In Vilamoura, Portugal, on Wednesday, November 8th, 2023, despite light and fickle wind conditions, Irish sailors Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove made a strong start to the 49er European Championships.

The Howth and Skerries pair made a clean start to the single short race, quickly putting behind them their disappointing performance at the world championships in August, where they were disqualified from two races for early starting, costing them early qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The duo reached the first turning mark in seventh place before carefully working up to third place after the two-lap race. However, the race management teams struggled to set a course in the dying breeze, and as the sun began to set, the attention shifted to day two of the qualification round, where better wind conditions were forecast.

With the breeze dying during the late afternoon, only one 49er Europeans race was completed for the three men’s qualifying groups. Photo: Prow Media

Seán Waddilove, speaking after the race, said, "We can't complain - it was a light, tricky day. To come away unscathed is pretty good."

Guilfoyle and Durcan

Royal Cork's Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan, the second Irish boat competing at the event, had a 12th place and relished the prospect of better conditions on Thursday. "It was very light, very easy to have a bad one, so we're reasonably happy," commented Johnny Durcan. "There's a bit more breeze (forecast) tomorrow and today was pretty close to being a drifter so hopefully, four races in ten knots."

Guilfoyle and Durcan are seeking a top 20 result overall in the 90-strong event to meet Sport Ireland carding scheme criteria.

With the breeze dying during the late afternoon, only one race was completed for the three men’s qualifying groups. The winners of their respective groups were Martin and Jaime Wizner from Spain, Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie from New Zealand, and Sebastien Schneiter and Arno de Planta from Switzerland.

The 91-strong 49er skiff class is divided into three fleets for the qualification round of nine races. The top 25 boats go through to the Gold fleet for the final round, while the top ten boats from there will contest a medal race decider on Monday, November 13th.

Saskia Tidey

Royal Irish's Saskia Tidey from Dun Laoghaire Harbour, who is sailing for Team GB and already qualified for Paris 2024 sailing with Freya Black, is lying 40th in a 55-boat 49er FX fleet.

Ireland's only place so far at the Paris 2024 Olympic Regatta, thanks to Finn Lynch in the Men's dinghy, has been confirmed by World Sailing as it publishes the first 107 boats and boards qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games following the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships at The Hague.

Great Britain and the Netherlands are currently leading the Allianz Sailing World Championships table with eight places each, with Spain and Italy following closely behind with seven places each. Germany and New Zealand have secured six places.

Sailors from all over the world came to The Hague to compete and took one step closer to realising their Olympic dreams.

France, as the host nation, has already been allocated ten places.

Sailing athletes still have more opportunities to make their National Olympic Committee (NOC) proud in the coming months as they compete across all ten Olympic events.

The 2023 Formula Kite European Championships will take place in Portsmouth, UK, from 16-24 September 2023, followed by the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, from 19-27 September 2023.

These events will include races for qualification in iQFOiL, Formula Kite, ILCA 6, and ILCA 7. Furthermore, a qualifier will be held on each of World Sailing’s six continents in each of the 10 Olympic Events.

The final chance regatta will be held at the 2024 Semaine Olympique Française in Hyeres, from 18-27 April 2024, just a few months before the Games.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition is expected to feature over 250 boats, with 330 athletes equally divided between male and female sailors.

All places are subject to final confirmation by World Sailing.

See the complete table of qualified Olympic places below.

Paris 2024 Olympic sailing qualified places

Finn Lynch secured Ireland's berth at the Paris Olympics in the ILCA 7 class this afternoon when he claimed the 15th of 16 nation places on offer at the Sailing World Championships in The Hague.

The world championship silver medalist who represented Ireland in Rio 2016 but failed to qualify for Tokyo 2020, will be relieved to get Paris 2024 qualification in the men's dinghy behind him after a week of drama on the North Sea that saw 27-year-old Carlow sailor end the competition in 23rd overall when had been as high as eighth at one point. A delighted Lynch described the result as "a monkey off my back".

In a mixed final day, he placed 19th in the first race but was unable to break into the leading group and placed 38th in the last of the ten-race series.

After crossing the finishing line, he sailed ashore believing he had missed qualification when he had actually managed to place 15th by nation and 23rd overall.

Ireland sought three such qualifications at The Hague, but Lynch was the only sailor to make the Paris 2024 cut, a much-needed consolation after missing out on the World Championship medal race.

Now that Ireland is qualified in the men's dinghy, Lynch will contest the Paris 2024 place with Howth's Ewan McMahon in an Olympic trial series to be announced.

Meanwhile, Matt Wearn (AUS) is on the brink of adding a first world title to his Olympic gold medal after navigating his way into a comfortable lead in the ILCA 7. 
 
Going into the day trailing Micky Beckett (GBR), Wearn knew that a previous black flag disqualification for the Brit meant he was much more vulnerable to a bad score. 
 
So even though Beckett came second in the opening race of the day, stretching his lead further, Wearn was able to match-race his opponent – effectively delaying Beckett – with the pair finishing 65th and 66th, respectively. 
 
