Forty nations prepare for World Cup Series Final

Three hundred twenty five sailors from 40 nations are gearing up for the 2019 Hempel World Cup Series Final, to be held June 4-9 in Marseille, France. Sailors will race at the venue for the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition across ten Olympic disciplines and an Open Kiteboarding fleet, in a bid to be crowned the 2019 Hempel World Cup Series Champion.

The Series started in Enoshima, Japan, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic venue, in September 2018 before moving to Miami, USA in January 2019 and, most recently to Genoa, Italy in April. Top-ranked sailors are in attendance across all ten Olympic fleets.

A fight for gold is on the cards in the Women’s RS:X with strength evident in the fleet of 27.

Lilian de Geus of the Netherlands comes into Marseille as the one to beat. The Dutch sailor won gold at the Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018 and recently added the European title to a growing collection of honours.

At the 2018 World Cup Final, de Geus missed out on gold by a single point to Noga Geller. The Israeli won the Medal Race and de Geus finished in sixth, demoting her into silver medal position. De Geus is back in Marseille, bidding to add the Hempel World Cup Series title to her list of achievements.

The Women’s RS:X fleet features many leading competitors aiming to halt de Geus’ run of success. Geller returns to defend her title and France’s Rio 2016 Olympic champion, Charline Picon, will race on her home waters as she continues her preparations for Tokyo 2020. Olympic medallists Bryony Shaw (GBR) and Stefania Elfutina (RUS) will sail in the fleet as well, ensuring that whoever walks away as the Women’s RS:X Hempel World Cup Series Champion would certainly have earned the right.

In the Men’s RS:X, 32 competitors will battle it out on the Marseille waters.

The 2018 edition of the Final saw the French dominate on their home territory; Pierre Le Coq took the title and was followed by Thomas Goyard and Louis Giard for an all-French podium.

Although Goyard is not sailing in 2019, Le Coq and Giard will certainly be frontrunners for the title. In the lead-up to Tokyo 2020, the French pair have fought each other hard for the single spot at the Olympic Games. The qualification process between the pair continues to heat up so they’ll both be aiming to assert themselves in Marseille.

Byron Kokkalanis (GRE), Radoslaw Furmanski (POL), Piotr Myszka (POL) and Mateo Sanz Lanz (SUI) have been consistent performers in the Men’s RS:X fleet and will also be medal contenders.

The 26-boat Nacra 17 fleet features many of the leading lights of the class.

Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti (ITA) have kept the World #1 spot in the Nacra 17 since August 2018 and the pair are worthy holders of the title. They were convincing winners at the 2018 World Cup Final and come into the event as one of the favourites for gold.

They narrowly missed out on a medal at the recent European Championship in Weymouth, Great Britain as Ben Saxton and Nicola Boniface (GBR) claimed the title. Though Saxton and Boniface won’t be in Marseille, their compatriots and European silver medallist John Gimson and Anna Burnet are part of the fleet and will be eyeing a podium spot.

Four-time Nacra 17 World Champions Billy Besson and Marie Riou (FRA) continue to combine sailing the foiling Olympic multihull along with competing in SailGP as part of the French team. They’ll lead the line for four French teams aiming for Tokyo 2020 before heading over to New York later on in the month for the third race of the 2019 SailGP season.

The fleet will also welcome World #5 Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders, World #6 Thomas Zajac and Barbara Matz (AUT), Rio 2016 gold medallists Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG), and World #9 Vittorio Bissaro and Maelle Frascari (ITA).

In the 470 fleets, 29 men’s and 25 women’s teams will line up for the first warning signal on Tuesday June 4.

Medal hopefuls in the Women’s 470 fleet include Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz (FRA), who were recently crowned European Champions, Rio 2016 gold medallist Hannah Mills sailing with Eilidh McIntyre (GBR), Dutch Olympic qualifiers Afrodite Zegers and Lobke Berkhout, and World #1 pairing Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka (JPN).

The Men’s 470 will also see a fleet of world leading sailors competing on the Marseillaise waters. Since forming their partnership in December 2012, Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) have featured at World #1 for 46 World Rankings releases. Wherever they sail they are viewed as potential gold medallists and it is no different in Marseille.

Sweden’s Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström, France’s Kevin Peponnet and Jeremie Mion, Spain’s Jordi Xammar and Nicolás Rodríguez, and the five-team Japanese squad all have what it takes to beat the Australians, which will make for an intriguing week of racing.

The 24-strong Open Kiteboarding Fleet will feature for the first time during the 2019 Hempel World Cup Series, with several big names set to compete.

2018 world champions Nico Parlier (FRA) and Daniela Moroz (USA) recently retained their titles at the 2019 Formula Kite World Championships, held on Lake Garda, Italy, and they’ll be keen to impress on the Paris 2024 Olympic waters.

Toni Vodisek (SLO) and Poema Newland (FRA), silver medallists at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, will also be making their Hempel World Cup Series debuts.

2018 Hempel Sailing World Championships gold medallists Sime and Mihovil Fantela (CRO) will lead the charge in the 14-boat 49er fleet and Austria’s Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht will be favourites in the nine-boat 49erFX pack.

Ten boats will race in the Laser with 11 to take to the startline in the Laser Radial. In the Finn, Olympic medallists Jonathan Lobert (FRA) and Max Salminen (SWE) will spearhead the 13-boat fleet.

Racing is scheduled to start at 11:00 local time on Tuesday June 4. Fleet racing in the 49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17, and RS:X fleets will run through to Friday June 7 before they sail their Medal Races on Saturday. The 470s, Laser, Laser Radial, and Finn will conclude fleet racing on Saturday and sail their Medal Races on the Sunday.

Medal Races on Saturday and Sunday, June 8 and 9, will be live streamed on World Sailing’s YouTube Channel.

Event details – Entry list – YouTube

North American Entries (Canada, Mexico, and USA):
• 470 Men: Stuart McNay/ David Hughes (USA).
• 470 Women: Nikole Barnes/ Lara Dallman-Weiss (USA), Atlantic Brugman/ Nora Brugman (USA).
• 49er Men: No entrants.
• 49erFX Women: No entrants.
• Laser Men: No entrants.
• Laser Radial Women: No entrants.
• Nacra 17 Mixed: No entrants.
• Finn Men: No entrants.
• RS:X Men: Ignacio Berenguer (MEX).
• RS:X Women: No entrants.
• Kiteboarding Open: Daniela Moroz (USA), Kirstyn O’Brien (USA).

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