LAST UPDATE | 28 Jul

IRISH DUO Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove won the third and final race today of Men’s Skiff series in Marseille. 

The pair finished ninth in their opening race and fourth in the second race before finishing the day on a high.

It means Dickson and Waddilove are second overall, behind only New Zealand’s Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie, who won the opening race and followed it up with fourth and 10th-place finishes.

The first two races featured very light winds before they moved to a different course for the third race of the day.

The breeze picked up and it worked to the Dubliners’ advantage as they led for the duration of the contest.

Uruguay’s Hernan Umpierre and Fernando Diz, and Netherlands’ Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken — who won race two — are just behind the Irish stars in the overall standings in third and fourth place respectively.

Dickson and Waddilove will compete in 12 races overall, with three more due tomorrow.

The top 10 in the overall standings will then progress to the medal race on Thursday.

“Probably three firsts would have been nice,” said Waddilove when asked if it could have gone any better. “But it was very tricky — the first two races — so we’re really happy to come away with the results we did.”

Crew weight is a big part of planning and on the influence of the light winds, Dickson added: “There’s been a bit of discussion about weight in general — we could get anything weather-wise here so we’re just running an average weight for this regatta.

“We did see the forecast from seven days out and we thought it was going to be light. So we’ve tried not to eat too much in the buffet.”

“We expected a bit more breeze, you see the Mistral (wind) come in quite a lot here, which is a very, very heavy wind, but in the lead up we prepare for everything, so we’re surprised not to see as much wind but we’re ready for it,” said Waddilove.

James O’Callaghan, Performance Director of Sailing Ireland, added: “It was a tough but good day. The wind was light for the first two races which made it challenging.

“It picked up for the final race, so they changed the course. It’s difficult to be consistent with the changing conditions but the guys were, and it reflects in the result.

“We couldn’t ask for a much better start, but we aren’t getting ahead of ourselves.”

This is the second Games for the duo, from Howth Yacht Club and Skerries Sailing Club respectively. 

They finished 13th overall in their category at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

The black-sail skiffs are known as 49er for men and 49erFX for women.

Points are earned over multiple regattas — making sailing a marathon where medals are won by strategy and concentration as well as physical strength.

The pair are not the only Irish athletes competing in the sport at the Paris Olympics.

The Men’s Dinghy featuring Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) and Women’s Dinghy where Eve McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) will make her Olympic debut, will begin on Thursday.