#Santander2014 - Both of Ireland’s 49er teams pulled out the necessary results on Day 7 of the ISAF Sailing World Championships to stay in contention for Olympic qualification.
Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey qualified for the female 49erFX Gold Fleet while their teammates Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern moved up to sixth overall in the 49er Gold Fleet.
Today was the final day of the qualifying series for the 55 boats in the 49erFX fleet. Brewster and Tidey had a fifth and a sixth, which boosted them significantly from 35th overnight to 17th, and meant they made Gold Fleet along with the other top 24 teams.
The ISA development sailors will now fight it out with the 14 other nations in Gold to try and secure one of the 10 coveted Olympic spots available.
Commenting after racing, Brewster said: “We needed to have two really good races today and we nailed it.”
Tidey added: “It was really gusty but we found all our skills were really good on the course. Everything we’d been practising really paid off and we’re so thrilled with today.”
Meanwhile, Seaton and McGovern last night finished the 49er qualifying series in 12th position, making the cut for their class Gold Fleet.
In order to earn Ireland another place at Rio 2016, the Northern Irish pair must also finish the regatta within the top 10 nations. A total of 88 teams from 33 nations are competing in the men’s skiff class so every result counts.
Sailing in 20 knots this afternoon, the boys warmed up with an 11th in Race 6. From there they kept on an upward trajectory with a ninth in Race 7, followed by a sixth in Race 8 and finally a second in Race 9. These solid results were enough to move them up three places in the leader board to sixth overall.
ISA performance director James O’Callaghan said it was “a really solid day from the skiff teams today. Both are now really well positioned going into Gold and the fight to secure nation qualification."
