Skiff sailors season to culminate in Sardinia World Championships
As the pathway to the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 comes into view, Ireland's Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Sean Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) are prepared for their season finale when the 49er World Championships begin in Cagliari, Sardinia tomorrow (Tuesday 7th to Sunday 12th October 2025).
The double Olympic veterans from the Tokyo and Paris games are now counted amongst the leading crews going into the 96 boat event with teams drawn from 32 nations.
And in a surprise development, two up and coming Irish crews are also joining the event for their first senior world championship experience thanks to the progress made over the past six months.
For Dickson and Waddilove, their entire training plan for the past three months has been centred on the expected seasonally light wind conditions off Sardinia in early October. This means emphasising tactics rather than pure boatspeed more associated with windier venues.
"Our (weather) statistics show that in late September the pressure tends to drop off and it's not as windy," commented Irish Sailing's 49er coach Matt McGovern. "We're kind of hedging our bets that it will be lighter; hopefully we've got this right."
The season to date has generally had light winds and, while not the heaviest crew, the Dublin pair have done some weight management to try and cover their options for light winds.
Another factor is that many of the senior crews took a break after the Paris Games but will now be back in action so present more familiar opponents for the senior Irish crew to compete against.
"This will be the first big one that everyone is back for that we're trying to target," said McGovern. "The expectation should be fairly high, certainly outside top five I wouldn't be that pleased about because I know that the guys can do it and have shown it over and over and over again."
Meanwhile, two of the emerging crews from Irish Sailing's development squads will have their first fully competitive experience at world level in Cagliari.
Erin McIlwaine (Newcastle Yacht Club) and Ellen Barbour (County Antrim Yacht Club), who recently took Bronze at the Under 23 World Championship will be racing in the women's 49er FX event and can measure off against the best skiff sailors they will be facing regularly as their campaign strengthens.
And in the Men's 49er event, Ben O'Shaughnessy (Royal Cork Yacht Club) and Ethan Spain (National Yacht Club) who recently placed third in the competitive UK National Championships will be looking to build their experience and gain personal bests at the Italian venue.
"The commitment shown by both of our development crews to the training has paid off ahead of expectations so the decision was taken to send them to the worlds a year earlier than might have been expected," commented James O'Callaghan, Irish Sailing's Performance Director. "We hope that they'll be able to use these ultra-competitive races to work on improving elements rather than actual overall race results - this is a building block regatta for them."
Racing begins on Tuesday 7th with a qualification round over three days to determine Gold fleet which will comprise the second half of the regatta.