Semaine Olympique Française - Intense Day 2

by Aurélia Filho on 8 Oct 2015 On Day 2 of the Semaine Olympique Française at La Rochelle, the conditions were met with a wind of 15-18knots, slightly unstable, with the same steady swells as yesterday. The set of the eight Olympic classes were able to get themselves to their designate sailing areas where the races played at a lightning speed, stepping up a notch the intensity between the competitors.

RS: X Men / RS:X Women

The RS:X Men raced three rounds shaking around the provisional ranking. France is still leading the pack with Igor de L’Hermite, performing a solid day with the three rounds of the day (sixth – third - third). The Dutch Matthijs Van Hoff is settling in second place of the provisional ranking after winning the first two rounds. The Third place goes to French Trevor Caraes.

In the women’s class, the top places go to the tricolours with a temporary 100% French podium on the first day of competition. Delphine Jariel steers in in front of Eugénie Ricard in second position and Hélène Noesmoen in third.

Charline Picon, in full preparation for her World Championship in Oman starting in about ten days, shined on the first round, swiping away the victory.

Eugénie Ricard (FRA) – second place temporary ranking: “It went well for me on this only day of regatta. We are all preparing for the World Championship in Oman, so the idea for this SOF is to put ourselves in regatta conditions, and to really prep our starts. We did three today, so it was a good, usual for this aim! I’m pulling out of the competition tonight, as I am going back home tomorrow in Marseille, before flying to Oman. I am feeling good physically, and I will have a whole week on-site to take possession of the sailing area and getting use to the place!”

Nacra 17

The only Olympic mixed series entered the competition today with four disputed rounds in a sustained wind. The triple World Champions Billy Besson and Marie Riou justified their status as hot favourites, taking the lead with two victories. Behind then another French duo Moana Vaireux and Manon Audinet achieved a very nice first day (fifth - first – second - third). Lastly, the Greeks Sofia Bektorou and Trigkonis Konstantinos complete the podium.

Let’s point out the very nice entry in this series of twice Olympic medallist, Iker Martinez with his compatriot Julia Rita, who won the first round of the day. They are actually on fifth position of the temporary ranking.

Moana Vaireaux, with Manon Audinet (FRA) – second on the temporary ranking: “Today’s conditions were fantastic, we had a nice squall at the beginning, then the weather was good again. The wind wasn’t as unstable as expected, with an average of 13 knots. We could play on the sailing zone as we wished, and we could concentrate on our line of work. We ran four successful rounds. We were worried about the announced swells but the sea was just choppy, ideal conditions for us, we were able to have fun and sail fast.”

Finn

In the Finn class, the Italian Poggi Giorgio stood down to second place for the Swedish Max Salminen, who scored a perfect day, winning the three rounds of the day. Italian competitor Voltoni Enrico keeps his third temporary position.

Max Salminen (SWE) – Head of the temporary ranking: “Today was a perfect scenario for me, I won the three races of the day. I was in a good position yesterday but with today’s win I’m now in lead position. For me, the aim is always to win when I take part in a competition, especially as I am fully in preparation for our World Championship in New Zealand next month. Sailing here is actually a good way for me to prepare as we might have the same wind conditions there.”

Laser / Laser Radial

In the Laser Standard class, no change in the ranking with Jean-Baptiste Bernaz still in first position with excellent scores during the day (third – first – first). The Russian Sergey Kommissarov occupies the second place followed by the Italian Alessio Spadoni.

In the Laser Radial series, and after three rounds today, the Danish Anne-Marie Rindom holds the top of the ranking, winning the last two rounds. On the second place of the podium, local Mathilde De Kerangat enters the top of the ranking by winning the first race of this day. And on the third place, the finish Tuule Tenkanen closes the podium.

Anne-Marie Rindom (DAN) – Head of the temporary ranking: “It was a great day, I finished second on the first round, and winning the two next ones! I really like the conditions here. We are 2000 km south of Denmark, so obviously it’s so much warmer here and the conditions are far more cozy here. Yesterday was quite challenging for me with the very strong conditions we had. Today was calmer, but the wind was perfect with big waves still, but I was feeling good. It’s my first time on these sailing grounds and I have to say it’s a fantastic place to train for our World Championship coming up beginning of November in Oman. It’s a very important deadline for us, as the level between us girls in Denmark is high and this is one of the last meetings for the Olympic selection.”

49er / 49er FX

The 49ers and 49ers FX were the last classes to run their rounds today. They managed four races under the sun who finally showed up. On the Men’s side, the French Team shinned off with the duo Julie d’Ortoli – celebrating is 32nd birthday today – and Noé Delpech, who took the first place today (first – second – ninth – second). The French Emmanuel Dyen and Stéphane Christidis, fourth on the last Test Event of Rio this summer, are in second place. The Italians, Ruggero Tita and Pietro Zuchetti end the podium for today.

Julien d’Ortoli, in duo with Noé Delpech (FRA) – head of the temporary ranking: “It was great, it was my birthday, and we are on top this evening ! That’s a great birthday gift. We had perfect conditions with this 12 to 15 knots wind. We really enjoyed ourselves sailing today. We are to train, in sight of the World’s Championship end of November in Buenos Aires, but we really are committed to give the best output here.”

Chez les femmes, nouvelle série olympique à Rio l’année prochaine, c’est le duo tricolore Sarah Steyaert et Aude Compan qui fait la course en tête, suivi de deux autres équipages français : Lili Sebesi et Julie Bossard à la 2ème place et Marie Soler et Albane Dubois en 3ème position.

Longtze program for tomorrow

This year, the Semaine Olympique Française welcomes for the first time an invited class with the Longtze World Evnet, from October eight till October 11. The teams will have their training run tomorrow before starting their competition Friday.