Sailing

About Sailing

Sailing has provided some of Ireland's most memorable Olympic medals, in a sport Ireland has competed in at almost every Games since London 1948, when Jimmy Mooney, Alf Delany and Hugh Allen first represented the country afloat off Torquay.

David Wilkins and Jamie Wilkinson won Ireland's first Olympic sailing medal, silver in the Flying Dutchman class at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy matched that feat with silver in the Laser Radial class at Rio 2016, having finished agonisingly fourth at London 2012.

Sailing has also delivered one of Ireland's most heartbreaking recent near-misses: Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove held silver medal position throughout the entire 49er regatta at Paris 2024, only to drop to fourth after a false start derailed their medal race. Sailing at the Olympics is contested across a range of boat classes, from single-handed dinghies to multi-crewed keelboats and, more recently, foiling and windsurfing formats, with sailors racing multiple races over the course of the regatta, their cumulative scores determining medal positions, with the top competitors advancing to a decisive medal race.