Light air theme at World Cup Gamagori

Gamagori, Japan (October 18, 2017) – Current World Champions in five Olympic sailing events are coming to the forefront and shining after two challenging days of light breeze at Sailing’s World Cup Series.

Challenged by a 5-6 knot breeze over the first two days of the World Cup Series event, the champions in the Men’s Skiff (49er), Men’s Windsurfer (RS:X), Men’s One Person Dinghy (Laser) and the Men’s and Women’s Two Person Dinghy (470) have used their experience to position themselves at the top of the pack or firmly in medal contention.

Poland’s Agnieszka Skrzypulec and Irmina Gliszczynska finished tenth at the Rio 2016 in the Women’s 470 but their decision to compete in Gamagori and target Tokyo 2020 was made well before their final race in Rio.

“We made a decision during the Olympic Games in Rio 2016 that we want to prepare for the next Olympic Games,” explained Skrzypulec. “We then started to focus on the next Olympic Games right after Rio.”

The Polish sailors focused on the goal ahead of them and they achieved success almost immediately by claiming their first world title in July in Thessaloniki, Greece. They have transferred their display from Greece across to the World Cup Series in Japan and hold an early lead after three races.

“The training has helped us to adjust to the conditions and we are using the skills, which we have recently learnt, in our races,” continued Skrzypulec. “The main focus is to keep improving on the small detail and sailing tactics. We are pleased with our progress so far.”

Skrzypulec and Gliszczynska finished second in the only Women’s 470 race of the day and have a one point lead over Switzerland’s Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthaler.

Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom remains at the summit of the Women’s One Person Dinghy (Laser Radial) after a mixed day. Greece’s Vasileia Karachaliou trails Rindom by one point with both Erika Reineke (USA) and Emma Plasschaert (BEL) two points further back.

Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) claimed the Men’s 470 world title for the fourth time as a team in alongside the Polish racers in Greece.

They held the overnight lead but slipped to third after an 11th, which they discard, in the single race of the day. However, they are just two points off Tetsuya Isozaka and Akira Takayanagi (JPN) and Matteo Capurro and Matteo Puppo (ITA), who share the lead.

Split, Croatia hosted the Laser World Championships and Pavlos Kontides, Cyprus’ first ever Olympic medallist, claimed his first title. Less than one month from his triumph, Kontides continues to excel in the Laser and snapped up a third and second to take the initiative in the 50-boat fleet in Gamagori.

Kontides was locked in a three-way tie for top spot overnight but managed to put five points between himself and Lorenzo Chiavarini (GBR) from two races. Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Tom Burton (AUS) and bronze medallist Sam Meech (NZL) had mixed days, using up their discard one race and finishing at the front of the pack in the other. They are tied on 18 points in third.

Great Britain’s Dylan Fletcher and Stu Bithell beat their team mates James Peters and Fynn Sterritt to the 2017 49er world title in Matasinhos, Portugal at the start of September by just four points.

Their rivalry has transferred across to Gamagori and the teams occupy the top two spots after five races. Fletcher and Bithell hold a five-point advantage after taking two out of four wins from the day.

China’s Bing Ye won the Men’s RS:X World Championship in Enoshima, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic venue, 275 kilometres away from Gamagori. No racing was possible in the Men’s RS:X in Gamagori due to light winds but Ye occupies second overall, five points off Mateo Sanz Lanz (SUI) with plenty of racing remaining.

One race was held in the Women’s RS:X and Japan’s Fujiko Onishi took the race win to move into third overall. Megumi Komine (JPN) followed Onishi and as a result leads the fleet.

Japan’s Sayoko Harada and Sera Nagamatsu took the single Women’s Skiff (49erFX) race win and trail leaders Lili Sebesi and Albane Dubois (FRA) by a single point.

The opening event of Sailing’s 2017-18 World Cup Series is being held for 8 of the 10 Olympic events from October 17 with live Medal Races on October 21 and 22 to bring the week in Gamagori, Japan to a close before the series heads to Miami, USA.

Event details – Entry list – Results – Analytics – Facebook

North American contingent:
• USA: Henry Marshall (Laser), Erik Bowers (Laser), Chris Barnard (Laser), Erika Reineke (Laser Radial), Haddon Hughes (Laser Radial), Judge Ryan/ David Liebenberg (49er), Stu McNay/ David Hughes (470M).

• Canada: Robert Davis (Laser).

Live Medal Races – October 21

Live Medal Races – October 22

The World Cup Series is a World-class, annual series of Olympic sailing for elite and professional sailors. Over 2,000 of the World’s leading sailors, representing over 75 nations have competed in the World Cup Series which offers a definitive guide to the best-of-the-best in the Olympic sailing world.

2017/2018 World Cup Series
October 17-22, 2017 – World Cup Series #1 – Gamagori, Japan
January 21-28, 2018 – World Cup Series #2 – Miami, USA
April 22-29, 2018 – World Cup Series #3 – Hyères, France
June / July, 2018 – World Cup Series Final – Europe

Source: World Sailing