Solid performances from Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove in the men's skiff 49er class at the Allianz Sailing World Championships at The Hague are needed on Wednesday if the Irish Tokyo 2020 representatives are to retain their top ten place, a scenario which would lead them to both the medal race final on Friday and one of ten nation places available for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Strong tides and light winds add to the challenges on Tuesday, and the Dublin crew found themselves in 19th and 15th places in both races before recovering with a creditable third in the second race of the day. Overall the pair have slipped from sixth to tenth and cannot afford any further drop in form if a Paris berth is to remain on the cards.
The battle between leaders Botin with Trittel (ESP) and Lambriex with van de Werken (NED) is on! After twelve 49er races, the Spanish and Dutch protagonists find themselves just 0.2 points apart at the top of the standings. The teams are locked on the leaderboard and locked on the water, too, finishing within two places in each of the three races today. The Dutch won two of the three times to whittle down the small lead to a minuscule one. For example, 30 seconds after the start of race three, both the Spanish and Dutch struggled to hold their lanes on starboard. The Dutch tacked to Port and ducked the Spanish, and then just a few moments later, the Spanish tacked to follow and keep in lockstep. 30 minutes later, the pair were still together, finishing 6th and 7th, respectively.
James Peters and Fynn Sterrit (GBR) had two wins today and a poor race to bring themselves into the mix after the first day of gold fleet racing. They also won their final qualifying race to be on three wins in a row, the third of which was very comfortable by the time they completed the second lap. The British pair are up into third overall, typically a finish that would secure themselves a place in Paris within the confidential British trial system.
In the race to qualify nation places for Paris 2024, ten different nations are represented in the top 10 overall and aim to get the ten Paris berths on offer this week.
Gold fleet racing continues on Wednesday, with three more races scheduled. Then the top 10 will race the medal race on the 18th of August.
Results here