Team Ireland 29er sailors have returned home ahead of the national championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club this weekend after putting down a gruelling six days on the waters at Aarhus in Denmark at the class World Championships.
Ireland was represented by top junior sailor pairs, former World Under 17 World Champions and European Champions Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey, and a new pairing of the former World Champion Clementine van Steenberge and vice World Champion Jessica Riordan. The third female pairing representing Ireland and hoping for success were Emily Conan and Hannah Dadley-Young. The male teams and members of the Irish Sailing 29er Academy were William Walsh and Eoin Byrne and the Cork duo of Oisin Pierce and Fionn Daly.
Sailing is a tough sport with many elements you can’t control, so the sailors must dig deep to find the wind shifts and tactics to work for them. This week, the event featured three race courses and very tough varying conditions over the three-day qualifiers. Unfortunately, no Irish team qualified for Gold Fleet; they missed out due to unfortunate black flags, very light wind conditions and a difference between race courses in the qualifier series.
After six days of racing, Team Ireland took home silver medals in the Silver and Bronze fleet. Clementine Van Steenberge and Jessica Riordan finished the event as Vice World Champions in the silver fleet with a bullet in the final three days, and Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey finished the event as Vice World Champions in the Bronze fleet having scored three bullets in the final series. The other three Team Ireland pairings were in the Emerald and Purple fleets.
The 29er Worlds saw over 500 sailors from 30 nations compete in challenging conditions with large wind shifts and big pressure differences. The overall event winners were Italy, in second was Poland (who won the Europeans) and in third place was France.
The 5 Irish teams competing at the event represent some of the best sailors in the Irish Youth bracket. Over the last two years, they have won some of the biggest titles in Youth 29er sailing. Some now have their sights on moving to the 49 and 49fx. They had a tough event but are ones to watch for the future.