That allowed Wearn to move into top spot, with a 20-point lead over George Gautrey (NZL), while Beckett is a point further back. Wearn will therefore need to get around the course in the medal race with no penalties to take gold. 

Results here.

Irish sailors are waiting for the wind to win a Paris 2024 Olympic berth after racing was cancelled at the Allianz Sailing World Championships in The Hague today. 

No racing was possible due to light winds, the opposite conditions of what caused the cancellation of the first day's racing at the Irish ILCA Nationals at Howth Yacht Club. 

Saturday's forecast for the Dutch coast is more promising as organisers try to complete the Gold fleet racing in the ILCA7 men's single-handed class.

Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) is on track for Paris 2024 Olympics and hopes to improve his standing in the upcoming races. Lynch is joined by Howth's Ewan McMahon.

Results here.

In 33rd position, Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) has four ILCA 7 races left on Thursday at the Sailing World Championships in The Hague to make the medal race top ten plus a top 16 overall position to qualify Ireland for the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

After a 15th place and a 58th scored in Wednesday's wind against strong tide conditions, the Carlow sailor has it all to do on Thursday with countryman and rival for the single Irish berth, Ewan McMahon (Howth Yacht Club), just nine places behind in 42nd overall in the 69-strong division.

At the front of the fleet, Micky Beckett (GBR) overcame a black flag disqualification in the first race to extend his lead in the ILCA 7, thanks to a second in the day's final race.

However, Olympic champion Matt Wearn (AUS) was the big mover, with a first and a third to move into second overall, albeit still 15 points behind Beckett.

However, a strong start to competition in the gold fleet, Wearn will hope to match his exploits at the Paris Test Event when a strong finish saw him overhaul Beckett for victory.

Results here

Due to light winds and strong tide at the Sailing World Championships in The Hague, today's cut-short ILCA 6 qualification series has denied Ireland's Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club the chance to recover from a Black Flag penalty and earn herself a Gold fleet place. The Howth youth sailing star will now compete in the Silver division for the remainder of the series.

As Afloat reported earlier, McMahon had dropped to 81st overall in her 110-strong ILCA6 women's single-handed on Monday and faced a difficult comeback.

While Olympic nation qualification in The Hague represented the best possible preparation for Paris 2024 and the best indicator that Ireland is in the medal hunt, McMahon has two remaining opportunities to make the Marseille startline next July. These are the ILCA 6 2024 Continental Championships and a final qualification regatta just weeks before the Games itself.

Ireland's Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club dropped to 81st overall in her 110-strong ILCA6 women's single-handed class at the Allianz Sailing World Championships in the Netherlands on Monday.

With two races left to decide the Gold fleet split for the final round later this week, the Irish Sailor of the Year must overcome a 20-point deficit in Tuesday's schedule if she is to keep Ireland's Olympic nation qualification chances alive in The Hague.

As Afloat reported, her regatta started badly on Sunday with a black flag disqualification in race two.

"The Irish Sailor of the Year must overcome a 20-point deficit"

Hungary’s Maria Erdi pulled clear at the top of the standings thanks to a third-place finish in the day’s opening yellow fleet race on a day of mixed results for the top contenders.
 
Erdi leads Carolina Albano by a point after the Italian finished fourth and 22nd in the two blue fleet races, with Marilena Makri (CYP) and Maud Jayet (SUI) taking victory.
 
The yellow fleet races were won by Patricia Reino Cacho (SPA) and Marie Barrue (FRA), with Olympic gold medallist Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) rising to third thanks to finishes of eighth and third in the yellow fleet.
 
Home favourite Marit Bouwmeester (NED) sits sixth after a mixed day that saw her finish seventh and 11th, while Emma Plasschaert (BEL) responded from a 30th-place finish in the day’s opening race to grab a second-place finish in the blue fleet’s second race.

ILCA 7

McMahon was the only Irish sailor to race yesterday as racing for ILCA7 Men's single-handers, where Finn Lynch and Ewan McMahon are competing, was cancelled due to light winds and strong tides on the race course. Lynch (National Yacht Club) is eighth overall in his 138-boat event thanks to a 12th and fourth place from Sunday's opening races. 

49er

Tuesday sees the opening races of the finals round for the 49er, where Ireland's Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Sean Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) have qualified for Gold fleet and lie sixth overall after their nine-race qualification round.

Irish hopes for Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification were boosted last week with some strong performances at this month's Test Event in Marseille ahead of August's 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships at The Hague. 

The Dutch event from the 10th to the 20th of August represents the first of three opportunities to qualify for the Summer Olympic Regatta in Marseilles.

The regatta is a once-a-cycle event where the world championship titles for all ten Olympic classes are up for grabs at the same time.

Sailing for Ireland in The Hague are five Dublin sailors and two from Cork Harbour. Three of the seven are already Olympians from both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

2022 World Youth Champion Eve McMahon from Howth Yacht Club sails in the ILCA 6, and her brother Ewan McMahon also from Howth and 2016 Olympian from Rio Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club), compete in the Men’s ILCA 7. Dublin reps from Tokyo, Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Seán Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) and Cork duo Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan (both Royal Cork Yacht Club) are all competing in the 49er Men's skiff event.

