A huge day of opportunity awaits Irish sailors Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove on Thursday as they sail out from the Roucas Blanc Marina in Marseille for the last time.
The pair have grabbed attention not only for their results but holding second place overall for each of the four days of the fleet competition.
And Wednesday night was no different after a nail-bitingly impressive final race that firmly established them as contenders for an Olympic medal.
The final day was beset by wind issues and the first two races saw all the leading boats in difficulty, including Dickson and Waddilove.
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They had slipped to fourth place overall and could even have missed out on medal race contention if the last race went against them.
But, as they have done each day and each race, they treated each one individually and so confidently decided on a daring but logical strategy for the final race; they would sail to the right hand side of the course while the rest of the fleet opted for the left.
It paid off brilliantly and at the first mark they were leading, on their way to repeating their Tokyo final race result, which they won. But it was not to be.
The Croatian crew proved faster in the final downwind leg and managed to just pip them into second place by a hair’s length on the finishing line itself.
“It was really hard, the wind was really light and very, very, variable so it was really hard to predict, I feel like we were maybe a little bit unlucky,” said Dickson of the final day. “You kind of just have to just keep going, keep your head down and just try and focus on the next thing.”
Not in the medal race final are France and the Netherlands, who between them are world champions from the past three years. Such an outcome would have been unthinkable last weekend. But such is the nature of sailing and the fickle breezes coming down the mountains of Marseille.
Spain have a five-point lead going into the final, with Ireland in second place and then New Zealand three points behind.
All three podium places could be won by any of seven countries – in theory at least. In practice, Dickson and Waddilove would need to win and beat Spain by four places to take gold.
In reality, this race will need each crew to simply sail their own best race, avoid problems like match-racing other boats or starting penalties. Basically, everything each has been trying to do all week.
And then they must hope the wind gods of Marseille play fair and deliver a decent breeze.
The skiff medal race takes place at 1.43pm Irish time.
