National flags - Olympic venue - Marseille - Paris2024 Olympic Regatta - July 24, 2024 - photo © Gilles Martin-Raget
Dear Recipient Name
The Olympic Games represent the best of international sports, and the Paris 2024 Olympics are poised to be no exception. For the first time in Olympic history, this year's Summer Games are featuring an equal number of male and female athletes (5,250 of each). In sailing, a total of 33 Olympic medals will be awarded across ten different events; two are mixed sex events (Mixed Dinghy and Mixed Multihull), while the other eight are split evenly down the middle.
A total of 330 sailors from 65 nations are competing aboard 250 boats on four racing circles (the Marseille, Frioul, Corniche, and Calanques courses) on the waters of the Bay of Marseille, which - as of this writing (Monday morning, U.S. West Coast time) - has been experiencing hot temperatures and light airs.
The Men's and Women's Skiffs (49ers and 49erFXs, respectively) led off the Games, with both classes scoring three races on Sunday (July 28) and Monday (July 29).
After six races (again, at the time of this writing), Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie of New Zealand are sitting in first place in the Men's Skiff event, having posted three bullets, a third-place, and two eighth-place finishes. Ireland's Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove are in second place, and Spain's Diego Botin and Florian Trittel (fresh off winning SailGP's Season 4 Championship) are in third place.
"It was good to get out there racing after a lot of build-up in Marseille," said McHardie about the start of the competition in a World Sailing communication. "To have a good day out there is a bonus, so we're happy."
His teammate agreed: "We generally like lighter conditions and when you throw in a few shifts here and there we quite like that as well," said McKenzie. "It was good to win and flush the nerves away."
Ian Barrows and Hans Henken, representing the USA, are sitting in sixth place, while Will Jones and Justin Barnes, representing Canada, are in 17th place.
France's Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon are leading the charge in the Women's Skiff, having racked up five second-place finishes and one eighth-place result. Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz of the Netherlands are sitting in second place with a pair of bullets, while Germany's Jana Germani and Giorgia Bertuzzi are in third place.
Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea, who are representing the USA, are currently sitting in sixth place, while sisters Georgia and Antonia Lewin-LaFrance, representing Canada, are sitting in 13th place.
"Our goal today was to push it harder at the start - a goal that I'd say we achieved," said Shea in an official US Sailing communication. "With the current and light air, it was tough to get off the line, but we were able to avoid catastrophe on the first start. It was a tough racecourse tactically and mentally as the breeze died and an element of randomness was introduced."
While the Men's and Women's Windsurfing events have thus far been stymied by light winds (read: postponements and cancelled racing), competition has begun for the first time in Olympic history aboard iQFOiLs.
On the men's side, after a single race, France's Nicolas Goyard is in first place, followed by Italy's Nicolo Renna, and Denmark's Johan Sole. Noah Lyons, who is representing the U.S., is in fifth place.
"We've been preparing for over six months and it's good to be out there finally and giving it my all," said Goyard in an official World Sailing release. "So, I'm happy with how it went. I'm ready, I've never felt so good so let's go for it."
As for the heat, the light airs, and the on-the-water waiting for the breeze, Renna summed up the situation - and his strategy - in a World Sailing release. "You have to drink a lot out here, because it's super warm," he said. "I'm going to try and stay in the top three and enter the Semi-Final. You need to be ready for the last day."
On the women's side, Great Brittain's Emma Wilson is leading the hunt after two races, with a first-place and a second-place finish, followed by Italy's Marta Maggetti and Peru's Maria Belen Bazo German. Mexico's Mariana Aguilar Chavez Peon is in 12th place, while the USA's Dominique Stater is in 18th place.
Racing is set to resume tomorrow (Tuesday, July 30) and will continue through this week, with the medal races for the Men's and Women's Skiffs unfurling on Thursday, August 1. The Men's and Women's Windsurfing classes will contest their medal race on Friday, August 2.
Racing in the Men's and Women's Dinghy (ILCA 6 and ILCA 7) is set to begin on Thursday (August 1), while the Mixed Multihull (Nacra 17) and the Mixed Dinghy (470) events are set to begin competition on Saturday (August 3). The Men's and Women's Kite events are set to begin on Sunday, August 4.
In terms of medal ceremonies, the Men's and Women's Dinghy Medal Race are set for Tuesday, August 6, while the Mixed Multihull and Mixed Dinghy events will conclude on Wednesday (August 7). The Men's and Women's Kite events are set to contest their medal races on Thursday, August 8.
Be sure to stay current with the website for the latest news and results from the Bay of Marseille as it unfurls.
Sail-World wishes all athletes competing in the XXXIII Olympiad great luck in the coming days, and we have a candle lit that the wind gods deliver more cooperative breezes in the coming days.
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor
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