Ireland will be represented by two crews at the U23 49er World Championships, taking place in Medemblik, Netherlands, from 19 to 26 July. Racing will take place from 22 to 26 July, with five days of competition scheduled as the next generation of international sailing talent compete across the Olympic classes.
Irish Sailing development sailors Ben O’Shaughnessy (Royal Cork Yacht Club) and Ethan Spain (National Yacht Club) will compete in the 49er class. The pair have been building valuable experience throughout the season, competing in Senior Events against older, more competitive fleets, as they continue their progression in one of sailing’s most demanding high-performance classes.
The 49er class will race across two stages: the Preliminary Series and the Elimination Series. For the first three days, Preliminary Series sees the fleet split into two groups of similar size and compete in up to nine races. The aim is to complete at least six races during this series. For the final two days, boats will be divided into gold and silver fleets for the Elimination Series. The top 25 boats will race in the gold fleet, while the remaining boats will compete in the silver fleet. Up to six races are scheduled, with three races planned each day for both fleets.
Ethan Spain highlighted the importance of the championship as a key goal for the summer campaign.
“The U23 Worlds is our most important event of the summer, that’s what we’ve been building towards and what we have been gaining experience for. The regatta is within our age category, whereas we have been sailing above that recently, but this event will give us a good benchmark as to where we are at the moment.”
In the 49erFX fleet, Elysia O’Leary (Royal St George Yacht Club) and Alana Twomey (Royal Cork Yacht Club) will also be sailing under the Irish flag. The 49erFX fleets will each race as single series events throughout the championship.
The Junior World Championships provide an important opportunity for young sailors to test themselves against the world’s best in their age category, and the event represents another significant step in their international sailing journeys.
Irish Sailing wishes all four sailors the very best of luck throughout the championship.