Sailing World Cup - 2020 Olympic merry-go-round starts in Miami

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com NZ on 17 Jan 2017 A perusal of the entry lists for the first Sailing World Cup of the 2020 Olympic Quadrennial reveals some interesting entries and omissions.

Only one Gold medal winning crew from the 2016 Rio Olympics will be competing - Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) in the Women's 49erFX.

Most common excuse amongst the other nine Gold medal winning crews is Absent on America's Cup duties or Retired.

Most significant is the entry of six-times Olympian, Robert Scheidt as helm on the Brazilian Men's 49er skiff along with crew Gabriel Borges, who was up the sharp end of the Men's Skiff for the Rio Olympics, placing 11th.

Scheidt (42) started sailing Olympic classes at the 1993 Laser Worlds in Takapuna - the class he switched back to for the Rio Olympics - just missing winning the Bronze medal. That would have given Scheidt a full twin-set of Olympic medals to go with the Gold medals won in the Laser at the 1996 and 2004 Olympics; the two Silver medals won in the Laser in 2000 and the Star keelboat in 2008, and the solitary bronze won in the Star at the 2012 Olympics.

The 49er will be Scheidt's third Olympic class - and one ideally suited to his tall, lanky frame. If selected, 2020 will be Scheidt's seventh sailing Olympics - and if he follows the example of Gold medal winner in the Nacra 17 in Rio, Santiago Lange (ARG, aged 54), the versatile Brazilian could be good for nine or 10 Olympic regattas!

A notable entry in the Finn class is that of immortal Henry Sprague III (USA), now 71 years old who will be lining up against sailors who could be his grandchildren in the very physical Olympic singlehander.

Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) makes a return to the Laser Radial class, after winning the Gold medal in 2008, she moved to the Women's match racing event for the 2012 Olympics before having a year in the 49erFX in 2013. Tunnicliffe then combined a sailing campaign in the Extreme Sailing Series sailing aboard Alinghi, interspersing that with competition at the highest level in Crossfit.

Top British Moth sailor, Chris Rashley is a nominal entry in the Nacra 17, the Olympic Mixed Multihull - he is bracketed with Italian crew Laura Giovannetti, who sailed the Laser Radial before jumping into the Nacra 17 for the 2016 Olympic cycle, but missed selection for Italy.

Another versatile competitor entered is Mark Mendelblatt (USA) sailing with Carolina Mendelbatt in the Nacra 17. In the Olympic classes alone Mark Mendelbatt boasts world rankings at one time or another in five Olympic classes and placed seventh in the 2012 Olympic regatta in the Star class.

Missing from the line-up in Miami will be the new British 49erFX combination of Saskia Tidey (IRL) and Charlotte Dobson (GBR). Both represented their respective countries in the 49erFX at the Rio Olympics, with retirements and crew splits of their other halves, the pair were left searching the 'crew wanted' columns. By virtue of dual passports Tidey is able to sail with Team GBR. Dobson's former crew, Sophie Ainsworth will sail in Miami with new skipper Kate Macgregor, who previously represented GBR in the Women's Match Racing at the 2012 Olympics before doing a 49erFX campaign aimed at Rio in 2013-2016. For the full story click here

The Miami round of the Sailing World Cup gets underway on January 22, 2017, on Biscayne Bay, Miami.