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**Photoboy** · 08-03-2018, 01:11 PM

Pressure Shifts In Aarhus

P-J Postma and Nicholas Heiner battling for one Olympic spot
Sam Meech tops Laser with two bullets
Olympic champion Hannah Mills and new crew Eilidh McIntyre recover

Sailing World Championships are often pitched as nations competing against each other, but the real tensions are often within the national teams as individuals begin to try and secure their Olympic selection.

The amount at stake for many of the sailors at the Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018 will gradually be squeezed out each day and Friday brought into relief the pressures in the Finn fleet.

Two flying Dutchman – in separate Finn qualification fleets - had good days in stronger, more consistent days in Denmark’s beautiful Bay of Aarhus, and the subtext is their Olympic ambition.

P-J Postma, 36, made a late comeback just two months ago in a bid to represent the Netherlands at the Olympics in the Finn for the fourth time. That news was probably not received with
great jubilation by the man in pole position, Nicholas Heiner, 29.

After a 14th place in tricky winds on Thursday, Postma was imperious in his first race, leading off the line and managing the field consummately until the end. He followed that with two third places to lead the overall standings.

Heiner is in sixth after a seventh, fifth and third place, but his sixth place on Thursday means he probably still has a discard up his sleeve.

“For me it’s Olympic Trials,” Postma said with a knowing smile. “I need to be the best Dutchman here. It’s quite a challenge.”

Each country has different selection criteria, the Netherland’s is quite rigid in the fleets where there is competition. If two of their sailors finish in the top 8 then the selection is deferred until next year. Sailing is often described as chess on water, but sometimes its chess off the water too. The timing of Postma’s comeback is essentially a defensive move to ensure selection remains open.

“I always like to share and do things together,” Postma, tenth in the 2016 Rio Olympics and fourth in London 2012 after a spectacular gamble failed to come off, said. “At the moment we’re friendly to each other but there is no sharing, so, it’s a fight. He’s been training for this and every day that’s coming he will give everything he’s got.”

For Heiner, the 2014 World Championships are still strong in the memory – he was the Laser world champion in Santander but did not get the selection for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“Even if you become World Champion here it still doesn’t mean you’re going to the Games, like from Santander - I was World Champion but still on the back foot,” Heiner said. “It pushes everybody and in the classes where we’re strong that’s the high standard we need to deal with.”

As so often sailors from different countries are training together more than with their compatriots. “So far I’ve just been training with the kiwis in New Zealand and did some with the Brits in the beginning,” Heiner said. “PJ just came back and he’s got totally different things to work on than I do. We need to tick off national qualification and then the national selection, that’s between me and PJ. So, you just want to put down a great result.”

Friday was played out under a bright sunshine and the absence of clouds aided the earlier arrival of the south to south-easterly sea breeze that built from 8 to 12 knots with gusts of 16.

The huge Laser and Laser Radial fleets got underway and it was no surprise to see the Dutch Rio Olympic champion and three-time world champion Marit Bouwmeester near the top of the leaderboard. Although, even Bouwmeester did not have it own way, with her young compatriot, Maxime Jonker, winning the first race ahead of her. It underlined the strength in depth of the Netherlands programme.

The 165 Laser boats were split into three fleets. New Zealand Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Sam Meech was peerless in his, winning both races. But there were few surprises and all the main contenders are lying in the top 10.

In the women’s 470, Hannah Mills, the Olympic champion in Rio and new crew Eilidh McIntyre - who know a thing or too about pressure from national team mates - put a difficult Thursday behind them by winning both their races.

The men’s 470 ran three races to catch up from Thursday and Swedish 2018 European Champions, Anton Dahlberg and Frederik Bergström were solid but bettered by Japan’s Kazuto Doi and Naoya Kimura. The surprise of the day was perhaps the struggle of Australia’s Mat Belcher and William Ryan, the silver medallists in Rio and Belcher being the gold medallist in London 2012.

The forecast is good again for tomorrow. By the end of Saturday all the classes should have Championship races under their belts. Only the Finn and the 470s (men and women), will not be on the water.

They said:
Vasileia Karachaliou - Greece - Laser Radial (leader)
"Today we had really nice conditions on the water, a sunny and warm normal sea breeze up to 11 knots. My strategy was to try and keep it simple, try to get good starts without thinking that this regatta is the most important of the year.

"I tried to stay concentrated and everything else came along. I feel very proud and rewarded for all the work I have put in to this."

Sam Meech - New Zealand - Laser
"It's a perfect start for me. I couldn't really ask for much more from a first day but it's still really early in the regatta and I'm going to have to take it day by day, but looking forward to the rest of the week.

"There were some dangerous moments but I managed to make a couple of good decisions which led to two good races and my speed was reasonably good as well."

Ben Cornish - Great Britain - Finn
"I got off to a nice start with two very solid results. I'm happy with my speed and how I feel in the boat, which is great. I didn't make a huge mistake in the final race, but the wind shift lasted longer than every other beat we had sailed and I found myself out of position at the top mark.

"It's a long week ahead of us but if I can keep putting days like today together I am confident I will be in the mix by the end. The conditions were fantastic and I am grateful that we got onshore racing on stadium course."

Hannah Mills - Great Britain - Women's 470
"Today was an awesome day, we managed to rectify the errors that let us down in yesterday's races and come away with two bullets. This venue gives nothing away though and it's going to be a long hard week."

Phillip Buhl - Germany - Laser
"The conditions started off light, but the wind developed. Not much waiting around and we secured two good races - fourth in the first race and third in the second. We had 10 knots during the second race.

"I'm feeling confident. The conditions are very similar (to his home spot in Kiel). Similar wind patterns but Aarhus is much warmer and choppy. The conditions were different today, so I couldn't get an advantage unfortunately. Its traditional of the Laser class to have the largest fleet, imagine 60 boats at a start line. It will get interesting when the gold and silver fleets arranged."

By Matthew Pryor

LINKY

**Dutch Rudder** · 08-05-2018, 08:39 AM

USA not doing so great

**Photoboy** · 08-05-2018, 05:15 PM

Boards Sports In Spotlight On Sunday

Zofia Noceti-Klepacka started the day skateboarding with her children and finished it with a masterclass in high-speed windsurfing on Super Sunday at the Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018.

In a World Championships full of mothers, the RS:X fleet is particularly blessed and Noceti-Klepacka has been at the vanguard of making less exceptional what was once seen as impossible in more antediluvian times. One day it will be so normal no one will write about it.

At least six of the 64 women windsurfers competing are mothers: Noceti-Klepacka, Blanca Manchon (Spain), Marina Alabau Neira (Spain), Tuuli Petäjä-Sirén (Finland), Charline Picon (France) and Bryony Shaw (Great Britain). Shaw, 35 carried her 14-month old son, Jaddek, in front of her as the flagbearer in the opening ceremony last Thursday. She has cited the way Jessica Ennis-Hill came back from having a child to take silver at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as her inspiration.

Serena Williams is the latest high-profile sportsmum. But there are great examples are closer to home. Noceti-Klepacka, 32, had her son Mariano, 8, before the London 2012 Olympics and then went on to take the bronze medal. She is in Aarhus with her husband Michael and Mariano and her five-year-old daughter, Maria.

“They are staying here with me because it’s summer and they have a break from school,” she said. “I’m really happy and more relaxed when family is with me in competition and they support me. They are my fans and they always believe I can be the best.

“It was very hard to come back after my second baby, I needed to work very hard to get my body back and to be fully ready on the water. It took like one year If you want to come back and be a professional athlete my kids are not the problem. They give me motivation and energy. This morning we were watching how the men (windsurfers) sailed and I went skateboarding with them, and my daughter had her roller-skates.”

It also means the discussions about gear have broadened for the fleet. “Of course we (the mothers) talk about it,” she said. “Tuuli is here breastfeeding her daughter, who is nine weeks old. I spoke with her and told her about a special belt that I used to help carry my daughter and how it helped me a lot.”

