US sailors line up for 470 World Championships at Enoshima, Japan

by US Sailing Team 4 Aug 2019 10:21 AEST 2-9 August 2019

On Sunday, August 4, racing will begin at the 2019 edition of the 470 World Championships. Over 180 athletes representing 30 nations will be competing on the waters of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 sailing venue. Four athletes will represent the United States in the Men's class, and eight will sail under the American flag in the Women's fleet.

U.S. Competitors at the 2019 470 World Championships

Men's 470:

• Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) & Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.)
• Trevor Davis (Annapolis, Md.) & Trevor Bornarth (Martin County, Fla.)

Women's 470:

• Nikole Barnes (Miami, Fla.) & Lara Dallman-Weiss (Shoreview, Minn.)
• Emily Bornarth (Martin County, Fla.) & Laura Slovensky (Brookhaven, N.Y.)
• Carmen Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) & Emma Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.)
• Atlantic Brugman Cabot (Winthrop, Mass.) & Nora Brugman Cabot (Winthrop, Mass.)

This event is the first of three regattas held at the Enoshima Yacht Harbour this summer. US Sailing Team athletes, Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.), are looking forward to spending a lot of time at the 2020 venue. "The Worlds will be Stu and Dave's first regatta this summer, so they're excited to be competing again," said their coach, Thomas Barrows (Miami, Fla.). "After the Worlds, they have the Olympic Test Event and then Enoshima World Cup. These three events will be great for helping them prepare for the Olympics. They'll help the guys become comfortable sailing in Enoshima and take in local knowledge."

Recently, McNay and Hughes won the Medal Race at the Hempel World Cup Series Final - Marseille. Barrows also mentioned that since then, the pair has spent a lot of time training in Japan, focusing on the technique required to perform well in the high sea state that Enoshima offers.

America's female 470 athletes have likewise put in many hours training in Japan. Fellow Olympic Test Event representatives, Nikole Barnes (Miami, Fla.) and Lara Dallman-Weiss (Shoreview, Minn.), just wrapped a two-week training block in Enoshima. According to Barnes, they are feeling ready for the Championship thanks to their time on the water, "We have our work cut out for us this week, but we are feeling prepared thanks to our coach Robby Bisi (Buenos Aires, ARG)."

At the Championship, U.S. Women's 470 sailors will be working towards country qualification to Tokyo 2020. Before athletes can be selected to the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team, they must first earn a berth for the country. "The brass ring in this event, for us, is qualifying the U.S. in the Women's 470 for a spot in the 2020 Summer Olympics," said Barnes.

The top six countries in the Women's fleet, that did not already qualify at the 2018 World Championships in Aarhus, will earn representation in Tokyo. There are also four spots up for grabs in the Men's fleet. McNay and Hughes qualified the U.S. by placing seventh at last year's event. The final country qualification event for the Women's 470 class will be the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Miami.

U.S. athletes Carmen and Emma Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) and Atlantic and Nora Brugman-Cabot (Winthrop, Mass) will be fighting alongside Barnes and Dallman-Weiss for U.S. country selection. While this will be the first 470 World Championship for the Cowles twins, the pair dominated the 2018 Youth Worlds in the i420 and have shown promise since their transition into the 470 class. The Brugman sisters have also had some strong moments in 2019. Earlier this year, the pair qualified for the US Sailing Team by placing in the top-ten at the 2019 Hempel World Cup Series Miami.

Racing is scheduled to conclude with a medal race for each fleet on Friday, August 9.

For more information visit event website.