Irish sailors return to Olympic venue for World Cup

Three Irish Olympians and two Paralympians will return to the scene of the London games next week (10-14 June) to compete in the re-vamped International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup series. Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial; Ryan Seaton and Matt Mc Govern in the 49er; and three-man Paralympic Sonar sailing team, John Twomey, Ian Costello and Austin O’Carroll will be joined by Providence Team IRL sailors Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey in the 49erFX class.

Also competing in a World Cup event for the first time is 16 year old Aoife Hopkins from Howth Yacht Club, who secured an invite in the Laser Radial class thanks to her impressive performance at Delta Lloyd Regatta last week.

Following on from her recent success at the recent Delta Lloyd Regatta, Annalise Murphy spoke of her experience of Weymouth and her hopes for the event:

“I have a lot of great memories from Weymouth as I first competed there in the ISAF Youth Worlds in 2006, and I have spent so much time there, everything is very familiar.

Having the top 40 boats in World Cup events brings a whole new dynamic to Olympic racing. If you make a small mistake you're most likely going to get punished for it as everyone is so close.”

James O’Callaghan, ISA High Performance Director says of the event:

“The Weymouth week is a major occasion for us in the sailing calendar, and this year we’re bringing a mixed team of experienced and younger sailors to compete in what should be another great World Cup series.”

The competition welcomes the world’s finest sailors to UK shores in what is the most competitive series outside of the Olympics. ISAF Sailing World Cup 2015 marks the first series where fleets are decided based on primary qualification through the ISAF world ranking lists, culminating in a season-ending final in Abu Dhabi. Racing for the Olympic and Paralympic Classes will run from 10-14 June.