"A top 16 finish in each of the ILCA events will secure a Paris 2024 spot for Ireland"

The World Championships at the Hague will see 1,400 of the world’s best sailors compete across 10 Olympic and 4 Parasailing events. 107 Olympic places are up for grabs alongside the title of World Champion.

Only one boat from each country can compete in each event at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A top 16 finish in each of the ILCA events will secure a spot for Ireland at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, while in the 49ers, a top 10 finish is required.

Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Seán Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) will compete in the 49er skiff in The Hague for an Olympic berth at Paris 2024 Photo: INPHO/Bryan Keane

If Ireland does secure Olympic qualification, the Irish sailors in that event will then battle it out for nomination to the Olympic Federation, based on the results of sailors at a pre-determined list of events as laid down in the selection process set down by Irish Sailing’s Olympic Steering Group, a procedure which was not without controversy for Tokyo 2020.

Should Ireland fail to qualify a boat at the World Championships in the Hague, two more opportunities await, but a qualification in The Hague represents the best possible preparation for Paris 2024 and the best indicator that Ireland is in the medal hunt. The remaining opportunities are 2024's class Continental Championships and a final qualification regatta just weeks before the Games.

Hopes are high that Ireland will qualify in all three events. Despite a bumpy start to the pre-Olympic year, there have been some strong finishes, most recently in last week’s Olympic Test Event in Marseille.

The eight-day regatta was the first of four test events run by Paris 2024 organisers to fine-tune their processes – and for the athletes, it was a dress rehearsal for the Games with only one entry per nation in each of the ten classes.

It was also a key performance indicator in the run-up to Paris 2024.

Lynch finished sixth in the ILCA 7 and has, it appears, put his long-standing arm injury behind him. In her first season competing as a Senior, McMahon finished 11th in ILCA 6, a result that included a win in race 8. Dickson and Waddilove placed 13th, just outside the top ten for the medal race final.

The World Sailing Championships begin in The Hague at the port of Scheveningen from 10th August 2023.

World Sailing President Quanhai Li has praised preparations for the Paris 2024 regatta after visiting the test event in Marseille.

The Paris 2024 Test Event concluded on Sunday with many of the world’s best sailors competing across all Olympic classes at the venue on the city's edge, just 5km from the world-famous Vieux-Port.

In what was very close to a full test for the sport at Paris 2024, athlete numbers were actually higher than they will be in August next year when 330 athletes will attempt to win medals in one of the ten events.

Quanhai Li, President of World Sailing, arrived in Marseille having attended the 420 and 470 Junior European Championships in Gdynia, Poland, as well as the Grand Finale of the Ocean Race in Genoa.

Together with World Sailing Chief Executive Officer David Graham, the President met with competitors, Paris 2024 officials, World Sailing staff and volunteers, and Member National Authority officials to discuss their views on the ongoing work to prepare for the Olympics.

Li said: “Marseille is passionate about sailing, and I believe the Marseille Marina will be one of the great venues of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“The journey is only three hours from Paris by train, and fans who visit will experience fantastic sport in a fantastic city.

“It was wonderful to see preparations going so well – the venue is being transformed and will provide a superb legacy for French sailing after the Olympics.

“Last week was a test event whose purpose was primarily to test the venue, the team or the operations on the water including sport, security and medical amongst others. The feedback received from the athletes was extremely positive and World Sailing is confident that the Paris 2024 regatta will be a success for the sport and for the Games.”

Paris 2024 President, Tony Estanguet said: “We were delighted with the overwhelming success of our first major test event for the Paris 2024 Games.

“Marseille, with its changing wind directions, the low tides and good visibility, has proved to be a perfect site to host sailing competitions and we look forward to a repeat, in 2024, of the fantastic sporting performances we saw over the last 10 days.

“We equally look forward to the strong legacy that these Games will leave for the city. The nautical base that will remain after the Games will provide the people of Marseilles with a very fine site for sailing - for amateurs all the way through to elite athletes.

“I want to take to take this opportunity to thank all of the different national and international authorities who contributed to success of this event, including of course our friends from World Sailing.”

An ultra-consistent Finn Lynch (IRL) is lurking in the hunt for a podium finish at the Paris 2024 Test Event in Marseilles on Saturday after a string of top-ten results in a 42-boat ILCA 7 fleet.

The National Yacht Club's Lynch was as high as third on Wednesday evening, the second time in the series he's been in a podium position, but dropped back to fifth overall on Thursday after scoring an 11th in race nine.

Michael Beckett (GBR) has moved into a commanding position for the title. He suffered his first off day of the competition on Thursday, but the Irish sea sailor bounced back in style to put himself into a strong position ahead of the medal race.

Finishing second and then third, Beckett moved back ahead of Olympic champion Matt Wearn (AUS) in the standings.

Beckett currently sits on 30 points, nine clear of Wearn, meaning that even with double points in the medal race on Saturday, he has a comfortable buffer.

New Zealander George Gautrey won the second race of the day to move up to third on 45 points with Pavlos Kontides (CYP) and Finn Lynch (IRL) lurking in the hunt for a podium finish on 48 and 49 respectively.

Results here