RS:X class set for Sailing Worlds Aarhus 2018: First stop on the Tokyo Express

The RS:X fleet is set for the Aarhus World Championships 2018 © Jesus Renedo / Sailing Energy

For the 87 men from 35 nations and 68 women from 30 nations, the time is here, the time is now. The opportunity to step up and stake a place on the Tokyo Express. It's all about the 2018 Hempel Sailing World Championships which are taking place in the stunning venue of Aarhus, Denmark under perfect blue skies, on crystal clear water and with just a small amount of pressure to secure country qualification to Tokyo 2020 as well as the opportunity of going home with a medal or even a world title.

Since World Sailing announced Aarhus as the venue for the Sailing World Championships in 2014, the sailing world has been attending this idyllic city which has sailing firmly imprinted within its DNA. Training camps and test events aside, many of the sailors here have not seen such perfect conditions in any of their visits and are looking forward in anticipation to the upcoming championships being held in such a fantastic setting.

Men's Fleet

For the men's title, it is very hard to predict who will take home the world championship come the medal races on Sunday 12th August. Reigning world champion Bing Ye from China leads a strong team of six Chinese sailors, a team that was dominant at the last world championships in Enoshima, Japan in 2017. What is harder to predict is the Chinese teams form compared to the rest of the world as they tend not to enter any of the warm up events or World Cup regattas – choosing instead to train at home in China – a formula which clearly worked in 2017 but will it work again this year?

Also a bit of an unknown is the form of double Olympic Champion Dutchman Dorian van Rijsselberghe who, like the Chinese, has his own methods of getting match fit which doesn't follow the traditional event based approach to training. But Van Rijsselberghe is the king of peaking at the right time for the right event and has the potential to dominate this event, just like he did in 2011. He will undoubtedly be chased hard by compatriot Kiran Badloe who is looking for his own chance to shine under the lights of this grand stage.

There are then the traditionally strong windsurfing nations of France, Poland, Italy, Israel and Great Britain and have fielded some strong squads for the event; countries who have all produced medallists at both World and Olympic levels and will all have sailors looking to contend for the podium this week. Then there are the lone rangers, looking to challenge the more established nations – sailors such Byron Kokkalanis from Greece who took silver at the Europeans in 2017, and Mateo Sanz Lanz from Switzerland who was a silver medallist at the 2017 World Championships. Sanz Lanz was the only non-Chinese sailor to get onto the podium at that championships.

With Olympic Qualification also up for grabs at this event it is also going to be a challenge for the smaller countries who would look to take up the 11 Olympic spots available this week. With 35 different nations represented, qualification to Gold fleet will be critical.

Women's Fleet

Looking at the podium from the 2017 Worlds, where the Chinese women took every step of the podium and had another two sailors in the top seven, this championship is there for the Chinese to lose. Like the men it is harder is to put a form guide to which sailor of the Chinese squad will come out on top – the women choosing like their male team mates to train at home over attending international events. A favourite will have to be Piena Chen who is the reigning world champion as well as silver medallist from Rio 2016 – Chen will be confident to add a third world title to her resume this week.

There are a number of ladies who will be looking to challenge over the coming week with Lillian de Geus from the Netherlands looking to get one over the Chinese. Stefania Elfutina from Russia, bronze medallist from Rio 2016 will be looking to extend a good run of form at major events and also looking to challenge the Chinese. There is also a strong group of young Israeli sailors who have shown promise in this Olympic cycle taking a number of World Cup events and showing excellent promise at high level events – this could be the week that they also show their desire and skill to break in to the medals.

Another intriguing battle, carrying on for a fourth Olympic cycle, will be between Spanish sailors Blanca Manchon and Marina Alabau. Alabau has beaten Manchon to represent Spain at both the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics but Manchon got the better of her team mate last year by securing 8th place at the 2017 Worlds whilst Alabau could only manage 13th – will Manchon continue this run of form over Alabau this week?

The talk of the fleet is about the return of a number of sailors who have had children recently. The most recent being Charline Picon from France who is the reigning Olympic champion and Bryony Shaw from Great Britain. There are at least five sailors competing who have children and their form in coming back to the sport has been impressive and will certainly be a point to watch this week.

The fleet also welcomes some new countries with Korea and Chinese Taipei represented for the first time in a number of years. The RS:X class is a friendly fleet and all of the support will be offered ashore but those new sailors should expect no mercy afloat!

With racing starting on Sunday 5th August, both fleets are going through the Equipment inspection process which we will go through in more detail tomorrow. Before that, the city of Aarhus will open the 2018 Hempel Sailing World Championships with a ceremony this evening that will give all 1400 sailors attending the event just the inspiration they need for the upcoming battles.

For full results visit www.aarhus2018.sailing.org/results