Ireland's Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Sean Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) finished ninth overall at the conclusion of the 49er European Championship on Sunday (8th June) at Thessaloniki, Greece, having qualified for the Medal Race.

The result marks the end of a rollercoaster event for the Irish double-Olympians who showed their world-class potential by leading the event at one stage. A challenging day of deep results ultimately kept them outside the podium spots, but their overall performance and, in particular, the tenacity of their comeback in Saturday’s Gold Fleet racing, confirms their position among Europe’s top contenders.

The event was won by New Zealanders Seb Menzies with George Lee Rush who took the Open Championship while Spain's Martin Weizner with Jaime Wizner won the European title from their fourth place overall.

The 49er medal race had many more teams in contention for the medals than the other two fleets, and it was Nevin Snow with Ian Macdiarmid (USA) who seized the opportunity, jumping up from fourth to win silver.

The gaps were modest amongst most of the group that could medal, so the medal race was about doing the best possible and just hoping rivals didn't do as well. That was the case for the Americans as they got the best start at the pin and won the left side. They got to the windward mark in fourth place and then made gains with a gybe set as the wind built to be the best it was all week. By that time they noticed that the Uruguayans were having a poor race and they knew if they held on they were in a chance to move into the medals.

Snow with Macdiarmid are on a roll, having won the French Grand Slam in Hyeres just a few weeks ago.

Hernan Umpierre with Fernando Diz (URU) were the up-and-down team of the week, finally finishing on a bit of a low note with a ninth in the medal race, dropping them back to the bronze medal.

European nations were held off of the overall podium but each of the three top teams were thrilled with their European performance. The Wizner brothers (ESP) were fourth overall and first European for their best performance at any championship. William Pank with Thommie Grit (GBR) made their first medal race appearance and secured a European silver and fifth overall with their medal race win. Tal Sade with Maor Abu (ISR) were third in Europe and seventh overall.

With the regatta well secured, Seb Menzies with George Lee Rush (NZL) cruised around the course nicely on the final day. They won the remaining fleet race and finished fourth in the medal race, relishing their first major title in the 49er. When asked if they feel like Burling and Tuke, their fellow Kiwi's who dominated the 49er in their day, they laughed and said not yet! The next four years to LA will see a ton of skiff talent on the waters with the return of many medalists predicted for the October Worlds in Cagliari, so the quad to LA should be fascinating.

Dickson and Waddilove finished fifth of the European boats, matching their result from last year’s competition.

With light winds dominating this regatta, the crew focused on improving their starts and tactical decision-making, key goals they successfully achieved.

Matt McGovern, Irish Sailing’s 49er coach explained, "A massive goal and a massive win from being here is getting back to our best in light winds - this is definitely as light a wind regatta as we've done in a very long time. The guys have still performed (and) I'm very happy and very proud of them for getting their consistency back."

Despite a difficult Friday that included a disqualification for early starting along with 12 other crews in the tricky conditions, the Irish pair managed to maintain their resilience.

"You can't always expect miracles in the medal race going in in ninth when its mathematically possible to medal but it’s a big ask," said McGovern. "It's always a combination of results throughout the week and we just left ourselves with too much to do; coming out (of the medal race) in the same position as we went in is probably a pretty fair outcome.” 

Next on the calendar is Germany’s Kieler Woche regatta in two weeks’ time.