With the prevailing offshore westerlies continuing to build over 20 knots, gusting 30 on the furthest courses out in the Bay of Aarhus. It was a good day to go flying and the kind of conditions in which Noceti-Klepacka, who trains in similar conditions on the Zegrze Reservoir just north of Warsaw, lights up. After three races today she was third overall.

“There was more wind with every hour,” she said. “Today was perfect conditions for the sailors, especially for me, I like planing conditions. In the third race, I had a crash. It wasn’t my fault and there’s a protest and I hope the jury will give me a redress because my sail went in the water and I lost a lot of time. But I’m happy, I wish it could be like this everyday. It’s shifty conditions and I grew up on a lake and I enjoy it.”

She would have been even less happy when news came through later that Principal Race Officer had abandoned the second race (because a mark was out of position), where she finished fourth.

Leaderboards

Men’s RS:X windsurfing
Some of the usual suspects dominated day one of the men’s RS:X with France’s Louis Giard continuing his dominant 2018 form to top the leaderboard. But two more familiar Flying Dutchmen are breathing down his neck. Kiran Badloe won his last race to take the yellow bib from his friend and the king he would depose – double Olympic champion, Dorian van Rijsselberghe. The surprise was Italy’s Daniele Benedetti in second after just two months training following eight months out with a knee injury. And China’s class world champion, Bing Ye, was lying 73rd overall after finishing 34th, 34th and 33rd. A Chinese men’s team that had been so dominant in Enoshima, Japan was dispersed on the winds.

Men’s Kiteboarding
A momentous World Championship debut saw France’s Nicolas Parlier underlined exactly why he is the red-hot favourite by winning all six of his races. His compatriot, Theo de Ramecourt was almost as dominant in the second fleet.

Women’s Kiteboarding
Likewise, USA’s Daniel Moroz showed why she is the red-hot favourite in the women’s kite by winning the last two of her three races. She will have been furious to finish second in her first one.

Nacra 17
Italy’s Ruggero Tita and Caterina Marianna Banti underlined the pre-boat park consensus that “there are the Italians and everybody else” by winning all three of their races in choppy conditions that were too hot for handle for many in the fleet.

49er
Yesterday, it was one New Zealand crew ahead of two French ones, it is now the reverse. Two third places took France’s Lucas Rual and Emile Amorol top of the leaderboard, ahead of the two New Zealand crews in this huge 86-boat class with three fleets. But two powerful crews have moved ominously onto their shoulders, Croatia’s Sime Fantela (Rio 2016 Olympic champion in the 470) and his brother, Mihovil Fantela, and Australia’s William Phillips and Iain “Goobs” Jensen (Olympic gold medallist in 2012 and silver medallist in 2016 with Nathan Outteridge) who is standing in for Phillips’s injured brother Sam.

49er FX
Local favourites Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen, who have grown up racing in the Bay of Aarhus and cheered the return of the westerlies as other quivered, moved to the top of the leaderboard with a solid third and fourth. Great Britain’s Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey had a second place and a win to move into second overall with the Olympic and Volvo legends all hovering on their shoulders.

Laser
Despite a thirteenth and fourth place, New Zealander Sam Meech (bronze in the Rio 2016 medallist), stays top but the field of Olympic and world champions is now bunched much more closely behind him.

Laser Radial
Two second places from Anne-Marie Rindom saw Denmark claim another top spot. The surprise is that Netherland’s Olympic champion, Marit Bouwmeester is still back in ninth after a 16th place in her first race of the day.

Finn, Men’s 470s, Women’s 470 were on a lay-day and will recommence in gold and silver fleets tomorrow.

By Matthew Pryor

RESULTS: https://aarhus2018.sailing.org/results

**Photoboy** · 08-07-2018, 10:24 AM

Aarhus Day 6: USA Standings

While we await today's reports and photos to be processed, here is a quick look at the current standings of top
USA Competitors currently competing in Aarhus at the World Championships... Monday's sailing was light and several
events were postponed due to the light conditions, today's weather was looking more promising:

Weather forecast:
The warm front passing should bring higher temperatures and hopefully more stable wind on Tuesday in the Bay of Aarhus. The easterlies of 8-10 knots, will gradually swing south in the late afternoon under the influence of some small lows on the west coast of Denmark and building to a maximum of 12 knots.

The divergence between forecast and what transpired on Monday was caused by the warm front passing north, which spread its influence 50km further south than expected.

As you can see, only Paige Railey maintains a podium position, and wonder kid Daniela Moroz, the shoe in for 1st in womens kiteboard collected 5 DNC's today, we have a message out to find out why.

(Breaking... Daniela WON every race today but leader jerseys sailors were mistakenly reported as DNC... Whew!)

Stuart McNay and David Hughes are currently 9th in Finn and Charlie Buckingham is currently 11th in Laser. Other than that, not much to brag about.

https://aarhus2018.sailing.org/results

**Flat Stanley** · 08-07-2018, 10:38 AM

Go Daniela!

Go Paige!

**Photoboy** · 08-07-2018, 02:29 PM

Medal Time In Aarhus

The Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018 has its first medal race fleet in the women’s 470 with Japan’s duo of Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka leading by five points.

Yoshida and Yoshioka, fifth in the Rio 2016 Olympics, were sixth in the only race possible on Tuesday. France’s Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz, bronze medallists in Rio, won to close in second place. But Hannah Mills, the Rio Olympic champion and her new crew, Eilidh McIntyre, were furious after finishing 18th – their worst of the series.

“Are we feeling confident? Yes, of course, we’re here and still leading,” Yoshida said. “The French were first, but we’re happy with sixth in the circumstances.”

For Mills, however, “today was absolutely ridiculous. The wind came in at 5-7 knots and was pretty steady, probably the steadiest we’ve had in Aarhus.

“We were out on the water for about 3-4 hours without any racing. We did a few starts and got postponed a lot. The wind was shifting like 10 degrees. I just feel very frustrated.”

all pics© Sailing Energy

The World Championships in Denmark is coming to the business end of the week and the fields are beginning to narrow toward the medal race. Four more fleets, the Finn, the men’s and women’s 470s, Laser and Laser Radial medal race fleets could be decided tomorrow – wind permitting.

After Big Monday stalled, Tense Tuesday at least saw plenty of racing and left some big names with bigger scores. Some fleets were on the water for six hours, starting, stopping and pressing in shifting pressure in the Bay of Aarhus.

But the top tens are still full of familiar names and after nine races in all conditions in the men’s 470, the Swedish 2018 European Champions, Anton Dahlberg and Frederik Bergström held their lead over the French and extended against Australia’s Mat Belcher and William Ryan, the silver medallists at the Rio 2016 Olympics. They will try to complete one more race tomorrow on the reserve day before the medal race on Thursday.

The forecast stable 8-10 easterlies did not materialise and all the fleets had to pick and roll their way through soft patches. “It was race all the way across the finish line today,” Bergström said. “There were a lot of things happening during the race, a lot of overtakes and big losses for some people, turnarounds in the fleet, which is brilliant racing.”

Belcher, 35, won gold at the London 2012 Olympics, and with Simon Fantela, the 2016 Olympic champion having switched the 49er, his boat, as has been the case for almost a decade, is the one to beat.

The Swedes have emerged from the pack this year and look capable of taking the crown. But they have never won a world championship and missed out in the class worlds a year ago after leading Belcher and Ryan by a point going into the medal race. Do they think it is easier to become a champion or stay one?

“I think once you have proven yourself, that gives you some confidence and we’re still working hard to find that confidence all the time,” Dahlberg, 33, said. “But we know we have it in us and we strongly believe in what we’re doing and I think we have managed a bit of both; we have the drive of coming from behind, but we are starting to get the experience and trust in our process.”

