Dickson and Waddilove rebound from World Championship disqualification

The opening round of the Allianz Sailing World Championships got underway at The Hague with Irish Tokyo Olympians Robert Dickson with Sean Waddilove among those in action on day one.

Ireland compete in four out of the ten Olympic disciplines that also include new kite and foiling events that are beach based.

First to start racing were the Men's double-handed skiff crews with three races in the 49er class followed by the women's FX equivalent in the afternoon.

Dickson and Waddilove appeared to have an excellent first race, matching the Dutch training partners who are the defending world champions to place second at the finish.

However, the Dublin crew then discovered that they had been fractionally early at the starting signal so were disqualified from the opening race. Undeterred, they scored a second place in the subsequent race.

All events will sail a qualification round to decide the split for Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets for the final round from the middle of next week.

The top ten boats of every class will sail a short medal race on their final day. Each event also has a quota of nation places to decide qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Cork sailors Seafra Guilfoyle with Johnny Durcan also raced today in their skiff fleet with two mid-fleet results to count.

The event was also the debut regatta for two newcomers to senior level as Down's Erin McIlwaine with Ellie Cunnane from Kerry raced in the women's 49er FX event.

All Irish boats will be racing from Sunday when the single-handers begin their events in the ILCA7 (Men's) and ILCA6 (Women's) events where Ireland's strongest prospects for Olympic qualification are placed.