Irish Trio Battle Through Heavy Weather at 29er Worlds

5th July 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Storm Front – The 29er World Championship fleet lines up for racing in Kiel before strengthening winds, with gusts exceeding 30 knots, forced organisers to abandon further racing on Day Two Credit: Sander van der Borch

Three Irish crews completed the day's only race before severe weather forced an early end to racing at the 29er World Championships in Kiel, Germany.

Louise Hanley of the National Yacht Club is the leading Irish sailor after the fourth qualifying race, lying 168th overall in the Open fleet. Gemma Brady (NYC/LDYC) is 242nd overall in the Youth standings, while Royal St. George Yacht Club's Juliet Ryan is 245th overall and competing in the Under-17 category.

Day Two delivered the toughest conditions of the regatta so far. Fleets launched into a solid breeze for the fourth qualifying race before the wind rapidly strengthened to a sustained 25 knots, with gusts exceeding 30 knots and peaking at around 35.

Spinnaker Run: The 29er fleet powers downwind under asymmetric spinnakers during qualifying racing at the World Championships in Kiel before heavy weather curtailed the day's programme. Photo: Sascha Klahn

All six fleets completed the race before the Race Committee abandoned further competition. AP over H was displayed, sending competitors ashore as conditions in Kiel Fjord became too severe for racing.

At the top of the standings, Argentina's Felix Llauro and Lucas Cozar remain in control after adding a third place to their three race wins on the opening day. Sweden's Henric Wigforss and William Drakenberg climbed to second overall after winning the White Fleet race, while Britain's Jac Bailey and Ben Sinfield slipped to third.

Despite the curtailed schedule, mixed and female crews continued to impress. American pair Julia Sitzmann and Anton Schmid sit just outside the overall top ten, while Denmark's Emmeli Gramkov and Sofie Andersen lead the all-female teams in 20th overall.

Racing is scheduled to resume on Monday with four races planned, subject to weather, as organisers attempt to recover the programme following the loss of racing on Day Two.

Published in 29er, National YC

Published in 29er

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About the 29er Skiff Dinghy

The 29er is a one-design double-handed, single trapeze skiff for youth sailors.

There is an active class in Ireland, just one of the 38-countries from across all continents now racing the high-performance skiff.

The 29er is one of the latest dinghy classes to arrive in Ireland and has a 50/50 split between boys and girls.

The class like to describe the boat as "The most popular skiff for sailors who want to go fast!".

Derived from the Olympic class 49er class and designed by Julian Bethwaite the 29er was first produced in 1998.

Two sailors sail the 29er, one on trapeze.

The class is targeted at youth sailors aiming at sailing the larger 49er which is an Olympic class.

The 6.25-metre high rig features a fractional asymmetrical spinnaker; a self-tacking jib decreases the workload of the crew, making manoeuvres more efficient and freeing the crew to take the mainsheet upwind and on two-sail reaches.

The 15.00 m2 spinnaker rigging set-up challenges crews to be fit and coordinated, and manoeuvres in the boat require athleticism due to its lack of inherent stability and the high speed with which the fully battened mainsail and jib power up.

The 74kg weight hull is constructed of fibreglass-reinforced polyester in a foam sandwich layout.

The fully battened mainsail and jib are made from a transparent Mylar laminate with orange or red Dacron trimming, while the spinnaker is manufactured from ripstop Nylon.

The mast is in three parts - an aluminium bottom and middle section, with a polyester-fibreglass composite tip to increase mast bend and decrease both overall weights, and the capsizing moment a heavy mast tip can generate. Foils are aluminium or fibreglass.