In a 10-knot southerly breeze, sailing on the Zushi course, Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove finished second in race 5 behind Denmark, and followed that with a sixth in race 6 as the wind picked up today (Thursday 29 July).
These results move the Dublin 49er pair up from 11th place after four races to seventh position overall in the Tokyo 2020 49er standings, 14 points behind joint leaders Great Britain (1st on count back) and Spain.
Brazil’s Marco Grael, sailing with Gabriel Borges, was the winner in race 6, the second race of the day for the 49ers. Marco is a son of five-time Olympic medallist Torben and sister to Martine, current Olympic 49erFX champion and lying fifth overall in her class.
Dickson and Waddilove will be particularly pleased that, in both races, they improved position after mark 1. In the first race of the day, they came from 25 seconds behind Germany at the final weather mark to beat them by 2 seconds at the finish.
Their recovery was more dramatic in the day’s second race, improving from 12th at mark 1 to eighth across the finishing line. They were promoted to sixth place due to starting infringements by the Portuguese and Swiss boats.
“We’re feeling pretty good,” Waddilove said afterwards. “We had a pretty average day yesterday, but we learned from our mistakes and we were really nicely set up today so that made our life a lot easier.
“At the halfway point, we’re still ready to go. One race at a time — and still keep picking off the places. We had quite steady conditions, maybe medium winds and not too wavy.
“First race was just about going fast and keeping yourself clear out of other boats, not making too many mistakes and that was really it – just keep it simple around the racecourse. Really nice conditions here — I don’t think you can get much better.”
