Slow start at World Cup Series Genoa

Genoa, Italy (April 15, 2019) – With eight of the 10 Olympic events in attendance, the first ever Hempel World Cup Series event in Italy commenced in Genoa with racing in the 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17. Getting underway in sunshine, and despite light winds varying from 5-12 knots, the day one leaders found consistency.

In a split 65-boat 49er pack, Germany’s Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf got off to a perfect start by winning both of the day’s races in the blue fleet and were the standout performers on day one. Meanwhile, in the yellow fleet, New Zealand’s Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie picked up a race win and a second to occupy the second podium spot in the early stages of the event.

Germany’s 49er squad has been excelling recently. At Hempel World Cup Series Miami, four German teams made it to the Medal Race and Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel (GER) made it to the top step of the podium. Fischer and Graf finished seventh in Miami.

“We [the German 49er team] just keeping push each other,” explained Graf on their recent success, “and we are trying to be better than our team mates. We train a lot and have some good coaching. There are a lot of talented guys in this team and we just want to beat each other.”

When national squads are formed, it can be said the ethos is to develop as a squad and achieve good, collective results. Whilst this is evident with the German team, Graf demonstrates a hunger to be the best within the squad and knows what he has to do to ensure both he and Fischer are at Tokyo 2020.

“We have three competitions,” he explained about the German Tokyo 2020 selection process. “The 2019 Worlds, the 2020 Worlds after that and then Princesa Sofia. So we just have to try and be the best team. The guys who achieve the most points from that will get the spot. We have an internal scoring system.”

And does he fancy his chances? “For sure,” he smiled, “We are the youngsters. We feel no pressure at all. We just try to be good, like today, do it our own way and in the end we’ll see if it’s good for us or if we have to try again in 2024.”

Sailing in their first World Cup regatta since April 2016, Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalists and America’s Cup winners, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL), finished 14th and 15th in the blue fleet and are 31st overall.

Their compatriots, McHardie and McKenzie, continue to fly the Kiwi flag at the top of the leaderboard following a first and a second in the yellow fleet and Australian brothers David and Lachy Gilmour are in third.

Sweden’s Julia Gross and Hanna Klinga top the 49erFX leaderboard on four points after a third and a first in the blue fleet. Fellow blue fleet racers, Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA), sailed their way to a second and a sixth which positions them in second. Helene Naess and Marie Rønningen (NOR) took the remaining blue fleet race win.

Wins in the yellow fleet went to Stephanie Roble and Margaret Shea (USA) and Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht (AUT).

In the Nacra 17, the yellow fleet completed two races with one in the blue. Saxton and Boniface took the blue fleet win and Bressani and Zorzi the first yellow. The second yellow fleet race will apply once the blue race is completed on Tuesday. The race win in the second yellow fleet went to Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders (NZL).

The qualifying series in the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 continues tomorrow while the Men’s and Women’s 470, Laser, Laser Radial, and the Finn will be starting their opening series.

More than 700 sailors representing 59 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 (2 races): 28th Harry Melges/ Finn Rowe (USA).
• 49erFX Women (2 races): 4th Stephanie Roble/ Margaret Shea (USA).
• Nacra 17 Mixed: Incomplete – some teams had one race while others had two races.

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