Sailing World Cup Hyères - the cream rises to the top
by World Sailing on 20 Apr 2016
Billy Besson and Marie Riou World Sailing
This coming week we have Sailing World Cup Hyères, the first of two Sailing World Cup events before the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio. Before heading to Weymouth and Portland in June, the ten Olympic classes and two Paralympic classes head to the South of France to compete for World Cup titles and momentum heading in to Rio 2016.
A team with plenty of momentum already are current Rolex World Sailor's of the Year, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL). Making the relatively short trip from the Barcelona International Sailing Center where they wrapped up another title taking the 49er European gold medal, the kiwi pair will be looking to continue their incredible streak of 25 consecutive 49er titles. Considering the manner in which they won their European title, they did not even need to sail in the Medal Race, it is so difficult to see how they can be stopped.
While Burling and Tuke can plan their Rio gold assault, some of their team mates don't quite have that luxury as the Laser and Finn sailors are still under scrutiny to confirm their countries selection, and a good result in Hyères will certainly catch the eye of the selectors.
Other standouts are home nation sailors Billy Besson and Marie Riou, who won in last year's edition, who have to fight it out with Australia's Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin and the rest of the Nacra 17 fleet.
A strong line up of 470 sailors will be in attendance, some in their first regatta since their Olympic selection, to battle for gold and make a point that their selection was justified. In addition, there will be several Laser Radial sailors making the trip over from Mexico where they are currently competing in their World Championships.
To see who will catch your eye in all the classes check out the Hyères entry list
here.
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