SAILING:THE QUADRENNIAL ISAF World Sailing Championships ended its schedule at Fremantle yesterday with medal race finals in four classes including the 49er Skiff in which Ireland was represented by Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern.
In all, three crews have qualified Ireland for inclusion at next summer’s London Olympic Games as a result of their performances over the past two weeks. They represent the full Irish Sailing Association panel that is supported under the Irish Sports Council’s carding scheme.
Annalise Murphy qualified Ireland for the Laser Radial class 10 on December 7th and went on to compete in the top 10 in her class for the medal race.
Seaton and McGovern qualified last Wednesday in the 49er Skiff and yesterday placed eighth in a dramatic medal race final.
Peter O’Leary and David Burrows also qualified the country for the Star keelboat after staging a comeback on Friday to be the ninth nation in line for London 2012 though they missed out on a medal-race place when they ended 12th overall.
Four other Irish boats also competed at Perth 2011 including Ger Owens with Scott Flanigan in the Men’s 470 and James Espey in the Laser full-rig.
Both came close to qualification and will have a further opportunity when the remaining 25 per cent of places are won at next’s year’s separate world championships for both classes in May.
Seaton and McGovern sailed out to the Centre Course off Bathers’ Beach at Fremantle where several thousand spectators, a large number of whom were athletes who had not qualified for medal races, had gathered along the breakwaters and on a grandstand to watch the finals.
The pair had a careful plan to maximise their start and gain clear air.
However, the American and Danish boats opted for the same place on the starting-line and after a short first leg, the running order was quickly established and changed little for the remaining two laps except that the USA entry capsized while leading.
Despite placing eighth and achieving their goal of both qualifying for the Olympics plus a medal-race place, Seaton admitted afterwards to being somewhat disappointed even after delivering their personal best for a world championship.
The pair qualified for the medal race in Medemblik last May and won, leaving them fifth overall.
Meanwhile, the prospect of starting the new year with a full squad focused entirely on improving performance for the Games rather than qualification is a big step forward, according to the ISA performance director, James O’Callaghan.
In previous years, qualification has been right “down to the wire” and last minute. He said the results from Perth over the week indicate their systems were working.