Like Mills he is feeling the heat from the challengers. But despite two finishes outside the top there was the ever-present glint of man who’s been there and done that in eye of Belcher in the boat part afterwards. The man who won the 2011 World Championships in Perth and 2014 World Championships in Santander fired a perhaps mischievous shot across Swedish bows.

“I think the hardest world championships are always the first one because to get that step and get that confidence takes a long time,” he said. “For us, in this position of winning the worlds or not, we’ve been there so much it doesn’t really bother us too much. People deal with that differently, but if you’ve done it once you can reassure yourself that you can do it again. (Being the target) gives you confidence and we’ve been in that position for almost a decade.”

He acknowledged the rise of the Swedes but hinted in his own inimitably friendly way that the gloves were coming off.

“Certainly the Swedish guys have really picked up quite a lot. We’ve had some great battles this year - really enjoyable battle,” he said. “But no doubt the Japanese contingent with nine boats, which is just insane, are obviously coming along pretty well. We’re just focusing on what we need to do. Now, two years in (to the Olympic cycle) we’re going to start to ramp up the programme, but we’re really happy with where we’re at. There are different stages in campaigns and different stages in life as well.”

The laser has been even more keenly fought and Australia’s Matthew Wearn continues to look like the greatest rival of his compatriot, Tom Burton, the 2016 Rio Olympic champion. After eight races, Wearn, 22, who became European champion this year, leads after two single digit races on a day when many of the top ten registered at least one huge double digit. Burton, 28, is eight points back in fourth. Wearn won the Test Event in the Bay of Aarhus last year against Burton, but this World Championships would be his biggest step towards a changing of the guard.

Results

Laser Radial
The gold fleet only managed one race and the second was abandoned. Danish, Anne-Marie Rindom continues her lead at the top of the leaderboard. Paige Railey (USA) is second, and Sarah Douglas (CAN) is third.

Finn
Edward Wright (GBR) had a good second race today, finishing second and he holds first place overall. Tom Ramshaw (CAN) in second, and Josh Junior (NZL) follow closely with only one point separating him and Ramshaw.

RS:X Men
The RS:X Men completed three races today with Pawel Tarnowski (POL) topping the leaderboard, and Dorian Van Rijsselberghe (NED) in second place. Italian, Daniele Benedetti is third.

RS:X Women
In the RS:X Women, Yunxiu Lu (CHN) leads overall after day six. Lilian De Geus (NED) is second and Charline Picon (FRA) is third.

Nacra 17
Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza Saroli ARG), take charge after a tough couple of races in the Nacra 17 fleet. Brazilian’s, Albrecht & Nicolino de Sá shoot up to second and Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin move up to third.

49erFX
Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen (DEN) hold first place, and the Dutch, Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz take second overnight. Austrian’s Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht finish the day in third.

49er
There was no racing today for the 49er Men as today was their layday.

**Photoboy** · 08-08-2018, 03:07 PM

Tokyo 2020 Invitations Issued In Aarhus

he Men’s Heavyweight Dinghy – Finn and Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470 have concluded fleet racing at the Hempel Sailing World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark handing more nations a spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Eight places in both the Finn and Men’s 470 were available in Aarhus and subject to final notification from World Sailing after the event to the relevant Member National Authority / National Olympic Committee, the following nations have qualified:

Men’s 470
Australia
France
Great Britain
Italy
New Zealand
Spain
Sweden
USA
Twenty nine countries competed in the Men’s 470 fleet in Aarhus.

Finn
Argentina
Canada
Hungary
Great Britain
Netherlands
New Zealand
Sweden
Turkey
The 90-boat Finn fleet was made up of 42 nations.

Japanese sailors were represented in both fleets but as host nation, receive an entry into every Tokyo 2020 Olympic sailing event.

About the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition Qualification System
The World Championships is the principal qualification event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with 101 places, 40% of the total quota in the ten Olympic sailing disciplines, up for grabs.

Six places will be available in the Men's and Women's One Person Dinghy following the 2018 Asian Games and 2019 Pan Am Games.

Class Association World Championships in 2019 will see the awarding of 61 places and throughout the remainder of 2019, moving into 2020, Continental Qualification events will be held to decide the remaining 68 places.

Two Men's One Person Dinghy and two Women's One Person Dinghy spots will be awarded to eligible National Olympic Committees (NOC) through the Tripartite Commission Invitation Places. The International Olympic Committee will invite eligible NOCs on 14 October 2019 to apply for these places.

Each NOC may enter a maximum of one boat per event, a total of 15 athletes (eight men and seven women) at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Giant Swede Max Salminen drove home his advantage in the eye of the storm in the Bay of Aarhus on Wednesday to win the last race of the day in the Finn class and establish a potentially decisive eight-point lead for medal race tomorrow.

A hot and humid day seven at the Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018 saw us coming to the business end and some of the big names are rising to the occasion, but there are some notable absences from the top 10 qualifying for the medal race.

The 29-year-old Salminen, who won gold in the Star class at the London 2012 Olympics, was sixth after moving to the Finn in at the Rio 2016 Olympics and won his first class world championships in the Finn last year. He will have enjoyed the final downwind in the lashing rain – arriving 20 minutes ahead of the forecast - as the wind jumped from single digits to 23 knots, gusting 30.

But the top six are all in with a realistic chance of winning in the winner-takes-all medal race, where points count double. Four points separate Hungary’s Zsombor Berecz, New Zealand’s Josh Junior, Canada’s Tom Ramshaw and the Dutch rivals Nicholas Heiner and Pieter-Jan Postma (fourth and sixth respectively).

There will, however, be no Jorge Zarif, the Brazilian, who just missed out on a medal in Rio and has been the dominant force in the Finn this year. He has had a disastrous last two days. America’s Caleb Paine, the bronze medallist in Rio, had looked well set after sixth in the first race of the day, but a 33rd place in the last race left him 12th.

The same fate nearly befell Great Britain’s Ed Wright. At the start of the day, Wright, had a seven-point lead on three sailors close behind. With the potential for no races in the light airs that kept them on shore for most of the day, he was looking at a healthy lead going into the medal race tomorrow. A 27th and 19th place put paid to that and almost saw him miss out completely.

Denmark has no one in the top 10, but the Finn will be followed very closely by a knowledgeable home crowd in tomorrow’s stadium race. It is the class their Olympic legend, Paul Elvstrøm – who won four Olympic golds – made his and Denmark’s own in the 1950s and 1960. Danish sailors have won the Finn Gold Cup ten times.

Great Britain took under that mantle under their own colossus, Ben Ainslie, and then Giles Scott. But the absence of the Scott, the Olympic champion and four-time winner of the Finn Gold Cup (the world championships), away on other projects, has seen others rise and Salminen will be seeking to prove that it is his and Sweden’s time.

There were fewer surprises in the men’s 470, who completed the final race of their gold medal fleet series today. The Swedish 2018 European Champions, Anton Dahlberg and Frederik Bergström, could only manage eighth place and saw their lead cut to six points over two chasing crews. They are in touching distance of their first world championship title but will have their hands full watching Japan’s Tetsuya Isosaki and Akira Takayanagi, who finished second yesterday. France’s Kevin Peponnet and Jermie Mion are third, but level on points with the Japanese.

All three will have to be careful that they do not get so wrapped up in their own battles that they let Australia’s Mat Belcher and William Ryan, the silver medallists at the Rio 2016 Olympics, slip past. The Australians could only finish tenth and are 13 points behind the leader, but if anyone knows how to win a medal race it is Belcher, who won gold at the London 2012 Olympics, and the 2011 World Championships in Perth and 2014 World Championships in Santander.

Laser
The fleet could only manage one race and will to race once more tomorrow on the reserve day to finish the series ahead of the medal race on Friday. Pavlos Kontides, who became the first-ever Olympic medallist for Cyprus (in any sport) with his silver at the London 2012 Olympics, is leading after finishing second. Australia’s Matthew Wearn is three points behind, able to discard his 15th place today, and his compatriot, the Rio 2016 Olympic champion, Tom Burton is a further two points back. New Zealand’s Rio bronze medallist, Sam Meech, the long-time leader, slipped further back with 13th today and is 13 points off the lead. But the last race tomorrow could still change everything.

