Paris 2024: Van Opzeeland returns to form for Netherlands in Men's Windsurfing
by World Sailing 30 Jul 08:58 PDT
28 July - 8 August 2024
Luuc van Opzeeland © World Sailing / Lloyd Images
Luuc van Opzeeland returned to his brilliant best as he manoeuvred the windier conditions well to take the lead in the Men's Windsurfing.
The Dutch athlete struggled for speed in the opening race of the day, but soon got into his groove, picking up two wins to move to the top of the rankings.
Poland's Pawel Tarnowski trailed behind in second with an extremely consistent performance on the water that saw him finish in the top five on three occasions.
Israel's Tom Reuveny completed the top three with efficient racing that puts him just a point off Tarnowski.
Van Opzeeland said: "The first race was a bit tricky for everybody and I managed to get out of there pretty good.
"The wind actually got pretty strong, so in the last race I managed to lock in and bring it home. So overall I'm really happy with that.
"I'm feeling good. I'm ready for tomorrow and hopefully I can put in another good show for you guys at home."
Reuveny said: "It was really tricky in the beginning. The wind was really gusty and there were very big patches of no wind, but then it got quite breezy, so the big aim was trying to stay on the board.
"I feel confident in my abilities in all conditions. I want to focus on good starts, tactics and try to do well.
"There's still a long way to go. The forecast tomorrow looks good so we should have a lot of racing. Anything can happen."
How it works:
Medals for the windsurfing (iQFOiL) will be decided by the cumulative results of the 24 athletes over 20 races. The athlete with the lowest total will rank first.
There are three race formats - the Marathon Race, Slalom and Course Racing. Because it's a longer 60-minute race, the Marathon will be scored as two races.
Athletes will be able to discard their worst three finishing positions after they've completed 16 or more races.
At the end of the Opening Series, the top ten athletes will qualify for the Medal Series. Those ranked fourth to tenth compete in a Quarter-Final, with the top two reaching the Semi-Final.
They will then face the athletes that finished second and third in the Opening Series. Two will progress from the Semi-Final, joining the top overall athlete in the Final.
The three athletes in the Final are all guaranteed a medal, so the finishing order in the Final race will determine who wins what medal.
Follow the action at paris2024.sailing.org