Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove opened the 49er World Championships in Cagliari with a statement race win, leading from the start of the opener in their qualifying fleet.
The Howth and Skerries pairing port-tacked the fleet at the committee boat and held clear air to finish well ahead. “Overall, it was a pretty okay day and happy with the opening race win,” said Dickson. “We were definitely fast and starting well so it’s looking good for the week.”
Their form dipped in the following two races as light, shifting breeze and low sun made conditions difficult. “The sun was very low on the water and the wind became shifty so it was hard to spot,” Dickson added.
Coach Matt McGovern said the early plan was simple. “Start with options and put yourself between the mark and the fleet – that happened for race one. After that it started to get light and very fickle.”
Waddilove said they won’t be distracted by the early scoreboard. “After Day 1, I don’t think we’d even look at the results as this is a 15-race regatta. We won’t change too much for day two and we’ll stick to our process.”
Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain scored a 15th in their final race of the first day of the world championships Photo: Sailing Energy
Two other Irish crews made their senior championship debuts. Erin McIlwaine and Ellen Barbour completed all three 49erFX races in Yellow Qualifying. In the men’s event, Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain scored a 15th in their final race.
Internationally, Olympic champions Diego Botin and Florian Trittel of Spain top the 84-boat leaderboard after scores of 2,1,7 in Yellow Group. Reigning world champions Erwan Fischer and Clement Pequin of France sit second on equal points after 4,5,1 in Red Group.
Past medal winners pack the top ten. The Netherlands’ three-time world champions Bart Lambriex and Floris van der Werken are fourth, while Sweden’s Marius Westerlind and Olle Aronsson lie third after a 3,4,5 series. New Zealand’s Olympic silver medallists Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie are sixth.
Veteran 2008 Olympic champion Jonas Warrer of Denmark, sailing with Mathias Lehm, also features in the top ten at age 46.
Racing continues today with the fleet order reversed. Gold fleet places will be decided over the next two days before a trial medal race format reduces the field to just four boats for the final.
Results here
