Sweden, Spain win 470 World titles

Vilamoura, Portugal (March 13, 2021) – The 2021 470 World Championships today with Swedes Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström and the Spanish Silvia Mas Depares and Patricia Cantero Reina crowned as world champions.

The top ten from the opening series advanced today to the 10-boat medal race to decide the titles. In light winds, the men’s race was won by Balazs and Zsombor Gyapjas (HUN), Camille Lecointre and Aloïse Retornaz (FRA) winning the women’s race, and Nitai Hasson and Saar Tamir (ISR) topped the mixed fleet.

The Swedes managed to recover after a bad start, finishing in 3rd place, but celebrating at the end, after missing the world champion title in the medal races of 2017 and 2018 World Championships.

“It was very stressful, with the offshore wind very treacherous, a lot happening on the racecourse. At first it looked like we were not doing well, but we kept trying and managed to finish first,” said Fredrik Bergström.

Anton Dahlberg was “relieved and delighted happy” in what he called “an incredible week and a very tough Medal Race.”

In a very disputed race and marked by poor wind conditions, the Portuguese sailors Pedro and Diogo Costa became vice-champions of the world and the Spanish Jordi Xammar and Nicolas Rodriguez managed to keep the 3rd place in final results.

In the women’s fleet the Spanish Silvia Mas Depares and Patricia Cantero Reina became world champions after leading the standings for more than half of the competition.

“It was a very tense week, with many emotions every day,” admitted Mas Depares. “We were seeing that getting to the medals was complicated. They cancelled the first start, we kept trying, it was complicated, and the English’s penalty at the end was incredible.”

The silver medal went to the Dutch Afrodite Zegers and Lobke Berkhout and the Italians Elena Berta and Bianca Caruso took home the bronze medal.

In the mixed competition Israel ruled the podium with Gil Cohen and Noam Homri becoming the first world champions in this class and their compatriots Tal Sade and Noa Lasry the vice champions. British Amy Seabright and James Taylor won the bronze medal.

In this competition two Olympic slots were at stake, the men’s going to Portugal and the women’s to Turkey.

2021 470 Men WORLD Champions
1. Anton DAHLBERG / Fredrik BERGSTRÖM (SWE)
2. Diogo COSTA / Pedro COSTA (POR)
3. Jordi Xammar / Nicolás Rodríguez García-Paz (ESP)

2021 470 Women WORLD Champions
1. Silvia Mas / Patricia Cantero (ESP)
2. Afrodite Zegers / Lobke Berkhout (NED)
3. Elena Berta / Bianca Caruso (ITA)

2021 470 Mixed WORLD Champions
1. Gil COHEN / Noam Homri (ISR)
2. Tal SADE / Noa LASRY (ISR)
3. Amy SEABRIGHT / James TAYLOR (GBR)

Event details – Results – Facebook

The Championships on March 8-18 was competed as a single series per event, with 11 races and one discard to determine the top ten positions which advanced to the Medal Race on the final day.

Report from US Sailing:
A second-place finish in the medal race promoted Stu McNay (Providence, RI) and Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.) to a fifth-place finish overall, one higher than yesterday’s sixth place ranking. U.S. Coast Guard LTJG Nikole ‘Nikki’ Barnes (St. Thomas, USVI) and Lara Dallman-Weiss (Hugo, Minn.) placed sixth in the medal race, sustaining their seventh overall ranking from the qualifying series.

“We’re always trying to improve our score each day we go on the water, and today we did that,” said McNay. “We moved up one place from sixth to fifth, so ‘mission accomplished’.

“We are optimistic about where things are. We haven’t raced against the top-level European teams in well over a year, so this was a very important check-in for us to see where we stand relative to this gold-standard group. They have been training against each other all year long, so we think we’re in a good place to be able to refine where we are right now and move up a couple of places on the leaderboard going into the Olympics.”

“It was really awesome to sail the medal race today,” said Barnes. “Finishing, we were filled with joy knowing that we’ll be nominated by the US Sailing team to go to the Olympics. We’re incredibly happy that we met our two goals for the regatta: qualifying as the top US team, and being top eight at the Worlds. We’re super happy and ready for more!”

In qualifying for her first Olympic Games, Barnes is also the first USCG active-duty officer to qualify for the Olympics in any sport. She feels the leadership skills she is learning from her Olympic campaign will translate well to her duties as an officer, enhancing the skill set of the service. Due to her COVID-19 work for the Coast Guard last spring, she earned enough qualifications for a promotion to Lieutenant this May, all while pursuing an active Olympic campaign.

All of the 470 teams’ efforts this year have been dedicated and focused in the extra year of preparation. The race for the Olympic berth for the women has indeed been a catalyst for rapid improvement and exceptional progress in their racing skills.

“Overall, we would not have gotten to this point, into the top 10 and a Medal Race in a World Championship, without having incredible competitors,” said Barnes. “The Cowles and Brugmans have challenged us, and it hasn’t been easy because they are excellent sailors. This week, as a team, we stuck with what we know, changed it up when necessary, adapted quickly, and when it was time, enjoyed the moment.”

“We’re in admiration – all the women’s teams raced their hearts out in the trials here,” said McNay. “It came down to the wire and we have a lot of respect for each of their team efforts. It’s fantastic to see how much the 470 women have improved as a group.”

Luther Carpenter, US Sailing Team Head Coach, added these comments: “It is so exciting to watch our broad base of experience and talent perform well at this World Championships.

“Our culture in the US has been to focus deeply on the details and goals in our own backyard, and sail with conviction and confidence. This check-in at the Worlds is a testimony to the process, effort, and passion that all of these sailors have put forth.

“In addition to our seasoned campaigners, it’s also great to see our 2024 squad off and running in their first World Championships. Yevginey Burmatnov has done an exceptional job fast-tracking our mixed team effort and guided these young super-talents straight into a regatta filled with top-level Tokyo talent. The lessons they learned here will be the motivation and blueprint for them to build on in the next three years.”

Both McNay/Hughes and Barnes/Dallman-Weiss will return to Vilamoura for the 470 European Championship on April 30–May 7.

Final Results:

Men’s 470 – 29 Entries
5. Stu McNay & Dave Hughes
25. Shawn Harvey & Augie Dale

Women’s 470 – 27 Entries
7. Nikki Barnes & Lara Dallman-Weiss
12. Carmen Cowles & Emma Cowles
19. Atlantic Brugman & Nora Brugman

Mixed 470 – 20 Entries
13 .Louisa Nordstrom & Trevor Bornarth

USA qualification scores: https://www.ussailing.org/olympics/selection/olympic-games/2020trials/

Tokyo Olympic Sailing Program
Men’s One Person Dinghy – Laser
Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s Skiff – 49erFx
Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn
Men’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Women’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17

Original dates: July 24 to August 9, 2020
Revised dates: July 23 to August 8, 2021