Laser Radial
The fleet could only manage one race and will to race twice more tomorrow on the reserve day to finish the series ahead of the medal race on Friday. In difficult and shifting conditions before racing was abandoned, there were some big double-digit scores at the top of the leaderboard. Just one point separates the top three. Leader Paige Railey (USA) finished 37th out of the 60 boats and third-placed Anne-Marie Rindom, Denmark’s Rio 2016 bronze medallist, 44th. The flying Dutchwoman, Marit Bouwmeester, lies fifth, 19 points behind the leader. But no one will be writing off the woman who won gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics and the 2011 World Championships in Perth and 2014 World Championships in Santander.

Women’s 49erFX
Austria’s Tanja Frank (the Rio 2016 Olympics bronze medallist in the Nacra) and Lorena Abicht were serene in the rapidly shifting winds and fortunes as others in the leading group faltered. They finished top overall after winning the last of the first three races in the gold fleet with three to come tomorrow.

Local favourites, Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen started the gold medal fleet races today 10 points ahead overall, but a penalty turn on the first upwind left them near the back. They managed to finish 18th in the 30-strong field, but lost the lead it was a sign of things to come as they slipped to fourth overall.

49er
The first race was abandoned no racing was possible. They made it in just as the storm front hit the Bay of Aarhus.

Men’s Kite
All three spots in the Men’s Kiteboard remain the same as yesterday. Full results can be found here - https://aarhus2018.sailing.org/results

Women’s Kite
Slight change in the Women’s leaderboard, Daniela Moroz (USA) now leads, while Elena Kalinina (RUS) sits in second and Alexia Fancelli (FRA) in third.

They said:

Max Salminen – Sweden – Finn (leader)
“I’m tired after today, but it’s a huge relief to qualify my nation and go into the medal race as the leader.

“I can see the Olympics in my vision. It’s nice to have a chance to defend my World title after a long week. So far, the competition in my fleet has been great and it’s a shame that we’re missing Giles Scott.

“It’s always good to have a buffer, especially on a tricky race like this, but there is not much of a game I can play – I just have to sail my best.”

Josh Junior - New Zealand – Finn
“It was pretty rough in the end. We went out there and had about 7-8 knots all day and right at the last turning mark we got a squall of about 40, which is almost double the racing limit. I went from sixth to 20-something and I’m pretty gutted about it, to be honest. It was a tough day but I’m still in the hunt so happy with that.”

Pavlos Kontides – Cyprus – Laser
“I’m feeling good. I had a good race and I’m leading. I am confident in tomorrow races, if we get any. I still don’t have a big discard, so I can keep my focus on the medal race and double points.”

Matthew Wearn – Australia – Laser
“It’ll be nice to race tomorrow and get another opportunity to make some points up. Quite a lot of waiting today on the water. First race was abandoned, and the second race was an okay race for me.”

Sam Meech – New Zealand – Laser
"[A 13th] would be OK but, unfortunately, the people who I need to be in front of did really well in the race. If I didn’t have a bad race yesterday, I would be more than happy with that.

"It’s not quite where I wanted to be. We still have one more race tomorrow so there are a lot of points on the line. I will try to get myself back into a good position before the medal race."

Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht - Austria - Women’s 49erFX (leaders)
Frank:
“We’re not really trying to count the points because the girl’s fleet is just half way through. We have a full new day tomorrow and we are just looking forward to racing again.”

Natasha Bryant / Annie Wilmot – Australia – 49erFX (second)
Bryant:
“We were chipping away with all the boats today - it was really tough race course, so we were just trying to make sure that we didn’t have any issues.

“We’re happy with the way today has gone. It’s one of our first gold fleet races and we’ve only been in the class for a year now, so we are pushing hard. Everyone around us is so good.

When they were told that they are second overall:
Oh wow! That’s a surprise! (laughing) That’s exciting. I’m sure the points are really tight.”

RESULTS

************************

After seven fleet races in the Women’s Two Person Dinghy - 470 at the Hempel Sailing World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, eight nations have booked their spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The eight nations to qualify for Tokyo 2020 in the Women’s 470, subject to final notification from World Sailing following the event to the relevant Member National Authority / National Olympic Committee, are:

China
France
Great Britain
Greece
Italy
Israel
Slovenia
Spain
Twenty four nations contested for one of eight spots in the Women’s 470 across 47 boats. The fleet comprised 25 nations but as hosts, Japan receives an automatic entry into each Olympic sailing event.

About the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition Qualification System
The World Championships is the principal qualification event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with 101 places, 40% of the total quota in the ten Olympic sailing disciplines, up for grabs.

Six places will be available in the Men's and Women's One Person Dinghy following the 2018 Asian Games and 2019 Pan Am Games.

Class Association World Championships in 2019 will see the awarding of 61 places and throughout the remainder of 2019, moving into 2020, Continental Qualification events will be held to decide the remaining 68 places.

Two Men's One Person Dinghy and two Women's One Person Dinghy spots will be awarded to eligible National Olympic Committees (NOC) through the Tripartite Commission Invitation Places. The International Olympic Committee will invite eligible NOCs on 14 October 2019 to apply for these places.

Each NOC may enter a maximum of one boat per event, a total of 15 athletes (eight men and seven women) at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition.

All places are awarded subject to the details of the qualification system.

https://aarhus2018.sailing.org/competition-entries

**Photoboy** · 08-08-2018, 03:48 PM

A SquallyWood Finish For The Finns

What a race! A 35 knot gust in Race 10 of the 2018 Finn Gold Cup tested Finn sailors and Finns to the max.
Max Salminen has taken an eight point lead in Aarhus after winning this incredible race, while Josh Junior and Zsombor Berecz are tied on points in second and third.

**Angry Dolphin** · 08-08-2018, 04:31 PM

That's some dedicated sailing right there!

**IOR Geezer** · 08-09-2018, 09:07 AM

I'll bet that hurt!

**Photoboy** · 08-09-2018, 11:30 AM

Giant Swede Max Salminen drove home his advantage in the eye of the storm in the Bay of Aarhus on Wednesday to win the last race of the day in the Finn class and establish a potentially decisive eight-point lead for medal race tomorrow.

A hot and humid day seven at the Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018 saw us coming to the business end and some of the big names are rising to the occasion, but there are some notable absences from the top 10 qualifying for the medal race.

The 29-year-old Salminen, who won gold in the Star class at the London 2012 Olympics, was sixth after moving to the Finn in at the Rio 2016 Olympics and won his first class world championships in the Finn last year. He will have enjoyed the final downwind in the lashing rain – arriving 20 minutes ahead of the forecast - as the wind jumped from single digits to 23 knots, gusting 35.

But the top six are all in with a realistic chance of winning in the winner-takes-all medal race, where points count double. Four points separate Hungary’s Zsombor Berecz, New Zealand’s Josh Junior, Canada’s Tom Ramshaw and the Dutch rivals Nicholas Heiner and Pieter-Jan Postma (fourth and sixth respectively).

There will, however, be no Jorge Zarif, the Brazilian, who just missed out on a medal in Rio and has been the dominant force in the Finn this year. He has had a disastrous last two days. America’s Caleb Paine, the bronze medallist in Rio, had looked well set after sixth in the first race of the day, but a 33rd place in the last race left him 12th.

The same fate nearly befell Great Britain’s Ed Wright. At the start of the day, Wright, had a seven-point lead on three sailors close behind. With the potential for no races in the light airs that kept them on shore for most of the day, he was looking at a healthy lead going into the medal race tomorrow. A 27th and 19th place put paid to that and almost saw him miss out completely.

