DAY 7
Lynch on the cusp of Olympic qualification with two races to go at Sailing World Championships
Ireland's Finn Lynch delivered two solid performances in a highly tricky day at the Allianz Sailing World Championships in The Hague today as the Carlow sailor seeks to qualify the nation for the Paris 2024 Olympic regatta.
A strong tidal current and fresh winds meant a very physical and tactical day for the ILCA7 class single-handers. In the opening race, Lynch placed second at the first mark but he clipped the inflatable buoy as the tide swept up against him. After taking his penalty turn, he went on to take eighth place.
Tide again played a pivotal role in the second race that saw Lynch finish 17th in the 80-strong fleet. With two races remaining, on the overnight standings he is within the Olympic qualifying criteria in 14th out of 16 nations.
"Finn needed to deliver a solid day and he did just that," said James O'Callaghan, Irish Sailing's Performance Manager. "We're still in the mix going into the final day two races so a repeat performance or better would be ideal."
Ireland's second boat racing in Gold fleet for the ILCA7 event saw Ewan McMahon avoid multiple collisions in the tidal surge at the first mark and place 23rd in the opening race. He then discarded a 50th in the next race to hold 43rd overall and aiming to deliver a top half overall result at the end of the event.
Friday's forecast is for light winds in the morning when the final two races are currently scheduled for. With Spring tide conditions reaching their fastest flow of the week, Saturday's reserve day may yet be needed to complete the fleet series.
DAY 6:
Irish eyes turn to Finn Lynch as skiff crew miss out at Sailing World Championships
In a double blow at the Allianz Sailing World Championships at The Hague today Tokyo 2020 Olympians Dickson Waddilove missed a top ten overall place for the medal final and also qualification for Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Dublin pair still have further opportunities for qualifying Ireland with the next event in the 49er skiff event scheduled for Portugal in November.
However, it was their final day performance that will be agonising for them as they ended their 15 race series in 14th place overall after two weighty results for the day. They missed the Paris qualification criteria by one place as the Austrian team slipped ahead.
Dickson and Waddilove's training partners Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken of the host nation successfully defended their world title even before Friday's medal race.
The Irish crew suffered a last place in Wednesday's opening race that was delayed til the afternoon due to light winds. They could have carried that result except that they incurred a Black Flag starting disqualification in the penultimate race in which they placed second.
Had their result not been disqualified, they would have achieved both the medal race top ten with a chance at the podium as well as qualification for Ireland at the first attempt.
"This is a deeply disappointing day for Robert and Sean as they clearly had the form they needed to deliver this week," commented James O'Callaghan, Irish Sailing's Performance Director. "While it isn't what we came here for, there are now three months in which to iron out the tiny performance issues that have such a massive impact on results."
The end of fleet racing for the Men's skiff event leaves just the Men's single-handed event with Irish interest at these championships as Finn Lynch competes for a medal race place and a top 16 overall position to qualify Ireland for the next Olympics.
The Carlow sailor has four races remaining to achieve his goals and improve from 33rd overall after a 15th place and a 58th from Wednesday's wind against strong tide conditions.
Ewan McMahon also continues in the same Gold fleet where he lies 42nd overall in the 69-strong division.
DAY 5:
Two Irish in the hunt at halfway stage of Sailing World Championships:
We are now at the halfway point of the Allianz Sailing World Championships at The Hague. Two Irish boats are in the Gold fleet hunt as the final rounds are now underway.
Tokyo 2020 Olympians Dickson Waddilove lie tenth overall in the Men's Skiff event, after a third place saved them from a slip in form in the day's opening two races. The tidal conditions continue to present organisers and sailors alike with added challenges and the Dublin crew found themselves in 19th and 15th places before recovering.
Two days of racing remain and solid performances are needed to retain a top ten place which will lead to both the medal race final on Friday and one of ten nation places available for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Meanwhile, the single-handed classes also faced challenges at the end of their qualification round. The Men's ILCA 7 fleet departed the slipway before 9am for a scheduled earlier start to complete the qualification round with the minimum of four and preferably a fifth race.
However, while races three and four were completed, attempts to get the fifth race away failed into the building flood tide. The sailors headed ashore after seven hours on the water while the Women's ILCA 6 fleet were held ashore and eventually cancelled without racing.
As the women had completed the minimum four races already, the qualification round has ended thus denying Ireland's Eve McMahon two more races to possibly resurrect a place in the Gold fleet. She will now compete in the Silver division for the remainder of the series.
In the Men's ILCA 7 class, Finn Lynch has achieved Gold fleet in 21st place overall. Having earlier been eighth overnight, he had a 20th place in the first race of the day while in the second, on the third attempt to start the race under the BFD Black Flag (immediate disqualification for early starting) Lynch appeared to have a clean start and won the race before discovering that he had been scored BFD, a score that he dropped using the single event discard.
