US Sailing Team at Paris 2024 Olympics - Good things come to those who wait
by US Sailing Team 29 Jul 2024 11:22 PDT
July 28 - August 8, 2024
Men's Windsurfer Noah Lyons (Clearwater, FL) finished fifth in his only race for the day © Sailing Energy / US Sailing Team
The second day of sailing events at Paris 2024 opened to a familiar light wind start, but athletes and race committee alike were eager to cast off from shore and get racing.
The Skiffs and Women's Windsurfers came out of postponement around 1300 local time to take advantage of an incoming seabreeze which built to about nine knots. Team USA windsurfers logged their first races of the Olympics, and USA Men's and Women's Skiff both stayed patient, using their consistency to both move up to 6th overall.
Women's Skiff team of Stephanie Roble (East Troy, WI) and Maggie Shea (Chicago, IL) came hot out of the gate, scoring a third in their first race of the day. After two general recalls leading to the race committee raising the black flag, Roble / Shea won the pin in race four and stayed in hot pursuit of the race leaders, Italians Jania Germani and Georgia Bertuzzi.
"Our goal today was to push it harder at the start - a goal that I'd say we achieved," said Shea. "With the current and light air, it was tough to get off the line, but we were able to avoid catastrophe on the first start. It was a tough race course tactically and mentally as the breeze died and an element of randomness was introduced."
Windsurfers Dominique Stater (Miami, FL) and Noah Lyons (Clearwater, FL) made their official Olympic debut today and became Olympians upon crossing the finish line of their first race. With breeze between 6-9 knots, race committee sent the windsurfers on a Slalom course, one of three race styles they can choose from depending on the given conditions. Lyons flexed his strength in this course format, starting his Olympics off with a fifth place finish in what turned out to be the day's only race.
"I definitely enjoy slalom - I like the fast paced racing. It's super exciting, everyone is bunched together more and fighting for every inch," said Lyons. "I was able to get a decent start, keep it clean and minimize risk taking."
Dominique Stater began her Olympics with an 11 and 22 in today's two Women's Windsurfing races. After recovering from a sub-par start, Stater was able to come back to 11th in race one. A tactical error in race two caused her to fall off the foils, resulting in a 22nd place. "You lose so much in these conditions if you don't keep on the foils," said Stater. "But I'm excited that we've got more racing left and am staying positive."
While the Windsurfing event has been on the Olympic program since Los Angeles 1984, Paris is the first Games featuring the iQFOiL equipment that flies above the water on hydrofoils. Today was a historic day in the world of windsurfing and Olympic sailing.
Ian Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI) and Hans Henken (San Francisco, CA) had another consistent day in the Men's Skiff, starting the day with two ninth places. In the day's final race, Barrows and Henken started at the pin and played the left - the winning side - to come out in fifth place, their best race finish yet.
"Today was challenging," said Henken. "We had super light wind, just about at the lower limit for what's sailable in the fleet. Wind that light puts a huge priority on finding clear air and open lanes, and Ian did a great job of putting the boat in some solid lanes today."
Consistency has been key over these past two days, with only the top two teams having no double digit scores. By sailing conservatively, Barrows and Henken moved up the scoreboard from 12th to 6th, with only ten points separating them from the podium.
Skiffs and Windsurfers will continue on for day three tomorrow as they near medal races on Thursday, August 1st for the Skiffs and Friday, August 2nd for the Windsurfers. Viewers back home can catch the action on NBC's Peacock with archived reruns to follow.
For more information on the 13 Team USA athletes competing in the sailing events, on the racing schedule, the broadcast coverage and more, see US Sailing's Olympics Page.