Denmark has no one in the top 10, but the Finn will be followed very closely by a knowledgeable home crowd in tomorrow’s stadium race. It is the class their Olympic legend, Paul Elvstrøm – who won four Olympic golds – made his and Denmark’s own in the 1950s and 1960. Danish sailors have won the Finn Gold Cup ten times.

Great Britain took under that mantle under their own colossus, Ben Ainslie, and then Giles Scott. But the absence of the Scott, the Olympic champion and four-time winner of the Finn Gold Cup (the world championships), away on other projects, has seen others rise and Salminen will be seeking to prove that it is his and Sweden’s time.

There were fewer surprises in the men’s 470, who completed the final race of their gold medal fleet series today. The Swedish 2018 European Champions, Anton Dahlberg and Frederik Bergström, could only manage eighth place and saw their lead cut to six points over two chasing crews. They are in touching distance of their first world championship title but will have their hands full watching Japan’s Tetsuya Isosaki and Akira Takayanagi, who finished second yesterday. France’s Kevin Peponnet and Jermie Mion are third, but level on points with the Japanese.

All three will have to be careful that they do not get so wrapped up in their own battles that they let Australia’s Mat Belcher and William Ryan, the silver medallists at the Rio 2016 Olympics, slip past. The Australians could only finish tenth and are 13 points behind the leader, but if anyone knows how to win a medal race it is Belcher, who won gold at the London 2012 Olympics, and the 2011 World Championships in Perth and 2014 World Championships in Santander.

Laser
The fleet could only manage one race and will to race once more tomorrow on the reserve day to finish the series ahead of the medal race on Friday. Pavlos Kontides, who became the first-ever Olympic medallist for Cyprus (in any sport) with his silver at the London 2012 Olympics, is leading after finishing second. Australia’s Matthew Wearn is three points behind, able to discard his 15th place today, and his compatriot, the Rio 2016 Olympic champion, Tom Burton is a further two points back. New Zealand’s Rio bronze medallist, Sam Meech, the long-time leader, slipped further back with 13th today and is 13 points off the lead. But the last race tomorrow could still change everything.

Laser Radial
The fleet could only manage one race and will to race twice more tomorrow on the reserve day to finish the series ahead of the medal race on Friday. In difficult and shifting conditions before racing was abandoned, there were some big double-digit scores at the top of the leaderboard. Just one point separates the top three. Leader Paige Railey (USA) finished 37th out of the 60 boats and third-placed Anne-Marie Rindom, Denmark’s Rio 2016 bronze medallist, 44th. The flying Dutchwoman, Marit Bouwmeester, lies fifth, 19 points behind the leader. But no one will be writing off the woman who won gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics and the 2011 World Championships in Perth and 2014 World Championships in Santander.

Women’s 49erFX
Austria’s Tanja Frank (the Rio 2016 Olympics bronze medallist in the Nacra) and Lorena Abicht were serene in the rapidly shifting winds and fortunes as others in the leading group faltered. They finished top overall after winning the last of the first three races in the gold fleet with three to come tomorrow.

Local favourites, Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen started the gold medal fleet races today 10 points ahead overall, but a penalty turn on the first upwind left them near the back. They managed to finish 18th in the 30-strong field, but lost the lead it was a sign of things to come as they slipped to fourth overall.

49er
The first race was abandoned no racing was possible. They made it in just as the storm front hit the Bay of Aarhus.

Men’s Kite
All three spots in the Men’s Kiteboard remain the same as yesterday. Full results can be found here - https://aarhus2018.sailing.org/results

Women’s Kite
Slight change in the Women’s leaderboard, Daniela Moroz (USA) now leads, while Elena Kalinina (RUS) sits in second and Alexia Fancelli (FRA) in third.

They said:

Max Salminen – Sweden – Finn (leader)
“I’m tired after today, but it’s a huge relief to qualify my nation and go into the medal race as the leader.

“I can see the Olympics in my vision. It’s nice to have a chance to defend my World title after a long week. So far, the competition in my fleet has been great and it’s a shame that we’re missing Giles Scott.

“It’s always good to have a buffer, especially on a tricky race like this, but there is not much of a game I can play – I just have to sail my best.”

Josh Junior - New Zealand – Finn
“It was pretty rough in the end. We went out there and had about 7-8 knots all day and right at the last turning mark we got a squall of about 40, which is almost double the racing limit. I went from sixth to 20-something and I’m pretty gutted about it, to be honest. It was a tough day but I’m still in the hunt so happy with that.”

Pavlos Kontides – Cyprus – Laser
“I’m feeling good. I had a good race and I’m leading. I am confident in tomorrow races, if we get any. I still don’t have a big discard, so I can keep my focus on the medal race and double points.”

Matthew Wearn – Australia – Laser
“It’ll be nice to race tomorrow and get another opportunity to make some points up. Quite a lot of waiting today on the water. First race was abandoned, and the second race was an okay race for me.”

Sam Meech – New Zealand – Laser
"[A 13th] would be OK but, unfortunately, the people who I need to be in front of did really well in the race. If I didn’t have a bad race yesterday, I would be more than happy with that.

"It’s not quite where I wanted to be. We still have one more race tomorrow so there are a lot of points on the line. I will try to get myself back into a good position before the medal race."

Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht - Austria - Women’s 49erFX (leaders)
Frank:
“We’re not really trying to count the points because the girl’s fleet is just half way through. We have a full new day tomorrow and we are just looking forward to racing again.”

Natasha Bryant / Annie Wilmot – Australia – 49erFX (second)
Bryant:
“We were chipping away with all the boats today - it was really tough race course, so we were just trying to make sure that we didn’t have any issues.

“We’re happy with the way today has gone. It’s one of our first gold fleet races and we’ve only been in the class for a year now, so we are pushing hard. Everyone around us is so good.

When they were told that they are second overall:
Oh wow! That’s a surprise! (laughing) That’s exciting. I’m sure the points are really tight.”

By Matthew Pryor

**Photoboy** · 08-09-2018, 02:26 PM

The tears rolled down Zsomber Berecz’s face as he crossed the finish line in Denmark’s beautiful Bay of Aarhus on Thursday to win the Finn and Hungary’s first ever medal in one of these quadrennial sailing world championships. It was the first gold medal to be awarded at these Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018 and Berecz’s emotions were heightened by the fact that it has been a long time coming - for him and his country.

“I’m a human being and I know what it means for me, my team and my country. It is a big achievement,” Berecz said.

However hard it was for Sweden’s silver medallist, Max Salminen, who had led by eight points going into today – day 8 - after an exhausting victory in the storm late on Wednesday evening, it was hard not to feel that there was some kind of karma behind Berecz’s gold.

The 32-year-old Berecz had been lying second after only made his comeback six weeks ago following four months out with a thumb he broke in a freak accident whilst doing a good deed for a fellow sailor.

“I had a great day training in Cadiz (before the Europeans in March),” Berecz said. “I was so pumped up and on the way home, I saw some hiking (wetsuit) pants fall off the van in front of me. I stopped with my bike, I grabbed it and I saw they stopped at the next roundabout, so I was going full speed to reach them to give it back, and the leg of the wetsuit got caught in the front wheel and stopped it completely and I made a front-flip, and I broke my thumb.

“If you would’ve said at the start of the Championship that I will win it, I wouldn’t believe you. I had four months off, and it was a tough four months. I only had one and half months of training before these worlds, but I spent it really well and it worked out.”

Berecz is fast rewriting Hungary’s sailing records. He won silver at the 2016 Europeans in Barcelona and that was only the second medal ever for Hungary at major Finn championships.

The equation for gold had been simple for Salminen; he led by eight points and if he finished fourth or better was guaranteed gold (and to defend the Finn Gold Cup he won in 2017), but he could only finish seventh and was never above fifth.

Berecz and the Netherland’s Pieter-Jan Postma were a class apart in this battle of the giants – the biggest sailors at the World Championships at 6ft 2in up and between 95-110kg. They escaped during the first beat and were never caught as the rest of the fleet fought for air. The front two – training partners for the last fortnight in Aarhus - pulled away in the nine-knot south-easterly breeze and Postma leapt from sixth overnight to take bronze from New Zealand’s Josh Junior.

