US Sailing Team at the Ready Steady Tokyo test event - Day 4

U.S. Men's 470, Stu McNay and Dave Hughes - Ready Steady Tokyo, day 4 © US Sailing

Five of the ten classes have wrapped the Qualifying Series at the Ready Steady Tokyo - Sailing, Olympic Test Event. The top ten athletes in the Men's and Women's RS:X, 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 will compete in the first round of Medal Races, tomorrow.

Representing the U.S., Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) will appear in tomorrow's 49erFX Medal Race, starting in 10th overall. The four remaining teams whose classes will have medal Races tomorrow have concluded the regatta as of completing the final races of their Qualifying Series.

US Sailing Team athletes in the Men's and Women's 470, Finn, Laser, and Laser Radial classes will have one more day of racing with the full fleets before the top ten boats move on to the Medal Races. Of the nine athletes in this group, two teams are starting tomorrow in positions to qualify for the medal race and two are in close contention.

Thanks to the short windward and leeward legs of the three-lapped Men's 470 course, today delivered tight racing that ultimately favored the US Sailing Team. Men's 470 Crew, Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.), attested to today's many opportunities for significant gains and losses, "It was possible that we could have stepped away with pair of threes or a pair of 15s today." Hughes and his skipper Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) began the day in sixth place. Despite the tricky conditions, they managed to finish both races in the top-ten to move up to fourth overall. "We're happy with where we ultimately ended up," Hughes continued.

For McNay and Hughes, the value of this event extends beyond simply getting comfortable with the conditions of the Tokyo 2020 waters. "I would argue that racing in the Olympic fleet size is also incredibly valuable. For example, there's a massive difference between the number of boats in a normal Gold Fleet at Worlds, which is maybe in the upper 30s and the 19 boats that will be on the Olympic starting line next year," said Hughes. "That gives a very different flavor of racing in how the margins are played and the priorities shift throughout the racecourse. Having the 22 boats on our course at this event is extremely handy in preparing for that."

Erika Reineke - Ready Steady Tokyo, day 4 - photo © Pedro Martinez / Sailing Energy / World Sailing

Ready Steady Tokyo Sailing - U.S. Results

Men's 470 - Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) & Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.), 4th
Women's Laser Radial - Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 8th
Women's 49erFX - Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) & Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.), 10th
Men's Laser - Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.), 11th
Men's Laser - Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.), 12th
Women's 470 - Nikole Barnes (Miami, Fla.) & Lara Dallman-Weis (Shoreview, Minn.), 16th
Men's 49er - Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont, N.Y.) & Ian MacDiarmid (Delray Beach, Fla.), 16th
Men's Finn - Luke Muller (Fort Pierce, Fla.), 17th
Women's RS:X - Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.), 18th
Mixed Nacra 17 - Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) & Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 19th
Men's RS:X - Pedro Pascual (West Palm Beach, Fla.), 20th
Women's Laser Radial - Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.), 23rd

Racing will resume tomorrow at 12:00, local time. The 49erFX Medal Race is scheduled to begin at 1:30.