A young Olympic Irish team shows the depth of its ambition this morning when it aims to repeat its own performance of three years ago by taking three Olympic qualifications – at the first attempt – from the ISAF World Championships, the most significant regatta in advance of the 2016 Olympic Games.
With half of the country berths for Rio 2016 set to be awarded at the conclusion of the 2014 ISAF Worlds next week, eight Irish crews in five disciplines are attempting to qualify in a combined fleet of over 1,250 sailors from 84 nations.
The additional significance of the Rio 2016 country qualification process has added extra spice to a world championship regatta that combines the peak events for all 10 Olympic sailing disciplines into one super-regatta.
No mean feat
But matching the Irish performance of three years ago in Perth when three boats qualified will be no mean feat. For one, the team is without its most experienced campaigners, Peter O’Leary and
David Burrows
, who exited after the Star keelboat lost its Olympic status in 2013.
Three Irish campaigns have continued from London 2012, namely Laser sailors Annalise Murphy, James Espey and 49er duo Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern.
Back then in Australia, Murphy, from Rathgar in Dublin, won four races, more than any other sailor in her fleet. Her average position, excluding discard, was seventh. If she had scored seventh in her two worst races she would have won the regatta by five points. Instead, a couple of bad results kept her in sixth overall. But sixth in a fleet of such world-class competitors was a top result for Murphy. She became the first Irish sailor to qualify for London, doing so at her first attempt.
The hope is that four more years’ experience will count for something in conditions which are admittedly expected to be far removed from the solid breezes encountered in Perth 2011.
The London 2012 crew is joined in Santander by three new campaigns; women's skiff duo Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey, new Laser trialist Finn Lynch and Finn sailor Ross Hamilton.
First out on to the Bay of Biscay this morning will be the Laser sailors and thanks to the changes in competition format, there is no room for slow starters.
Gold fleet
Preliminary rounds are limited to just two days before the fleets are split in to gold, silver and bronze. There are 23 Laser and 19 Laser Radial nation spots for the taking but failure to make the gold fleet by Sunday most likely means Olympic qualification in Santander will be out of reach.
At home, a new Irish designed and built sailing dinghy, the "CityOne" will be raced between the bridges of Limerick during the traditional Gandelow Regatta on September 20th. The high-performance boat was designed by Theo Rye as part of Limerick City of Culture celebrations.
Before departing for Spain, Annalise Murphy was on hand to launch Howth Yacht Club’s (HYC) Autumn league. The new six-week series that begins on Sunday with a fleet of 120 boats will celebrate its 35th staging with a new format and new sponsor. Racing takes place across nine divisions ending on October 18th.
In Cork harbour, Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC) has announced CH Marine as its sponsor for the October league, a series that should attract a similar-sized fleet as HYC starting on Saturday, September 27th, with the first two races.
