Dublin sailors Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove made a strong start on the second day of racing at the 49er World Championship in Lanzarote, Spain on Wednesday.
Despite challenging conditions, including an unstable northerly wind, the duo managed to score two top-ten results in their fleet. However, a 15th-place finish weighed down their overall standing, putting them in 18th place overall. With just ten points separating them from the top ten, the Dublin pair will be keen to improve their position in Thursday's races in order to qualify for the Gold fleet final round.
Meanwhile, Crosshaven's Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan from the Royal Cork Yacht Club also had a strong showing, with a top result and two 20th place finishes. Although the latter result was discarded as their worst score, the Cork duo will need to find their form on Thursday in order to improve their position and secure a spot in the Gold fleet.
As Afloat previously reported, the 49er World Championship is the first of three selection trials for the single Irish berth at the Paris 2024 Olympics in the Men's single-handed event. With all eyes on the prize, the Irish sailors are giving it their all and leaving nothing to chance.
"Today was more of what we expected from Lanzarote," commented Matt McGovern, Irish Sailing's skiff coach. "After a light start for the first race, it got a little easier for the fleet as they just had to take the left track, so it was about getting off the start well."
Despite the challenging conditions, McGovern remained optimistic, saying, "Overall, it was a good day to survive." Gold fleet racing for the final round commences on Friday, followed by Sunday's medal race for the top ten overall to decide the podium.
On each side of the Yellow and Blue Qualifying Groups in the 49er, two different French teams put in some world-beating performances.
In Yellow Group, Julien D’Ortoli and Noe Delpech enjoyed an almost perfect day with scores of 2,1,1 to move up to 5th overall in the standings.
Meanwhile, in Blue Group, Erwan Fischer and Clement Pequin put the hammer down to score 3,1,3 and move to the top of the leaderboard. The French share equal points with reigning world champions Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken who hold second place with an 8 point gap on the Polish team, Mikolaj Staniul and Jakub Sztorch, in third.