Ireland's Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove have qualified for the Gold fleet series at the 49er class European Championship in Thessaloniki, Greece. The pair achieved this on Thursday, 5th June 2025, amid challenging weather conditions.
After waiting over seven hours for races to complete, the sailors secured a second place in their opening race of the day. However, they faced difficulties in the following race, getting caught in light winds.
In the final race, they started strong and managed to finish in sixth place. Overall, they remain fifth in the standings, unchanged since the qualification round began on Tuesday.
"The boys did well and a decent enough day all round," said Matt McGovern, the Irish Sailing's 49er skiff coach. He added, “It was a very, very long one - we're happy to be finished.”
The competition has been tight, with Dickson and Waddilove briefly leading after the tiebreak of their second race on Thursday.
The standout performers of the day were undoubtedly New Zealand’s Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush, who delivered an impressive 2,3,1 scoreline despite a gruelling seven-hour day on the water. With long waits before races, the duo showed they’ve mastered the "on-off" switch—staying mentally fresh until it was time to perform, and perform they did.
Their success seems fueled in part by a healthy rivalry with fellow Kiwis Sam Bacon and Blake MacGlashan, who currently sit in 9th. The two teams have been training closely and pushing each other, both on and off the water.
A few races had to be abandoned, and those that held were anything but predictable, but a group of 25 have been selected to challenge for the championship. Even to those doing well struggled. Hernan Umpierre with Fernando Diz (URU) grabbed a huge lead on the first lap of race six and chose to head back in the same direction for the second lap. The three teams following them around the gate thirty seconds later all went the opposite way and got past the Uruguayans. "We got beat early in the second lap, so we headed over to where the fleet was, then we got caught out again and dropped back even further," said Umpierre. "We hung in on the final downwind and salvaged a fifth, so still a good race, but far from easy."
Third overall are Rask and Jensen (DEN) who sailed a fantastic final race of the qualifier to secure a second in the race. They were in touch with the leaders on the upwinds, fast and accurate on the downwind and didn't take much risk to sail another very tidy race. The pair are a rarity in Olympic circles as they missed out on Paris 2024 selection back in 2023 but enjoyed their sailing so much they continued through the whole 2024 season for the pure joy of it and have brought that positive attitude forward into 2025.
The qualification series is now complete, and the Irish duo will compete in the Gold fleet series on Friday and Saturday, with six races scheduled.
The top ten boats from this round will advance to Sunday’s medal race, which awards double points.
