The sixth RS Aero World Championships concluded on Friday (August 30th) at Hayling Island Sailing Club (HISC), UK.
175 entries representing 18 countries, including a four-strong team from Ireland, competed in the 12 races over five days.
The event, expertly run by HISC's army of volunteers and expert race management, provided 12 races in all four rig sizes, RS Aero 5, 6, 7 and 9. The rig choice enabled that sailors from 45-100kg and aged from 14-70 years old to compete in their preferred sail size. The largest Class was the RS Aero 7, with about 72 entries. The RS Aero 5 is the next largest Class with 55 entries and achieves gender parity with an approximate 50% male/female split! Also, it was fantastic to see two female winners of the Worlds in the 5 and 6 rigs. The Corinthian ethos of the Aero class attracted a mix of previous Worlds medallists, up-and-coming new talent and new hotshots tempted into the RS Aero Class from other Classes.
RS Aero 6 World Champion from Ukraine Sofiia Naumenko
After an opening breezy day, the venue provided light and challenging conditions for the remainder of the week. Facing strong competition right throughout the fleets the Irish sailors finished as follows : Sheridan 10th, including a race win in race 2; Butler 15th, Phelan 27th in the 6 rig and Van Maanen 11th in the 5 rig.
Van Maanen took first Master (over 55) in the five rig while Sheridan (both pictured below) took the silver in the Masters in the 6 rig.
RS AERO 6 Masters (over 55) pictured Bronze: Kazuyoshi Nakao, Japan; Gold: Spike Daniels UK and Silver: Daragh Sheridan, Ireland Photo: Oli King
RS Aero 5 Masters Winner Roy Van Maanen (middle) with Boris Mezhibovskiy of the USA, Silver medal winner in the 9 rig and Jeff Dunmall of Canada