After only making his comeback from retirement two months ago, Postma, 36, was almost as happy as Berecz. It will have been doubly sweet because he won his national battle within the battle against Nicholas Heiner, 29, who started the day fourth but could only finish eighth in the medal race. Heiner will have to console himself that he finished sixth overall and thus inside the top 8 that the Netherlands strict selection criteria laid down to keep selection for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics open.

There was greater heartbreak for Sweden in the men’s 470. The Swedish 2018 European Champions, Anton Dahlberg, and Frederik Bergström, had led by six points overnight – after leading all week - and third place or better would have guaranteed gold. They came last and slipped out of the medals entirely.

Having started the day third overall, France’s Kevin Peponnet and Jermie Mion finished third in the medal race and that was enough for gold. Tetsuya Isosaki and Akira Takayanagi – one of nine Japanese men’s 470 teams in Aarhus and one of three in the medal race – started the day second (albeit level on points with the French) and took silver by finishing fifth. Spaniards, Jordi Xammar Hernandez and Nicolás Rodriguez Garcia-Paz, who had started the day in fifth, 14 points behind the Swedes, took a surprise bronze after a magnificent second-place in the medal race.

“It was so intense. My heart is still beating so hard. That was the hardest race I’ve ever sailed in my life,” Peponnet said. “The hardest bit of the race for me was to catch the other guy. To focus on your speed, with all the waves and chaos around you, it’s very hard.

“The goal (this week) was to be less than 10 points from the leader, for a chance to win the title. We managed to keep that distance between the first place and us all week long. When an opportunity comes, you can grab it and that is what we’ve done, and we’ve won the title.”

The Swedes were understandably disconsolate. “We didn’t execute the medal race we wanted and…yeah…as bad as it could get probably,” Dahlberg said.

The women’s 470 – the third medal race of the day - had smaller surprises. Japan’s Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka underlined Japan’s strength in the 470 class by winning a relatively comfortable gold. They started the day top and finished fifth in the medal race but they had done their maths and kept France’s Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz, bronze medallists at the 2016 Rio Olympics ahead of the Japanese crew in fifth, behind them. The French slipped to seventh – in the end, sixth would have been enough for bronze, so close were the margins.

“We were very nervous at the beginning of today because we were in first place,” Yoshida said. “I felt a lot of pressure, but finally I got a gold. The medal race was the hardest of the week, it was very close, but we weren’t worried when the British passed us because we had worked out the mathematics.”

Hannah Mills, the Rio 2016 Olympic champion and her new crew, Eilidh McIntyre, took bronze but it could have been silver had they not lost around 15 seconds after confusion over who had been OCS at that start. The Slovenians were over the line, but the two British teams, uncertain of their status, went back when they did not need to.

Mills and McIntyre powered back to seventh at the top mark and fourth at the finish, but the Spaniards Silvia Mas Depares and Patricia Cantero Reina, who had started the day in fourth, led from start to finish and took silver to make it an unexpectedly great day for Spain.

Laser
In the men’s Laser, Pavlos Kontides (CYP) holds the top spot, discarding his last race. Matthew Wearn (AUS) seemed to have a bad day but finishes the day in second. Elliot Hanson (GBR) moves up to third.

Sam Meech (NZL), and Australian, Tom Burton both dropped positions after being protested, more information can be found on the online Noticeboard.

Laser Radial
Belgium’s Emma Plasschaert leads the women’s Radial with an 11-point cover over Marit Bouwmeester (NED), who is second. Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) didn’t particularly have a great day on the water but she holds third place.

Nacra
Australian siblings, Nathan and Haylee Nathan Outteridge claim top spot overnight. Christian Peter Lübeck & Lin Ea Cenholt (DEN) are second and Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG) move down to third.

RS:X Men
The men’s RS:X races were live today, click here to watch the races. Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) tops the leaderboard, with Paweł Tarnowski (POL) in second, and Kieran Holmes-Martin (GBR) in third place.

RS:X Women
The Dutch windsurfer, Lilian de Geus leads by 5 points ahead of Yunxiu Lu (CHN), in second. Zofia Noceti-Klepacka drops to third.

Men’s 49er
Sime and Mihovil Fantela lead in the 49er class, and Germany’s Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf hold second place. Erik Heil & Thomas Ploessel, also from Germany are third.

Women’s 49erFX
Austria's Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht are first, and Great British, Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth are second, Annemiek BekkeringAnnette Duetz (NED) is third in the 49erFX class.

Men’s Kiteboard
Nicolas Parlier (FRA) leads in the men’s Kiteboard, with a 4-point lead ahead of Guy Bridge (GBR). Theo de Ramecourt (FRA) sits in third.

Women’s Kiteboard
In the women’s Kiteboard fleet, Daniela Moroz (USA) holds top spot overnight, with Russian, Elena Kalinina in second. Alexia Fancelli (FRA) is third.

They said:
Zsombor Berecz – Hungary – Finn (gold medal)
“There was a changing point in my performance once I was in the gold fleet. I was the most consistent in the fleet and that really paid off.”

On the medal race: “I chose the race committee end. The Canadian and the Dutch were squeezing me out a bit. I went about 10 metres more to the right and I tacked back because I wanted to keep going further away from the shore, because the closer you were the less wind there was. And then I was just playing with the shifts and I had two great shifts and it was enough to be first at the upwind mark. Then on the second upwind I just followed the fleet. It sounds easy but it wasn’t.”

Max Salminen – Sweden – Finn (silver)
“Right now, it stings a bit. I was not thinking about silver until the final reach – so in that sense, it feels like a defeat. But I suppose it’s a good thing I’m not happy with silver. I thought I could make it all through the race but in the end, I just fell short. I couldn’t get in tune with the wind and on the first upwind it was a chase from there. I could have had two Finn Gold Cups in a row, so I’m gutted. It would’ve suited my bookcase at home. I can’t stand one more year without it.”

Pieter-Jan Postma – Netherlands – Finn (bronze)
“It feels amazing, it could not have gone much better today. We both (he and Zsombor) just got the gusts. Even when you’re all running so close together, on days like today you get different gusts, it’s hard to see them, but Zsombor and I spotted them and it made the speed difference. We trained together here for two weeks. I wanted top 8 so this is a huge bonus.”

Tetsuya Isosaki and Akira Takayanagi – Japan – men’s 470 (silver)

Isosaki: “There’s mixed emotions, we’re very happy to win silver, but the gold medal was close, so…next time. This has been a very close Worlds.”

Akira: “This regatta has been so shifty and quite difficult for us so we found out a lot.”

Jordi Xammar Hernandez and Nicolás Rodriguez Garcia-Paz – Spain – men’s 470 (bronze)

Garcia-Paz:
“At the end, we crossed the line and we didn’t know anything. We were unsure what position we finished in. We asked our coach, and everyone, but no one knew just yet. Then finally, they checked the results and we were just so happy when we heard that we’d won a medal.

“We were in fifth position and we had nothing to lose, so we tried to win one side in the upwind, at the end we were in third position in the top mark. It went well at the end. The French and the Japanese were fighting in the second upwind and it was really good for us. In the end, second place and a bronze medal – we’re happy.”

Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka – Japan – women’s 470 (gold)

Miho Yoshioka:
“During this regatta wind was light and shifty. Sometimes we had wait for long time on water. It’s tough. I think that it was very good the results came out with such a difficult regatta.”

Silvia Mas Depares and Patricia Cantero Reina – Spain – women’s 470 (silver)
“It was really good conditions, good winds which helped. We had an Oscar flag up and we had to be pumping all the way, but it was nice. We manged to sail well and stay in the front.

“We came into the medal race with nothing to lose and we already had fourth place secured, so we just had to give the maximum try and catch a medal. Our plan was just to try and maintain our calmness on the water, while watching the shifts and water pressures – as well as managing our pumping and not looking back.

