The 6th RS Aero World Championships concluded on Friday at Hayling Island Sailing Club (HISC), UK.

175 entries representing 18 countries including a four strong team from Ireland competed in the 12 races over 5 days, with great results for the Irish delegation.

Four Irish Sailors attended the worlds, Noel Butler (National YC), John Phelan and Daragh Sheridan (Howth YC) in the 6 rig and Roy Van Maanen (Greystones SC) in the 5 rig. (The full contingent is pictured at the top at the opening ceremony, photo © Oli King).

RS AERO 6 Masters (over 55) pictured Bronze : Kazuyoshi Nakao, Japan; Gold : Spike Daniels UK and Silver: Daragh Sheridan, Ireland © Oli King

Roy Van Maanen took first Master (over 55) in the 5 rig while Sheridan took the silver in the Masters in the 6 rig.

RS Aero 5 Masters Winner Roy Van Maanen IRL (middle) with Boris Mezhibovskiy of the USA, Silver medal winner in the 9 rig and Jeff Dunmall of Canada.

After an opening breezy day, the venue provided light and challenging conditions for the remainder of the week. Facing strong competition right throughout the fleets the Irish sailors finished as follows : Sheridan 10th, including a race win in race 2; Butler 15th, Phelan 27th in the 6 rig and Van Maanen 11th in the 5 rig. 

The event, expertly run by HISC’s army of volunteers and expert race management provided 12 races in all four rig sizes, RS Aero 5, 6, 7 and 9. The rig choice enabled that sailors from 45-100kg and aged from 14-70 years old to compete in their preferred sail size.

The largest Class was the RS Aero 7 with about 72 entries. The RS Aero 5 is the next largest Class with 55 entries and achieves gender parity with an approximate 50% male/female split! Also, it was fantastic to see two female winners of the Worlds in the 5 and 6 rigs.

RS Aero 6 World Champion from Ukraine Sofiia Naumenko

The Corinthian ethos of the Aero class attracted a mix of previous Worlds medalists, up and coming new talent and new hotshots tempted into the RS Aero Class from other Classes.    

Full Results here: https://www.hisc.co.uk/media/18079/aero-worlds-24.html