#sailforgold – Northern Ireland sailors Matthew McGovern and Ryan Seaton have made a good start at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta as they fine-tune their preparations for the Olympic Games.

The 49er class duo raced three times on the opening day at the Olympic venue in Weymouth, and claimed first place in the final race of the day.

After finishing eighth and 11th earlier, they are ranked ninth overall going into day two.

McGovern, 27, and Seaton, 24, qualified the nation in December at the World Sailing Championships in Australia, and London 2012 will be the first time since Athens 2004 that Ireland have been represented in the 49er event.

McGovern admits they are treating Sail for Gold as a dress rehearsal for the main event in under two months' time.

"We are trying to make this a bit like the Games with the atmosphere and personnel that are around, so we just trying to put a nice consistent solid week in," he said.

"The aim yesterday was just to make sure we didn't lose the regatta on the first day and I think the last race really paid off.

"We are trying to decide our final mast for the Games. We won't use our Games boat here but we will use our mast that we think we will probably want to use.

"We are doing a lot of tuning on that, so it's good from that point of view to be out with the other boats and race against them in the kind of conditions we hope to get in the Olympics.

"It looks like we are going to have a nice windy week later on which will be really good to check the rigging with that.

"Knowing that in eight weeks we will be back and it will be race time is really good.

"It's a really different regatta with a different vibe to it, and the whole being up in London for the opening ceremony is going to be pretty insane and we are really looking forward to it."

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For more:  www.skandiateamgbr.com. Investment specialist Skandia is the principal sponsor of the British sailing team.

#OLYMPIC SAILNG – After a busy month of six world Olympic sailing championships Ireland will send a five boat team to the sailing Olympics this July after two more boats were added to the team in the last ten days.

Beyond the qualification celebrations though the heat is on to deliver 'six medal race finishes plus two medals' in pre-Olympic events as a sign that the team is on track to deliver Olympic success in just over eight weeks time. That was the results tab calculation by team manager James O'Callaghan a month ago when he declared the Irish sailing team vision was to 'stand on the podium' in Weymouth in August.

The proclaimation followed the release of ISAF's standings that put both of Ireland's medal contenders in the Laser Radial and Star classes in the top five of the world rankings in January.

So far Peter O'Leary and David Burrows look on target in their keelboat class finishing fourth in the Star Worlds in France this month, one of Ireland's best ever results at an Olympic class world championships and secured when competition is at its hottest in an Olympic year. It follows a sixth in Hyeres Olympic week (even with a broken forestay) and a silver medal (for the third time) at the Star class Bacardi Cup in Miami in March.

Last week Ger Owens and Scott Flanigan finished with a fourth at the 470 world championships in Barcelona and moved up to 24th overall, a result that qualified them for London, Owens' third Olympic regatta and Flanigan's first.

Also through this month to London by virtue of a Gold fleet finish at the Laser worlds in Boltehnagen, Germany is Bangor Laser Sailor James Espey. He is the second Belfast Lough crew on the team joining Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern who race the 49er dinghy.

And at the same venue Annalise Murphy, finished 25th overall yesterday at the Laser Radial Worlds after an event where an inconsistent score sheet shows how the Dun Laoghaire sailor won two races in her 133-boat fleet but also discarded a 64th at the shifty venue.

Meanwhile Peter O'Leary and David Burrows who were narrowly denied a bronze medal at the Star Worlds a week ago have posted an update on the team website describing themselves as 'happy enough' with fourth overall and how the high quality event gave them the chance to test new gear. 'Some areas we were happy with and others we need to work on', they conclude.

Whatever the outcome in August for the Star keelboat it is the end of the Olympic road.

#PERTH2011 – A 'personal best' performance, eighth overall in the world championships and a chance to shine in tomorrow's medal race plus the all important ticket to the London Olympic regatta. Is it any wonder Belfast's 49er dinghy duo Ryan Seaton and Matthew McGovern are celebrating at the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Perth today?

The Irish pair started the day in 12th place and after the first two races where they finished 15th and 10th in the 67 boat fleet, they were in 10th position.

In sea breeze conditions they earned a sixth in the final race of the day to put them eighth overall and confirmed their place in tomorrow's medal race.

World number one pair Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) are one step closer to winning the gold medal in the 49er skiff competition after finishing Saturday's three Gold fleet races with an impressive 17 point overall lead.

As the rest of the fleet battled for a position in Sunday's top 10 Medal Race, Outteridge and Jensen placed fifth, seventh and 10th to bring their points tally to 85.

World number two Nico Delle Karth and Nikolaus Resch (AUT) also had a great day on the water, making a stunning come-back from 22nd place to make it into the top 10 thanks to three wins in the last two days.

The Austrian pair had two firsts and an eighth on Saturday, putting them seventh overall with 123 points.

Despite holding first place throughout the week, John Pink and Rick Peacock (GBR) had a disappointing day, placing 24th in race 13 and 23rd in race 15.

This result means the British have dropped from the lead to third with 106 points, bumping Emil and Simon Toft Nielsen (DEN) into second place with 102 points.

Stand outs for Saturday's racing also included Yann Rocherieux and Mathieu Frei (FRA), who battled closely with their fellow French team, Noe Delpech and Julien d'Ortoli, to cross the line second in race 13 and first in race 14.

Outteridge and Jensen are guaranteed a medal in Sunday's final but must beat the Toft Nielsen brothers in order to secure the World Championship.

Medal Race Competitors: (subject to protest): 1. Outteridge and Jensen (AUS); 2. Toft Nielsen and Toft Nielsen (DEN); 3. Pink and Peacock (GBR); 4. Burling and Tuke (NZL); 5. Warrer and Hansen (DEN); 6. Storck and Moore (USA); 7. Delle Karth and Resch (AUT); 8. Seaton and McGovern (IRL); 9. Evans and Powys (GBR); 10. Noerregaard and Lang (DEN).

