Congratulations to Team Ireland’s Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern who have qualified Ireland in the 49er class for Rio 2016.
Although they have one final race tomorrow in the 80-boat 49er class, they have created enough of a gap in points to secure the top 10 place required.
They will have one final Gold fleet race before the top 10 boats progress to Sunday’s medal races where they’ll battle it out for the 49er world title.
“Getting the qualification for Rio is a big boost for us. It’s one box ticked but we still have a job to finish. We’re here to get a medal so we’ve still got to keep pushing hard,” said Seaton.
The Ballyholme duo competed at the London Games in 2012, where they finished 14th.
“Now we can focus on events in Rio rather than having to compete in Europe at the other qualifiers,” said McGovern. “ From a preparation point of view it makes things a lot smoother.”
Note: The 49er is a two-handed high-performance sailing dinghy. The two crew work on different roles with the helm making many tactical decisions, as well as steering, and the crew doing most of the sail control.Both of the crew are equipped with their own trapeze and sailing is handled while “flying”.The 49er has been in every Olympics since its debut in Sydney 2000.