“We’re super happy to win silver and it goes to show that all the training and events we have done this year has paid off.”

Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre – Great Britain – women’s 470 (bronze)

Mills: “We’re so happy and relieved. We had a super tough medal race and we are just so happy to come away with a bronze medal.”

McIntyre: “I feel so knackered right now. It was really hard, and we made the decision to go back – I think we need to stand by that decision whether we were really close. We managed to claw back a few places and got back in the game.”

Mills: “The conditions were wacky and wild. Once you make that decision you find that all the nerves go, and you just think of what you need to do to get back in the race. It took me a while to get the maths right but once I did, we felt satisfied.”

By Matthew Pryor

**Photoboy** · 08-09-2018, 04:40 PM

Transitioning Teams Excelling In Aarhus

What do Nathan Outteridge, Sime Fantela, and Tanja Frank all have in common? They all won medals in Rio, have taken charge today in Aarhus, and are sailing different classes than they were sailing 2 years ago when they won Olympic medals!

Aarhus has proven to be a challenging venue, with offshore winds, lots of varied conditions, and high average scores in all of the fleets. It seems the teams excelling in these conditions are the ones fresh to these classes, but with plenty of experience behind them.

Frank and Abicht Push Into Lead

Heading into the 49erFX medal race it is Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht (AUT) with an 11 point lead. They are a relatively new team to 49erFX, with Frank moving over from the Nacra 17 after crewing to a Bronze medal in Rio in the Nacra 17. She is now helming for Abicht, who is in her first Olympic campaign after sailing 470's while studying. These two joined forces right after Rio, and have been completely dedicated to their campaign, attending all of the major regattas and putting in the long hours of trailing.

They have sailed a consistent series when almost nobody else has been able to do so. In the qualifying racing, exclusively done in offshore shifty and gusty conditions, they kept all of their results in the top 10 except for one finish of 25th. In the gold fleet, they won two of the races, had another pair of top 10's, and then kept their two poorer finishes in the top half of the fleet. Their reward is a commanding lead.

The Austrians do not have gold secured, as three teams can still beat them should they falter. Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth (GBR) won the Bronze medal at the 2018 European Championship and are in second place overall. The two British Sophie's also teamed up after Rio, and sailed an oustanding gold fleet, with 4 of their six races in the top 4, and the other two in the top half. Just 3 points behind them are Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED), who looked for a time like they might run away with the regatta, but had two deep scores in gold fleet which they had to keep and pulled them back into the mix.

Local heroes Jena Hansen and Saskia Iversen (DEN) wore yellow jerseys after day 1, but struggled in the first day of gold fleet before having an excellent second day of gold fleet to have them sit 4 points out of Bronze, 7 out of silver, and 18 out of gold. The Olympic Bronze medalists are literally all over Aarhus, with their faces on city buses and TV. Jena just recently got out of offshore sailing mode having competed in the Volvo Ocean race, so their form is not yet back to full power. An excellent medal race might grab them another medal, though it would take an extreme set of circumstances for them to repeat as World Champions. Oddly, in Olympic sailing, the rumor is that if they can't secure any sponsorship quite soon this may be the end of their campaign for Tokyo as they may not have enough financial support to continue.

Rounding out the top 5 is another Volvo Ocean Race alumna in Martine Grael. Grael with crew Kahena Kunze won gold on home waters in Rio, and have a renewed application for racing their 49erFX. After a year at sea for Martine, and a year on the books for Kahena, they are reveling in the renewed Olympic competition and will be pleased to have had a good regatta even if they are not yet in their peak form.

The top 8 nations also receive Olympic berths for Tokyo. These nations, pending invitation and acceptance from World Sailing and their NOC's are:
AUS
AUT
BRA
DEN
GBR
NED
NOR
NZL

49er - Olympic Berths Tough To Get
One of the biggest names in Olympic sailing, Sime Fantela, is having his best ever 49er regatta at the right moment. After winning gold in Rio 2016 in the 470, he teamed up with his brother Mihovil to start sailing 49er. His reputation from the 470 fleet was impeccable, sometimes called the miracle man for being an over sized helm and still dominating the 470, those who see him sail know he's earning every break.

After a four of six gold fleet races, the Fantela Brothers (CRO) have been dominent, with all four races in the top ten, including a first and a second. In yesterday's controversially abandoned first, first race, he was leading after the second top mark and would have secured another race win had the race not been cancelled.

The two final races of gold fleet mean that there are still plenty of points remaining to decide this World Championship!

The Fantela brothers are tied atop the leaderboard with youngsters, Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf from Germany. This duo has been working together as a team through the Junior ranks of 49er, with a 13th place finish at the 2015 Junior Worlds and then a second place finish at the 2016 Junior Worlds. They have had curtailed seasons in 2017 and 2018, as they are still studying, but are on a great roll and could easily take home a world championship here in Aarhus. They sail, they study, and they have fun. Tim, like many German sailors, is also a sportssoldier, meaning he's in the German army and mostly serves through competition, but also partakes in some aspect of more typical army training.

Chasing them are their countrymen and Rio 2016 Bronze medalists, Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel. These two are 12 points back of the tied leaders. Both Erik and Tommy have had broken up training years, as both are still students as well. Speaking to the depth of the German squad and how well they work together, each has spent time sailing with last quads number 2 team mates, Justus Schmidt and Max Boeme at various regattas as they each flexed with the school commitments while trying to stay in the 49er game.

In with a chance at medals are Sebastien Schnieter and Lucien Cujean (SUI) to go with their GC32 World Championship this year. They'd also be thrilled to secure the Olympic berth in what is turning into an ultra-competitive Olympic qualifying phase in the 49er.

Overnight leaders Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros (FRA) had a dreadful day, with only one result from 4 races better than 20th, a 14th in the final race. They drop from the championship lead to 9th place and were only 1 more point away from missing the medal race all together.

Notably, Dylan Fletcher with Stuart Bithell (GBR) have moved up into the top 10. The 2017 World Champions have squeaked into 10th place after a tough qualifying series which included poor results on day 1 and a UFD on day 2. Had they not won back to back qualifying races to close out that series they likely would not have made the gold fleet at all.

The 49er gold fleet has two scheduled races on Friday in a windy forecast. The 49erFX fleets have a day off tomorrow before both fleet have their medal races on Saturday.
Nacra 17 - Windy Test Tomorrow

Some fun from the Nacra 17 fleet.
The Nacra 17 has three more races scheduled for tomorrow followed by their medal race on Sunday.

Siblings Nathan and Haylee Outteridge had a fantastic day to kick off gold fleet, with a first, third and fifth shifting them up into first overall. These two have only been sailing the Nacra 17 since June, but have quickly found a way to be competitive and and consistent.

Nathan comes to the Nacra 17 from a third place finish in the 2017 America's Cup as sailing director and helmsman of Artemis Racing. He also won a Silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 49er and a Gold medal in the 49er in London before that. It will be no surprise to the sailing world he's finding success in another Olympic class, but leading at this stage of a World Championship is likely beyond their expectations at this point. A windy forecast for tomorrow should prove another test for these two amiable sailors.

With an almost identical scoreline to the Outteridges today was Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti (ITA) who scored a 3, 5, 2. Tita and Banti have dominated the Nacra 17 fleet since it went foiling, but suffered a tough final four races in qualifying. They were disqualified for a boat on boat incident in race four, and then make a couple mistakes on the final day when it was incredibly light. Nevertheless, with their three bullets to start the regatta and a great day today, they find themselves back in contention in fifth place.

With a number of light and shifty races so far this championship, a windy day of racing should make for a well rounded regatta, and be a great reflection of who's at the top of the game. The Nacra 17 races are scheduled to be on TV, so stay tuned from 15:30 local time.

