#rio2016 – Ireland's Annalise Murphy has arrived in Rio for next week's Aquece Rio - International Sailing Regatta 2014, the first test event of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games that takes take place from 2-9 August from the Marina da Gloria.
The Dubliner touched down in Brazil and was reunited with her boat and container that shipped to Brazil some weeks earlier. Unfortunately, her sailing gear and lost luggage has yet to be found as she posted on her facebook page.
Murphy will be one of 324 athletes from 34 nations, racing in 215 boats, it is set to be the largest Olympic classes sailing competition ever held in Brazil. Last week, the National Yacht Club sailor was crowned Women's Moth World Champion in Hayling Island.
Organised by Rio 2016 and Confederacao Brasileira de Vela (CBVela) in conjunction with the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the regatta will test the field of play, equipment, workforce, systems and procedures two years out from the Olympic Sailing Competition.
The venue has already come in from heavy criticism from Irleland among other countries with one Irish Sailing coach branding it a 'sewer' last December.
All five proposed Olympic race course areas will be assessed during the course of the regatta. Three course areas - Ponte, Escola Naval and Pao de Acucar - are situated inside Guanabara Bay with the other two - Copacabana and Niteroi - located outside the bay in open water.
Pae de Acucar, the proposed Medal Race course area with its spectacular Rio backdrop, will be put through its paces from day one.
Come Games Time, a workforce of over 1,000 people are expected to be working on the Olympic Sailing Competition and a key objective of the Test Event is to start developing the skills of the team who will be critical to a successful regatta. The on water race committee teams are one such group and their training programme will get underway under the guidance of International ISAF officials from Brazil and overseas. More on this event here.
Meanwhile, the sailors to represent Ireland at the ISAF Sailing World Championships to be hosted in Santander, Spain from 12-21 September were announced today at a press conference in Dublin. This event will be the first opportunity to qualify Ireland for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the following classes:
Providence Team IRL (sailors that competed in London 2012)
49er – Ryan Seaton & Matt McGovern
Laser Radial – Annalise Murphy
Laser Standard – James Espey
ISA Development Academy (sailors in training for 2016 or 2020)
49erfx – Andrea Brewster & Saskia Tidey
Laser Standard – Finn Lynch
Also announced was that the Rio 2016 Paralympic qualifier event will take place at the IFDS World Championships in Halifax, Canada from 19-24 August. John Twomey from Kinsale will be hoping to qualify for his 11th consecutive Paralympic Games.
Providence Team IRL – Paralympic Team
Sonar (Paralympic) – John Twomey, Ian Costello & Austin O'Carroll
The Irish Sailing Team had their most successful Olympics for thirty years at London 2012 with 4th, 10th and 14th place finishes and their target is to build on this success as they commence the road to Rio 2016.
