New sailing team Annalise Murphy and Katie Tingle have arrived in Germany for their third major competition together. The new 49erFX pair will compete at the Kieler Woche regatta in Kiel, starting June 26.
Olympic silver medallist Murphy, from Dublin, moved to the 49erFX class after competing in the 2017/2018 Volvo Ocean Race – one of the world’s toughest offshore races. Partnering with Murphy is former primary school teacher Katie Tingle, from Cork.
Both sailors have been training out of the new Irish Sailing Performance HQ since it opened in March. Tingle said: “The Performance HQ has made a huge difference in terms of practicalities such as space and storage for all our technical gear, but more importantly for us as a team – we’re all learning so much from each other.”
Speaking in advance of the event, James O’Callaghan, Irish Sailing Performance Director, said: Kiel is another important stepping-stone in Annalise and Katie’s development as a team.
"They’re still very much in the early days of their development – they’ve done a lot of training but the races don’t come along that often, so Kiel is a great opportunity in preparation for the bigger goal of the Olympic qualifiers in Auckland at the end of November.”
The Kieler Woche, one of the world’s biggest sailing events, attracts more than three million visitors each year and is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. This year the racing will be broadcast live via the 49er YouTube channel, with racing for the 49erFX on 27th June and medal races on 30th June.
The 49er FX is a two-handed high-performance women’s skiff (sailing dinghy) which has been recognised as an Olympic sailing class since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
