ROBERT DICKSON AND Sean Waddilove’s world sailing championships ended in disappointment on Thursday as they missed out on the medal race and Paris 2024 Olympic qualification in the men’s 49er class.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympians were second across the finish line in the penultimate race of the 15-race series, only to receive a black flag disqualification for a start-line infraction.

That result saw the Dubliners drop down to 14th overall, missing out on a top-10 finish and a place in Friday’s medal race in The Hague.

Their disappointment was compounded as they also missed out on the final available Olympic qualification place to Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl of Austria, who finished 12th.

Dickson and Waddilove will have a further chance to qualify for the Olympics in Portugal in November.

“This is a deeply disappointing day for Robert and Sean as they clearly had the form they needed to deliver this week,” said James O’Callaghan, Irish Sailing’s performance director.

“While it isn’t what we came here for, there are now three months in which to iron out the tiny performance issues that have such a massive impact on results.”

With four races remaining in the men’s dinghy class, Rio Olympian Finn Lynch sits 33rd overall with Ewan McMahon in 42nd place, needing a top-16 finish to secure Olympic qualification.