56th Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères Day 2
by Fédération Française de Voile 22 Apr 12:16 PDT
19-26 April 2025
Hyères demands patience before the Mistral with sunset finish
Racing in Hyères can test every sinew and synapse, and the second day of the 56th French Olympic Week (Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères - Toulon Provence Méditerranée) was a test of patience.
The action all came in a flurry at the end of one of those days on the Med that are good for sunbathing but bad for racing. The Nacra 17s finished their third race just before the sun went down.
With the most racing of the day, the shape of the 470, FX and Nacra 17 fleets began to look a little clearer, but the forecast Mistral over the next two days may have something to say about that.
Today, a much lighter wind turned south, south-west and then west from around 16:00 in the afternoon to sundown.
Sailors have always dealt with the doldrums in their own different ways, although in the modern Olympic boat park it is easier to sleep under under a Nacra than an Ilca.
Here is a guide to waiting by Belgium's two-time World Champion, Emma Plasschaert:
- Try not to think about sailing too much
- Try to not have that constant alertness looking for the wind
- Stay in the shade
- Don't talk to people who are sucking out the energy, so, surround yourself with nice people and that makes time go a little bit quicker
- Have a coffee!
- Try not to hang around and the boat park
"I mean, I'm still trying to like improve on this as well," Plasschaert confessed. "But I guess having an on-witch and an off-switch, which you can like really flick and then the moment where the postponement goes down and then, you have a second moment maybe when you put your boat in the water or when you actually are on the water and see the orange flag go up. Really try to differentiate between the two switches. One is don't waste energy, the other one is focus."
On top of those sound recommendations, Germany's Anna Markfort (470) was trialling her version of retail therapy.
"I'm actually trying out something new as well," Markfort said. "I brought my noise cancelling headphones today, and I spent half of the time looking at a new road bike might buy that I might buy. And it worked! Just research today. It's a reward! We'll see if the week is enough or if it's the year.
It worked, Simon Diesch & Anna Markfort finally extended their lead when they finally got out on the water yesterday.
World Earth Day 2025: SOF and FFVoile show commitment
Tuesday, April 22 saw celebrations for the the Earth around the world. It is a day with a strong message and an opportunity to take stock of the French Sailing Federation's environmental commitments in each of their events on the sporting calendar. During French Olympic Week (SOF), the FFV is acting within the framework of the charter of 15 eco-responsible commitments.
This means, in real actions, the use of 18 geostationary buoys to limit sea travel, using bicycles for logistics journeys, the installation of consumption meters on the coaches' boats, and collaboration with the Porquerolles and Port-Cros national parks to limit the impact of regattas on ecosystems.
The SOF organisation is also encouraging responsible water consumption in the parking lots by recommending that boats be rinsed only at the end of the week. The Sailing Grand Slam calendar has also been designed to limit air travel. A responsible regatta is possible...and it's already happening!
ILCA 6 and 7 - (women's & men's solo dinghy)
The biggest fleet of boats in the regatta with 76 entries in the ILCA 6 and 112 entries in the ILCA 7.
ILCA 6 - One race today
Denmark's Anna Munch took the overall lead outright after making it a perfect two days by adding a win in the only race of the day in yellow group, after her two yesterday in blue group.
In blue group USA's Charlotte Rose stays second overall after finishing third behind her training partner Belgium's Emma Plasschaert. Italy's Emma Mativi beat them both to move into fourth place.
Charlotte Rose (USA): "In these conditions, everyone really rounds like very closely, so kind of stayed in the same group with Emma (Plasschaert) and then another Italian girl. We kind of all like, played mixed up throughout the entire race, but Emma finished second and Emma from Italy, I think, finished first It's just connecting pressure and staying in clean air and - it sounds easier than it is! I'm super excited, I hear it's mistral tomorrow and I really like breeze, and three races, so game on!"
Emma Plasschaert (BEL) "I think we tag-teamed the whole race. I think we got we got off the line quite well and then just kind of like, pretty took the same lines both up and down.
I'm just looking to have a nice regatta. This year for me is it's about getting back into the boat, I haven't sailed for quite some time after the (Olympic) Games and I'm looking to execute well, trying to work on some of my less strong points and in the process really have fun, enjoy racing, just have fun with it."
