Delay, delay at World Cup Series Genoa

Genoa, Italy (April 17, 2019) – Only the Laser Radial and the 49er yellow fleet managed to complete a race today as the light wind trend continued on the third day of competition at Hempel World Cup Series Genoa.

Among the eight of 10 Olympic classes competing, the 470 Men and Women and Finn will have to wait another day to get their competition underway while the Nacra 17, 49erFX, and Laser are not much further along.

A 3-4 knot south easterly breeze was just enough for the Laser Radial racing to get underway, and with The 67-boat fleet split into blue and yellow for the qualification series, the Norwegian Line Flem Høst triumphed over Greek favourite Vasileia Karachaliou in the blue fleet with Switzerland’s Maud Jayet defeating Rio 2016 bronze medallist Anne-Marie Rindom in the yellow.

Long waits on the water for a sailable breeze to develop can make the mind wander and when racing does start, concentration levels have to rise as the Swiss racer explained, “It is hard to keep focused when everything is going slowly. You have to learn to be patient. As soon as you lose focus you would lose your speed. In days like this, whoever is the most patient will be in front.

“From the start, I try to relax. Instead of running after the gusts, I just wait until I get one. It was one of those days where you could see girls on the other side of the course had more wind but by the time you would get there, it would go. You have to wait your turn and eventually it will come.”

The secret to mastering the conditions and maintain focus is simple, as Jayet continued, “You have to force yourself to sail and train in these conditions. Whenever people see light winds they might not train. You have to train in really light sessions and learn how to stay calm. It’s important to get used to it. None of us can choose what we sail in so we have to try and be good in strong and light winds.”

And as a Swiss sailor from Lausanne, sailing out of Societe Nautique de Geneve, has training and sailing on famous Lake Geneva helped? “I don’t sail on the lake much anymore,” she laughed, “but on days like this, I wish I did more often.”

Jayet took the race win ahead of Rindom with Canadian Olympian Isabella Bertold and Daphne van der Vaart (NED) following.

In the blue fleet, Flem Høst was equally impressive, leading from start, “I managed to separate well from the fleet so I could get some private wind,” explained the Norwegian. “Then it was about staying on top of everyone which I managed to do.”

On keeping focus, the Norwegian had a similar mindset to Jayet, commenting, “It is hard to keep focused. You see everyone coming from behind so it’s important to focus on doing the basics right and keeping calm. I just focused on myself and tried to forget about everyone else.

“You can train the technique in lighter winds, speed, tacks and gybes so you have the right technique but then it’s about breathing right and keeping your cool.”

Greece’s Karachaliou followed Flem Høst in to the finish with the experienced Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) and Carolina Albano (ITA) coming through in third and fourth respectively.

Just one 49er race was completed and Croatian World Champions Sime and Mihovil Fantela clinched it, securing their second race victory from three completed so far. Their remaining race result is a disqualification that they picked up in the opening race.

The blue race was the third of the series and does not yet count on the overall leaderboard as the yellow were unable to complete a race on the water. Once their third race is completed the scores will be combined.

Racing is scheduled to commence tomorrow at 11:00 local time for all eight fleets, with the qualifying to continue for the Laser, Radial, 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 while the Men’s and Women’s 470 along with the Finn will go straight into their final series.

Nearly 680 sailors representing 58 nations are competing at Hempel World Cup Series Genoa which is hosting eight of the 10 Olympic events. The 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 fleets are racing on April 15-20 while the Men’s and Women’s 470, Laser, Laser Radial, and Finn are on April 16-21. Medal Races on the 20th and 21st will be streamed live … see below.

Event details – Results – Facebook

North American Results (Canada, Mexico, and USA):
Top ten or top position
• 49er Men: Incomplete – some teams have two races while others have three races.
• 49erFX Women: Incomplete – some teams have two races while others have three races.
• Nacra 17 Mixed: Incomplete – some teams have one race while others have two races.
• Laser Men (1 race): 45th Robert Davis (CAN).
• Laser Radial Women (1 race): 5th Isabella-Anna Bertold (CAN).

North American Entries (Canada, Mexico, and USA):
• 470 Men: Stuart McNay/ David Hughes, Trevor Bornarth/ Trevor Davis (USA).
• 470 Women: Nikole Barnes/ Lara Dallman-Weiss, Atlantic Brugman/ Nora Brugman, Emily Bornarth/ Laura Slovensky (USA).
• 49er Men: Nevin Snow/ Dane Wilson, Harry Melges/ Finn Rowe, Judge Ryan/ Hans Henken, Andrew Mollerus/ Ian MacDiarmid, Ian Barrows/ Mitchell Kiss (USA).
• 49erFX Women: Stephanie Roble/ Margaret Shea, Paris Henken/ Anna Tobias (USA).
• Laser Men: Robert Davis, Justin Norton, Luke Ruitenberg, Hugh Macrae (CAN); Marek Zaleski, Malcolm Lamphere, Henry Marshall, Paul Didham (USA).
• Laser Radial Women: Isabella-Anna Bertold, Maura Dewey (CAN); Hanne Weaver (USA).
• Nacra 17 Mixed: Riley Gibbs/ Anna Weis, Ravi Parent/ Caroline Atwood, Sarah Newberry/ David Liebenberg (USA).
• Finn Men: No entries

Saturday Medal Races – April 20 – Nacra 17, 49er and 49erFX:

Sunday Medal Races – April 21 – 470, Finn, Laser, Laser Radial:

The World Cup Series is an annual circuit of Olympic sailing for elite and professional sailors, and a key touchpoint for fans and media to connect to the sport of sailing and develop support for athletes on their road to Tokyo 2020 Olympics and beyond. Over 2,000 of the world’s leading sailors, representing 75 nations, have competed in the World Cup Series since its inception in 2008.

2018-19 World Cup Series
Enoshima Round: 9-16 September 2018
Miami Round: 27 January-3 February 2019
Genoa Round: 15-21 April 2019
Marseille Final: 2-9 June 2019

Source: World Sailing