break a leg in that foot strap and that our mast didn't snap in two but thankfully neither happened and we are fighting fit ready for another day', she said.

#49erfx – There is disappointment for the Irish 49erfx duo, Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey, over their silver fleet finish at the European Championships in Portugal. While their male skiff counterparts managed to bounce back into the teens in the 49er fleet yesterday, the Irish women concluded that 'this really has not been our event'. Yesterday they had two races in a big swell and for the first time, a decent amount of wind. Unfortunately they made a few 'too many mistakes' and did a fair bit of swimming leaving no chance of gold fleet particiption. The pair are 30th from 39. Full results downloadable below.

Putting the setback behind them, they took to Facebook to say they do not intend to dwell on it and it is 'time to learn and grow stronger'.

Bigger breeze and two-metre Atlantic swell delivered some challenging conditions for day 3 of the 49er and 49er FX European Championships in Porto. Boats were leaping off waves with clear daylight showing between hull and water. Avoiding the dreaded pitchpole was one of the big goals on the downwind legs.

These were not the conditions that Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz had been looking forward to. The lightweight German crew had revelled in the lighter breezes of the previous day, and Jurczok was hoping those conditions might have continued a little longer into the week. But maybe after today's performance she will revise her view of big breeze, big wave competition. Two 2nd places launch them into the overall lead of the 39-boat FX fleet.

Annemiek Bekkering was grinning after coming ashore today, partly out of relief at having survived a big day and escaped without a capsize. "It was a hard day, but fun too," said the Dutch sailor who with crew Annette Duetz sits in 2nd overall, 3 points behind the lead. "Quite relieved to have come through the day." Maiken and Anne-Julie Schütt hold on to 3rd place, helped by a victory in race 8. Their Danish team mates have closed the gap, with Jena Hansen and Katja Iversen in 4th, the reigning European Champions Ida-Marie Nielsen and Marie Olsen in 5th.

Today was the end of FX qualifying, and some big names sit on or around the 25-place cut-off. Winners of the Dutch Olympic trials, Nina Keijzer and Claire Blom, sit in 25th overall, and 2012 match racing Olympic Champion Tamara Echegoyen and 470 world champion Berta Betanzos are just outside the cut in 27th overall. With a flurry of protests this evening, some of these places could yet change the fortunes of some crews – for better or worse

#49erfx – Conditions were even lighter for day 2 of racing at the 49erFX Europeans. Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey improved slightly on yesterday's poor opening results but the Royal Irish pair admit they are 'still not quite getting to grips with the conditions' in Portugal. The pair are lying in 31st position with one more day left to qualify for the Gold fleet. Results attached below for download.

The event is important to the Irish duo as it represents one of only three opportunities this year to meet Irish Sports Council funding criteria. Brewster and Tidey will need a top 10 finish to improve their overall funding.

In day 2 of qualifying for the 39 girls' teams in the 49er FX, the Netherlands' Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz sit at the top of the leaderboard on equal points with Germany's Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz. For the lightweight German team, today's light winds gave them an important jump on their fellow Germans at the start of their Olympic trials. For the Dutch, however, they are sailing for the sake of being the best they can be, knowing that their chances of qualification for Rio 2016 are all but gone having underperformed at the Dutch trials earlier this year.

"Even if we win this championships or the Worlds, the other Dutch crew have already won the selection, so it's out of our control," says Bekkering. "We have to watch the other crew and see how they do." That other team is Nina Keijzer and Claire Blom, who sit in 26th overall at the moment. They need to secure one of the remaining Olympic berths for their country at the 49er Worlds in Argentina this November.

The Danes, as ever, are right up at the front of the pack with three teams in the top seven. What's slightly surprising is that the winners of the past two European Championships, Ida-Marie Nielsen and Marie Olsen, are the lowest placed of the three. Best of the Danes in 3rd overall are the Schütt sisters, Maiken and Anne-Julie, one point ahead of Sweden's Lisa Ericson and Hanna Klinga.

The big Atlantic swell is making for some exceptionally challenging sailing conditions, and many of the FX crews were complaining of achy knees and burning thighs with all the in-and-out of keeping the boats upright and moving through the ever-changing seascape. Even though Italy's Giulia Conti had a successful outing, sitting in 6th overall with crew Francesca Clapcich, she is praying for more breeze tomorrow. "Come on! I am 30 years old, too old for these boats," she laughed. "My knees need a rest so more wind for stretching the legs would be nice."

Wednesday sees the FX fleet complete qualifying to determine who goes into Gold and Silver fleet finals. For the 49ers, it's day two of qualifying. With a forecast of slightly more breeze, perhaps Conti and the other skiff athletes will be able to stretch their legs after all.

#49erfx – After four opening races at the 2015 49er & 49erFX European Championships in Portugal Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey who are campaigning for next year's Rio Olympic regatta will be disappointed to be 33rd in a fleet of 39. The sun rose, sailors rigged, and the championship started on time under blue skies, light winds, and fair swell. Two fleet of the worlds best skiff sailors took to the water to compete in the 49erFX, with the men's 49er scheduled to start this morning.

This championship is the second most important event of the year behind the World Championship, and decides much in the way of funding, team selection, and bragging rights.

The first races had lighter wind with teams double trapezing but surging in and out with the ocean swell, searching for power. As the sea breeze built so did the power and teams scored themselves some wild rides. It was an interesting combination of shifty and side dominated racing.

Having the best of the day was the Netherlands Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz.

The 49erFX schedule is Qualifying July 6-8, Gold Fleet 9-11 and medal race also on 11th.

The 49er schedule is Qualifying July 7-9, Gold Fleet 10-12 and medal race also on 12th.

Results are here