Jacob Saunders and Oliver Bone in Portugal to prepare for Tokyo 2020 at 470 Europeans
by Sail Canada 29 Apr 2021 20:57 PDT
2-7 May 2021
2020 Hempel World Cup Series Miami © Pedro Martinez / Sailing Energy
The Canadian team nominated to represent Team Canada at the 2020 Olympic Games in the 470 class and made up of Jacob Saunders from Chester, N.S., and Oliver Bone from Montreal, QC, will pursue their preparation toward Tokyo this summer by taking part in the 470 Class Open European Championships starting Sunday in Vilamoura, Portugal.
This competition will be the first one for the team since the Miami World Cup held in January 2020.
"We're quite stoked to get into our Olympic equipment and race against international teams again after more than a year's pause in racing due to the pandemic," said Jacob Saunders, the team's skipper.
Jacob Saunders and Oliver Bone, Olympians from the 2016 and 2008 Games, respectively, will compete against close to 30 teams that represent around 20 countries from all over the world. Among them, eight of the first 10 teams at the 470 World Championships held in Vilamoura in March will take part in the competition, including the gold, silver and bronze medalists, i.e. Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström from Sweden, Diogo and Pedro Costa from Portugal, as well as Jordi Xammar and Nicolas Rodgriguez from Spain. Competition will end Friday, May 7.
Fans will be able to follow the daily performances of the Canadian team by following Sail Canada social media at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SailCanada
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sail_canada
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SailCanada
Jacob Saunders and Oliver Bone are part of the 9-member team that has been nominated to represent Canada in sailing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, slated for July 23rd to August 8th, 2021. More details at www.sailing.ca/events/2020-olympic-games.