Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance the top Canadians at the 2022 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 Worlds

2022 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships © Sailing Energy

Local favorites Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance from Chester, NS, were the top Canadians at the 2022 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships which ended Sunday in St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia, as they came up with a 14th-place finish.

Through the six days of competition and the 16 races held, the Lewin-LaFrance sisters finished five times in the top 10. The 49erFX event was won by Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz from the Netherlands, followed by Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler from Sweden and Támara Echegoyan and Paula Barceló from Spain.

"It was a wonderful, crazy experience having the World Championships at home," said Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance. "It's no secret that we had a rough start to the event. Despite some bitter lessons, we pushed on and sailed some great races. We find 14th to be bittersweet, but we're excited for the future. Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to our friends and family for supporting us through thick and thin!"

Tokyo 2020 Canadian Olympians Ali ten Hove and Mariah Millen took the 19th spot.

"We are disappointed with our racing this championship," said ten Hove and Millen. "We have made huge improvements this season and we did not sail to our potential this week. Performance varies and this one result does not define us as a team. We are confident with our plan and this championship will help us better focus our training for the offseason. It was amazing to have the support from the local community. Your kind words and cheering from shore were definitely heard!! We love representing Canada!"

In 49er, Arie Moffat and Sam Bonin were the top-ranked team among the eight Canadian squads that registered for this event, finishing in 33rd place. Tokyo 2020 Canadian Olympians Will Jones and Evan DePaul took the 39th spot while Sail Canada Development Squad members Ryan and Andrew Wood finished 56th.

Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken from the Netherlands finished first, followed by Diego Botin and Florian Trittel Paul from Spain and Sime and Mihovil Fantela from Croatia.

"It was a great first experience at the World Championships for our team," said Arie Moffat and Sam Bonin. "As we come up to the one-year mark of our campaign, we are thrilled to cap it off with a 33rd position at the World Championships. This week has demonstrated that the work we've put over this past year has paid off. We will take the next couple of weeks to rest, reflect and reenergize so we can work hard this off season and push our level higher for next year. Thanks for all the support from everyone, our training partners and coaches!"

In the Nacra 17 event, the Italian teams took the spotlight as Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti, as well as Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei, finished first and second, respectively. Sinem Kurtbay and Akseli Keskinen from Finland won the bronze medal. The top Canadians out of the three teams registered were Galen Richardson and Madeline Gillis with a 31st-place finish.

Canadian results at the 2022 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships:

49erFX (/36)
14. Georgia & Antonia Lewin-LaFrance
19. Ali ten Hove & Mariah Millen
36. Tate Howell & Adrianna Baird

49er (/65)
33. Arie Moffat & Samuel Bonin
39. Will Jones & Evan DePaul
56. Ryan & Andrew Wood
57. Alexander Heinzemann & Edward Coleman
59. Thomas & William Staples
61. Dylan Jones & Jonathan Kelly
62. John Jack Gogan & Hunter Hoy
65. Ben Cripton & Rafael Pedro

Nacra 17 (/34)
31. Galen Richardson & Madeline Gillis
33. Zoe Roosen & Nicolas Tosi
34. Maya Heidenreich & Noah Adler