Following the Laser and Radial medal races, the Nacra 17 fleet should be televised on the Stadium Race course.
Nacra 17 Top 5 –
1 AUS Nathan and Haylee Outteridge 42
2 ARG Santiago Lange, Cecelia Carranza 45
3 DEN Lin Cenholt, CP Lubeck 46
4 BRA Samuel Albrecht, Gabi Nicolino 47
5 ITA Ruggero Tita, Caterina Banti 58

49erFX Top 5 –
1 AUT Tanja Frank, Lorena Abicht 71
2 GBR Sophie Weguelin, Sophie Ainsworth 82
3 NED Annemiek Bekkering, Annette Duetz 85
4 DEN Jena Hansen, Katja Iversen 89
5 BRA Martine Grael, Kahena Kunze 96

49er Top 5 –
1 CRO Sime and Mihovil Fantela 48
2 GER Tim Fischer, Fabien Graf 48
3 GER Erik Heil, Thomas Ploellel 60
4 SUI Sebastien Schnieter, Lucas Cujean 66
5 NZL Logan Dunning Beck, Oscar Gunn 67

FULL RESULTS

Iker Martinez Protest Update
The 2018 World Championship jury issued an update to the misconduct hearings against Iker Martinez (ESP) following his refusal of entry to the regatta. Here is a full copy of the findings. CLICKY

Critically, the facts found state that Martinez deliberately modified his boat and then lied about it to the Jury Panel. As the Nacra 17 is a manufacture one design, no modification to a boat are allowed, and taking that a step further, all repairs must be approved by the class Technical Committee.

The panel ominously states it's power to penalize Martinez beyond the existing penalty of refusal of entry, is "severely restricted" and they will report this decision to World Sailing under Racing Rule 69.2 (j)(2). It would appear that the jury panel is keen to have World Sailing impose further penalties upon Martinez at a later date.

Martinez has asked that the case be re-opened again, sighting casebook case number 139. This case refers directly to when a case should be sent to World Sailing. One would suppose that Martinez will try to argue that the case should be to sent to his MNA instead of to World Sailing for further review. At this point it would appear that arguments have moved away from the facts found toward the penalties to be suffered.

The modification to ESP 70, his Nacra 17, was to elongate the area where the top bearing slides on each side of the boat to 79.5 mm from the standard of 75mm. This allows the top bearing to be moved farther aft than on a standard boat, allowing for increased lift from the daggerboards. On each side of the hull, the original bolt holes were filled and new holes drilled farther aft, and a medal guide was also altered.

Olga Maslivets, the crew of ESP 70, has not been named in any of the protest documentation. She did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

The Nacra 17 Class has been focused on continual improvement of equipment and quality since the 2016 Olympics and the introduction to foiling. By placing a dual emphasis on reliability and consistency on all parts, we are aiming to have a zero tolerance policy toward modifications. The Class works with the sailors to change rules where necessary (The Class has had roughly 60 AGM/EGM submissions in 18 months) and continues to work with Nacra Sailing to change the build specification when sailors agree and where it is necessary.

All of the Class's measurers were brought to Palma this year, at the Class' expense, to build the relationship with sailors and to ensure a consistent focus in their measurement approach. The Class technical committee has been active all year, lead by David McNabb.m and World Sailing has supported the Class's efforts by allocating significant technical resources.

"While we aspire to much more improvement I am satisfied with the direction of the Class over the last 18 months toward a level playing field with regard to equipment. We have worked with the manufacturer, sailors, Class technical committee, and World Sailing to start to create an environment where everyone trusts that they are racing with the same equipment as their competitors. We are not there yet but we are committed to the strict one design ethos and will continue to work as a collective. We aim to achieve the progression in rules and equipment specifications that this a Class needs in an effort to satisfy the best sailors in the world. While very disappointed with this situation and the unwanted focus on cheating, our measurement procedures have worked, in this case, to ensure that we are a strict one design Class" said Class President, Marcus Spillane.

"While an incident like the one playing out this week grabs headlines, it takes the consistent work of a large number of people to create a Class culture we can be proud of," said Class manager, Ben Remocker.

**Photoboy** · 08-10-2018, 11:06 AM

49ers And Nacra In Aarhus Spotlight

Final Gold Fleet Races Decisive in 49er and Nacra 17
The breeze arrived in force for the final day of Gold Fleets for 49er and Nacra 17. The 49erFX had already completed their gold series, so there were just two races for the 49er and three for the Nacra 17 on the docket.

A huge system blew in overnight soaking Aarhus, Denmark, but it left a fresh offshore wind behind for racing.
Nacra 17
The racing was tremendously intense today, with mostly sunny conditions, flat water, and plenty of gusts to 20 knots to challenge the fleet for three great races. Unfortunately, we only got to see one of the races live, as the rest of the coverage was dedicated to the laser and radial medal ceremonies, but perhaps some highlights will be found.

The Nacra 17 fleet is incredibly close heading into the medal race. Four teams will enter the race within six points of each other and there is a 5th team 12 points back of the lead.

Winning the day were Tita and Banti (ITA) with only a 1 point lead over the Outteridge siblings. Two points further behind are Lange and Ceroli (ARG) the 2016 Gold medalists and then a further 3 points behind are locals Cenholt and Lubeck (DEN).

Each of these teams have compelling back stories so it will be easy to cheer for whoever wins, but only 1 team will be able to.

Will the Italians win their first World Championship after dominating every other competition in the foiling Nacra 17? Will Nathan Outteridge win another World Title in a 3rd type of elite boat? Can the Santi and Ceci continue their heroic run of results despite the health issues Santi continues to manage? Can Lin and CP win a worlds just 9 months after CP suffered a deep cut while training in the Nacra 17 this past winter? Lin could also be the first every female helm to win the Nacra 17 World Championship.

All this will play out on Sunday. (notes and results are prior to protest hearings)
49er
Sime and Mihovil Fantela proved today they can hang in the bigger breeze, extending building a 13 point lead heading into the medal race. Sime is on track to move from 470 Olympic Gold Medalist to 49er World Champion in two years if the Croatian brothers can hang on in the medal race.

Tim Fischer and Fabien Graf could not keep up the pace with the Fantelas, but held on nicely after a drop in the first race of the day to grab a 7th in the final race and all but guaranteeing their first senior level World Championship medals. Whether they can move up to challenge the Croatians, or fend off their German team mater, Heil and Ploessel will be the focus of the medal race.

Having the best day of all are 49er veterans Mathieu Frei and Noe Delpech (FRA) with a 1, 4, 5, to move into 4th overall and within striking distance of a medal.

The British Sailing Team had a good day, with Fletcher and Bithell moving into 5th with a 10, 1 while Peters and Sterritt moved into 6th with a 3, 9.

Jorge Lima and Jose Costa (POR) had a great day to move into the medal race, and crucially grab a nation spot for the games. The way 49er qualifying works out will be terrifying to watch as so many great sailing teams need to fit into so few games spots.

https://aarhus2018.sailing.org/results

Nacra 17 Top 5 –
1 ITA Ruggero Tita, Caterina Banti 69
2 AUS Nathan and Haylee Outteridge 70
3 ARG Santiago Lange, Cecelia Carranza 72
4 DEN Lin Cenholt, CP Lubeck 75
5 BRA Samuel Albrecht, Gabi Nicolino 81

49erFX Top 5 –
1 AUT Tanja Frank, Lorena Abicht 71
2 GBR Sophie Weguelin, Sophie Ainsworth 82
3 NED Annemiek Bekkering, Annette Duetz 85
4 DEN Jena Hansen, Katja Iversen 89
5 BRA Martine Grael, Kahena Kunze 96

49er Top 5 –
1 CRO Sime and Mihovil Fantela 62
2 GER Tim Fischer, Fabien Graf 75
3 GER Erik Heil, Thomas Ploellel 80
4 FRA Mathieu Frei, Noe Delpech 89
5 GBR Dyland Fletcher, Stuart Bithell

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Aarhus Comes Alive

Aarhus Comes Alive

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