Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove progress to gold fleet at World Championships

Ireland's Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove have qualified for the gold fleet final round after three days of racing at the 49er and 49erFX World Championships in Lanzarote.

The Dublin pair scraped through in the 25th and final place for the final round, which begins on Friday.

After some notable results early in the series, Dickson and Waddilove couldn’t find form on the third day, with a 14th place their best finish in the strong wind conditions on Lanzarote’s south coast.

However, with a further nine races remaining in the final round over the weekend, Dickson was optimistic on improving their standing.

"We're last in gold fleet so we have nothing to lose. We can probably take a little more risk and try and get up the leaderboard," Dickson said. "I definitely think that medal race is possible as the conditions have been very variable and the points are very tight."

Ireland’s second crew at the event, comprising of Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan, dropped out of contention for the gold fleet after disappointing on the last day of qualifying.