Lewin-LaFrance tied for first after qualifying at the 2025 49erFX Worlds

49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 Worlds Day 3 © Sailing Energy

Canadian sailors Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance from Chester, N.S., are currently tied for first place in the 49erFX class at the 2025 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships which will be held until Sunday in Cagliari, Italy.

During the Qualifying Series that took place over the past three days, the first of four legs in this new competition format, Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance earned a net score of 36 points after the team recorded five top 5 results over the nine races held. Vilma Bobeck and Ebba Berntsson from Sweden have tallied the same number of points. Paula Barcelo and Maria Cantero from Spain are a close third with 37 points.

Team Lewin-LaFrance qualified for the Gold Fleet as one of the top 25 ranked boats following the qualifying round. Teams in the Gold Fleet all still have a chance to be on the podium.

On Friday, they will start off with the first of two days of the Final Series, carrying over points earned during the Qualifying Series. Their goal will now be to finish amongst the top 20 ranked boats at the end of the Final Series, in order to qualify for the Medal Series. In that round, they will aim to be amongst the top four ranked boats following the Gold umpired race in order to qualify for the 4-point Race.

"So far, we’ve had different variations of the local sea breeze here, but the forecast looks like it’s changing for the coming days, which should mix things up," said Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance. "We’re trying to be consistent and conservative and we will keep fighting with the same goals into the Gold Fleet tomorrow."

A total of 52 boats are taking part in the 49erFX competition, including 12 teams with one or both teammates who represented one of the 20 countries that competed at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

49er and Nacra 17

Three other Canadian boats are competing at this week’s World Championships.

After the Qualifying Series, which were held over three days in 49er and two days in Nacra 17, none of the three teams qualified for the Gold Fleet in the Final Series.

In 49er, Thomas Staples & William Staples (Beaconsfield, QC) took the 54th position, while Will Jones (Burlington, ON) & Arie Moffat (Kingston, ON) finished 74th. Therefore, both teams were excluded from the top 25 and the Gold Fleet.

In Nacra 17, Galen Richardson (Toronto, ON) & Madeline Gillis (Halifax, N.S.) ended the two-day Qualifying Series in the 22nd spot and, therefore, were excluded from the top 20 and the Gold Fleet.