Stronger conditions arrive at Paris 2024

Marseille, France (August 3, 2024) – The Men’s Windsurfer and Women’s Windsurfer showcased the new Medal Series format to award medals, while the seventh day at the Paris 2024 Olympics finally found its mojo at the Mistral breeze delivered stronger winds and waves.

For all competition reports, click here.

Event details – Results – Notice Board

Men’s and Women’s One Person Dinghy
It was a full-power day for the 43 sailors that required a lot of stamina and fitness, with three-time Olympic medalist from The Netherlands Marit Bouwmeester extending her lead after three more races today.

“Marseille is quite tricky, so if you told me I’d have this kind of start to the regatta I would have definitely signed up to it,” said Bouwmeester. “I do like the variety of conditions, the strong winds, light winds, and it’s a bit of everything. And I always find that that maybe suits me, but we’ll see what’s happening the next few days.

“Three races was quite a tough day but I really enjoyed the downwind legs. They just went by too quickly as the current was pushing us along so the upwinds were a bit longer. But I’m happy how things are going and hopefully I can maintain this level.”

With six races now complete, reigning World and Olympic Champion Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark had to dig deep today, due to not feeling well, posting a 2-8-4 to sit in second.

“It was dream conditions. I mean, I love this but there is also a lot of pressure on to do well and I haven’t had the start that I was hoping and obviously with already a discard. So it’s just really tough.

“Everyone is so fast in this fleet. I definitely feel like I had to catch up a little bit today, but I am super fast so I shouldn’t be worried at all. But obviously, the nerves got to me a little bit today and not feeling super good in general, with just being a little bit sick or slightly nervous.

“I’m happy about the day because I really go out there and I take some brave decisions and that’s how I want to be as a sailor. For example it it’s a pin end start, obviously, that is a high risk start. But if that’s the best strategy for the day, then I have to go down there and fight for it.”

Big surprise package of the day was Hannah Snellgrove, the British sailor who won the first two races of the strong wind session and moves up to third overall.

“It felt like a bucket list ticking-off moment when you win a race at the Olympics. And then I did it again which is really cool. Unfortunately I couldn’t do it in the third race but I guess you can’t have too much of a good thing,” she laughed.

“I hit the pin end at the start and had to do turns, so getting back to 14th was very hard work. It was a bit of a silly error, but overall today was a massive confidence boost and I’m really happy with my speed.

“That’s my favorite conditions, big waves, big wind, super fun. I mean, even even in an ILCA 6 we get to surf a little bit, you know, so can’t complain!”

Among the 43 men, Matt Wearn (AUS) extended his advantage at the top of the standings after six races, with a first and second in the two races today.

Great Britain’s Michael Beckett enjoyed his best day of racing so far with two fourths moving him up to second overall. Cyprus’ Pavlos Kontides trails Beckett by just two points after finishing tenth and fifth today.

“Obviously I’d seen the forecast that said today was going to be big. We went a long way out almost to the back of the bay,” said Beckett. “The waves were absolutely massive, the breeze was up but still quite unstable. Just doing everything in the sights of those waves, made it quite a biblical day really. I enjoyed it.”

North America Results:
Men
10. Juan Maegli (GUA)
36. Pedro Luis Fernandez Gamboa (PUR)
38. Thad Lettsome (IVB)

Women
6. Erika Reineke (USA)
11. Sarah Douglas (CAN)
27. Adriana Penruddocke (BER)
33. Elena Oetling Ramirez (MEX)
41. Charlotte Webster (CAY)

Mixed Two Person Dinghy
Japan’s Keiju Okada and Miho Yoshioka maintained their advantage at the top of the standings after two more races today. The Japanese duo opened with another second placed finish, which helped them secure a five-point lead at the end of the second day of racing.

Austria’s Lara Vadlau and Lukas Maehr recovered from a difficult first day, where they received a black flag ruling, to win race four and move up to second overall. Sweden’s Anton Dahlberg and Lovisa Karlsson sit just a point behind the Austrian crew after they sailed impressively to post a 1-2.

North America Results:
9. Stuart McNay Lara Dallman-Weiss (USA)

Mixed Multihull
The opening day of competition saw Italy’s Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti take control early as the reigning Olympic champions posted finishes of 1-1-2 in windy conditions.

However, Argentina’s Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco finished the day only two points off the Italian leaders, after a strong second placed finished in race one and two. Finland’s Sinem Kurtbay and Akseli Keskinen edged into the top three after securing third and fourth in their first session on the water.

North America Results:
15. Sarah Newberry Moore/ David Liebenberg (USA)

Tomorrow:
The Men’s and Women’s One Person Dinghy fleets and the Mixed Two Person Dinghy have two races scheduled. The Mixed Multihull has three races planned while racing begins for the Men’s and Women’s Kite with four races each.

Event details – Results – Notice Board

Medal Count (G-S-B) – Four of 10 events completed
Israel: 1-1-0
Netherlands: 1-0-1
Italy: 1-0-0
Spain: 1-0-0
Australia: 0-1-0
New Zealand: 0-1-0
Sweden: 0-1-0
Great Britain: 0-0-1
France: 0-0-1
USA: 0-0-1

Source: World Sailing