ILCA 7 - One race today
One thing seems certain, if the forecast for two days of racing in the Mistral holds good there will be some big shuffling of this enormous Ilca 7 pack. Hong Kong's Nicholas Halliday jumped into the overall lead after finishing second in the only race of the day in yellow group. The Netherlands's Duko Bos dropped into second after finishing 11th in yellow and Poland's Michal Krasodomski moved into third after finishing fourth in blue group.
470 (mixed double-handed dinghy) - 39 entries - Two races today
Germany's duo of Simon Diesch & Anna Markfort continue showed why they will again one of the boats for everyone, home and abroad, to beat in the new Sailing Grand Slam (SGS) as they build towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. After the shock and disappointment of their 14th place at Paris 2024, they started with a second place in round 1 of the SGS in Palma and a second strong day finishing second and third in the two races saw them consolidate their lead.
Their day was only bettered by France's Lomane Valade & Julien Bunel, who won both races to surge into third place overall after a difficult first day.
Their compatriots, Julien Bunel and Lucie de Gennes are still ahead of them in second after managing fourth place in the second race.
Anna Markfort (GER): "We're quite happy with the day, super solid. There was one boat that did an even better job than us today, France 7, I think, but yeah, super solid, second and third. Two keepers.
"When we towed out it looked like absolutely nothing, and then it took a little while to finally fill in. And we would have expected it to fill in properly, but during the race, it was just starting to decrease again, so we had the shortening of the course, on the second upwind, which was, I think, super good price management.
"And then in the second race, we had to wait for quite a long time to get that started as it went super glassy. But eventually the wind filled in like forecast said. And yes tomorrow, We'll take a bit of mistral!"
Lucie de Gennes (FRA): "We started with a long wait on land, then it was a first race in very light winds with less than 6 knots. We got off to a bad start, but we ended up catching up. We got off to a very good start in the second race and finished fourth, so it was a day saved, especially since these aren't the conditions we prefer. We're happy. It's rare to have so many boats on the same line, usually there are two fleets, so you have to know how to get off to a good start and then get away as quickly as possible."
Nacra 17 (mixed double-handed catamaran) - 29 entries - Three races today
The Nacra 17s were last back in the boat park just before 20:00. Italy's duo of Gianluigi Ugolini & Maria Giubilei underlined their class by winning the first and third races of the day and finishing second in the second to consolidate their overnight lead.
Austria's Laura Farese & Matthäus Zöchling continued their battle in the first race of the day, finishing second, but were then 13th and 7th. It was enough to hold onto second place overall ahead of the Dutch duo of Willemijn Offerman & Scipio Houtman, who won the second race.
Ominously for them, Britain's John Gimson & Anna Burnett, winners in Palma and one of the favourites, shifted up a gear and finished 3, 4, 2 for the day to move into fourth place.
49er (men's and women's double-handed skiff) - Women's FX (38 entries) - Three races today
On a day of very varied results through the fleet, Belgium's Isaura Maenhaut & Anouk Geerts won two of the three races to extend their overall lead. After finishing the second race in 22nd place, their day was in the balance, but the second victory gives them a nine-point advantage and all their rivals have similarly large discards.
Spain's Patricia Suarez Gonzalez & Melania Henke Riera are second overall. They won the second race, but could only manage 19th in the third.
USA's Paris Henken & Helena Scutt were second in the second race, but also lost contact in the third, finishing 18th.
Men's 49er (67 entries) - No races today
iQFOiL (men's & women's windsurfing)
Women (41 entries) No racing today
Men (76 entries) One race today
Grae Morris, Australia's Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist kept his lead across the two groups, by winning yellow group's only race of the day. Poland's Pawel Tarnowski and France's Clément Bourgeois both took third paces to stay in second and third overall respectively.
Formula Kite (men's and women's kite)
Women (22 entries) - One race today
China's Wan Li won the only race of the day to move to the top of the leaderboard above Britain's Lily Young, who was seventh. Poland's Izabela Satrjan finished second to stay in third place overall. France's Lauriane Nolot was third and moved up a place into sixth.
Men (60 entries) - One race today
With the fleet of 60 racers split into two groups, Italy's leader Riccardo Pianosi, was equally dominant after being switched to the yellow group, winning their only race of the day. Likewise, for the 18-year-old Singaporean, Maximilian Maeder, who won after being switched to the blue group, and is just one point behind Pianosi. Greece's Kameron Maramenidis is in third after finishing second to Pianosi after staying in the yellow group.
View all results here