Sunday 18 December is the final day of racing in Perth. The only Irish sailors competing tomorrow are Seaton and McGovern.

#PERTH 2011 – Belfast pairing Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are on their way to the London Olympic Games thanks to another solid performance in Perth today in the crucial closing stages of the 49er World Skiff Championships. It's Ireland's second successful qualification result at the ISAF World Championships. Last week Annalise Murphy became the first Irish sailor through. The pair who been recording  impressive results in the breezy championships currently lie 10th overall and seventh country. Seaton and McGovern took two fifth places today to take Olympic qualification with ease.

Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern from Ireland have qualified for the Olympics in the 49er class today. Photo: Richard Langdon

The 67– boat fleet now splits into Gold and Silver fleets with the top 25 boats entering the Gold fleet. Racing will continue through to Saturday with the top 10 teams then continuing on to the medal race on Sunday.

Fourteen London 2012 49er spots were available at Perth 2011 and after eight races the 14 places have been decided. Australia, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and the USA will all be on the starting line at Weymouth next year.

Croatia's Pavle Kostov and Petar Cupac made the gold fleet by six points ahead of Steve Thomas and Jaspar Warren (AUS). They take the last qualification spot and if selected will compete at their second Olympic Sailing Competition after their 17th place finish at Beijing 2008.

Five more 49er spots will be available at the 2012 World Championship in Zadar, Croatia from 4-13 May 2012.

#PERTH 2011 – Light winds did 49er pair Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern no harm in Perth today. The Irish pair scored a 7th, 11th and 12th in their three races and now lie 15th overall. It was not as spectacular as their opening day but the consistent scores keeps the duo on track for Olympic qualification. A further three days of racing will take place for the 49er class before the medal race on Sunday. The top 14 nations will earn their place at London 2012. Seaton and McGovern are currently eighth nation.

After a hard day of dramatically fluctuating winds and more than 10 capsizes in the racing, Denmark’s Peter Kruger Andersen and Nicolai Thorsell are the overall leaders at the end of the second day of competition for the 49ers at the ISAF Worlds.
 
Erik Storck and Trevor Moore (USA) finished first in race 4 for the Yellow fleet, crossing the line 21 seconds ahead of Santiago Silveira and Philipp Umpierre (URU), who placed second.
 
Race five saw Allan Noerregaard and Peter Lang (DEN) win comfortably with David Evans and Edward Powys (GBR) second and Storck and Moore with another good race in third place.
 
After a complicated start with several boats called back to the line, Kruger Anderson and Thorsell (DEN) took out the sixth race a massive 101 seconds ahead of Jonathan Ladha and Daniel Inkpen (CAN), with Storck and Moore again in third place.
 
The first race of the day for the Blue fleet saw wind speeds soar to 23 knots in the last leg of the race which allowed Australia’s Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen to maintain the lead for the entire race, crossing the line 42 seconds ahead of Emil Toft Nielsen and Simon Toft Nielsen (DEN).
 
Outteridge and Jensen had another win in race 5, with the Nielsen brothers once again finishing shortly behind by a mere 11 seconds.
 
Wind changes caused huge dramas in the last race of the day resulting in constant course alterations, but this did little to hinder Stephane Christidis and Emmanuel Dyen (FRA) who crossed the line first, 21 seconds ahead of Will and Sam Phillips (AUS).
 
Favourites to win the last race, Outteridge and Jensen struggled from the start and ended up finishing 13th.
 
The 49er competition is scheduled to continue on Wednesday from 1200 local time on the Owen course.

#PERTH2011 – Although Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern are discarding 12th scored in today's sixth race of the 49er world championships, the Belfast lough pairing stay solidly in the top ten overall. Their first time bid for qualifcation at next year's London Olympics stays on target too as the regatta approaches the half way stage. They lie eighth overall dropping three places from a stunning opening day where they finished second in the first race of the series.

#PERTH2012 – Hotly tipped Irish keelboat duo Peter O'Leary and David Burrows race tomorrow for Olympic qualification and world championship honours in the first race of the Star keelboat worlds, the second week of the ISAF World  Championships in Perth.

Belfast Lough 49er dinghy triallists Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern and Royal North Laser sailor, James Espey both start racing on Monday.

#OLYMPIC SAILING–As the important Olympic sailing Qualifier event in Perth, Australia draws closer Ireland had Laser, Laser Radial and 49er teams competing in Sail Melbourne as a warm up event last week.

49er dinghy men Ryan Seaton and Matthew McGovern took six third places over a series of 14 races to finish fourth in their seven boat fleet.

Dun Laoghaire's Annalise Murphy from the National Yacht Club, a medal hope for Ireland in London next year, was ninth from 25 starters, second being her best individual race score in race eight of here ten race series. She finished eighth in the final medal race.

Belfast Lough's James Espey from Royal Ulster YC made the gold fleet in the Laser class finishing 27th from 32.

In a huge boost to their campaign for London 2012 Irish duo Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern won this morning's 49er high performance dinghy medal race at Holland's Delta Lloyd Regatta. The impressive win moves the Irish pair to fifth overall.

Britsh duo Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes won the 49er Class after a very tight medal race.

Before the race Morrison and Rhodes only real competition was the Australian team Outteridge/Jensen. Morisson: “We did not mind that we did not win the medal race. All we had to do was keep close to the Australians. In this wind it was very hard, but we did.”

It wasn’t the first time Morrison and Rhodes won the Delta Lloyd Regatta. ”We won this Regatta in 2008. After that we have not won another regatta. And now we have a medal again. So we like it here”, Morrison says.