"The tidal conditions are definitely proving to be a headache but it’s the same for everyone so adaptation is the priority," commented James O'Callaghan, Irish Sailing's Performance Director. "The stakes are high and there are a lot of points still to be won over the next few days."
Event organisers have rearranged the schedule to use Wednesday's rest day for racing so the ILCA classes will - subject to weather - have two races daily for the coming three days to decide Sunday's medal race final and the top 16 nations to win a place at Paris 2024.
DAY 4
Tide plays havoc with Sailing World Championships as Eve McMahon faces big test on Tuesday
Ireland's Eve McMahon was the only Irish sailor to get racing in but there was little sign of her form from earlier in the season as she posted two weighty results that dropped her to 81st overall in her 110-strong ILCA6 women's single-handed event.
With two races remaining to decide the Gold fleet split for the final round later this week, she faces a big ask for Tuesday's schedule to regain a foothold in the standings. The task is achievable with a 20-point deficit to overcome, a gap that could be closed by a return to form.
However, while the ILCA6 class did deliver two races, the flood tides meant the ILCA 7 class were sent ahsore and no races were completed.
Ireland's Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) is eighth overall in his 138-boat event thanks to a 12th and fourth place from Sunday's opening races.
The men are due to sail on Tuesday morning when, if today's conditions are repeated they may be able to complete the four race minimum qualifying criteria. But if the conditions are repeated in the afternoon, as the ILCA6 class has already sailed four races, the results from today could stand.
Tidal conditions are expected to worsen as the week progresses with full Spring tide current predicted by Thursday.
DAY 3
Gold fleet place for Dickson and Waddilove at Sailing World Championships at The Hague
Another strong performance by Tokyo 2020 Olympians Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, they obtained a Gold fleet place for the finals round at the Allianz Sailing World Championships.
Another race win plus a second place looked set to be joined by another podium place for the final race of the round as the Dublin crew port-tacked the fleet with Ireland's second 49er skiff sailed by Seafra Guilfoyle with Johnny Durcan of the Royal Cork Yacht Club.
Leading the fleet, both boats suddenly found the only calm patch in an otherwise breezy day and slipped back in the fleet.
Dickson and Waddilove placed 12th to finish the nine race round in sixth overall. Guilfoyle and Durcan placed 14th but an earlier disqualification for early starting ended their hopes of making the cut for Gold fleet.
“The first cut off point was making Gold fleet so it’s great Rob and Sean have achieved this," commented James O'Callaghan, Irish Sailing's Performance Director. "Seafra and Johnny will be frustrated as they had speed but boat handling errors ultimately cost them.”
Monday features a rest day for the 49er skiffs before the final round starts on Tuesday with the medal race for the top ten boats on Friday. Coincidentally, just ten nation places are available for qualification to Paris 2024 at this event and with 12 countries in the current top 15 places, achieving a place on Friday will be essential.
Meanwhile, the two single-handed fleets started their qualification round of six races today for the ILCA classes.
Rio 2016 Olympian Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) in the Men's ILCA7 event had a 12th and a fourth place for the day to end eighth overall. Ewan McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) recovered from a 40th in the opening race to place 17th while his younger sister Eve McMahon took eleventh in her ILCA6 opening race before a Black Flag disqualification in race two.
DAY 2:
Top day for Irish at Sailing World Championships at The Hague
Strong winds and big seas marked the second day of qualifying at the Allianz Sailing World Championships at The Hague today with Irish crews relishing the conditions.
Tokyo 2020 veterans Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove pulled up the ranks of the 49er skiff event thanks to a race win and two top three results for the day.
With three races remaining on Sunday to decide the final round split, the Dublin crew are in fifth overall so have left the disappointment of a Black Flag start disqualification in Friday's opening race well behind them.
"The whole day we had good speed, plus (good starts) and we perhaps only left one point out there," said Sean Waddilove on return to the beachside venue. "We can't really get much better than that."
Ireland's second 49er skiff pairing comprising Seafra Guilfoyle with Johnny Durcan of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the newer of the two campaigns had a promising day spoiled by a capsize while leading the fleet in the second race.
The pair recovered to tenth place and went on to take second place in the final race of the day as the winds peaked.
"It was very enjoyable racing but very frustrating in the first race (28th place) but we got into it in the second race and were leading the whole way round until the capsize," commented Johnny Durcan. "We made amends in the last race but... today just wasn't good enough, we're definitely better than that mistake."
The Crosshaven sailor feels optimistic about the final day and reckons this skiff racing is some of the best sailing that he's ever done.
"Rob and Sean had a 1-3-2 so you can't really ask for better than that," said James O'Callaghan, Irish Sailing's Performance Director. "It's a long regatta, like an endurance race so now it's time to see if the days of fitness and preparation will pay off."