In a nail-biting conclusion to the qualification round of the 49er European Championship in Portugal, Dublin sailors Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove successfully reached the Gold fleet for the top 25 boats in the 91-strong event.
The pair had their best day so far scoring a third and a fourth while discarding an 18th place in the very light breeze conditions that look set to continue until Monday’s final. Crucially for Irish Olympic prospects, the number of nations now hunting the single qualification place has halved with the conclusion of the opening round of the event, from ten countries with Belgium currently leading the pack.
Austria’s Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl lead the event in first overall but even their lead is far from assured with a 30-point spread from first to 25th in the Gold fleet. Attention now switches to the coming three days when organisers will attempt to deliver three races a day before the top 10 finishers compete in a single, high-scoring medal race final.
“It’s one of those [events] where you just want to keep yourself out of trouble if you can get off that start line and not get caught up in the group,” said Irish Sailing’s 49er coach and former Olympian Matt McGovern. “No matter who you are, everything is still open even [for] the guys down at the back of the Gold fleet.”
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Dickson and Waddilove start racing on Saturday in 13th overall but only have a three point gap to close to the top 10 and six points to overtake the Belgian Olympic qualification leaders.
Ireland’s second crew at the event had their best day so far, finishing close to Dickson and Waddilove in two races but ultimately were unable to reach Gold fleet. Cork’s Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan scored tenth, 12th and a fifth to pull up the ranks from 60th to 38th overall. The pair were pleased with their day and can still reach a top 20 European nation finish by Monday that would secure a place in Sport Ireland’s carding scheme.
