Olympic Diary: August 3 - A tough day on the Baie de Marseille
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 3 Aug 17:48 BST
4 August 2024
Emma Wilson (GBR) - Finish - Women's Windsurfing - iQFoil - Paris 2024 Olympic Regatta - August 3, 2024 © World Sailing / Sander van der Borch
Following the controversial completion of the Medal Races in the Mens and Womens skiff, yesterday, Baie de Marseille hosted six Olympic sailing events on Saturday - leaving just two events to start racing.
Saturday's schedule called for racing in the Womens Dinghy (ILCA-6), Mens Dinghy (ICA-7), the Quarter, Semi and Finals of the Mens and Womens Windsurfing. The Mixed Dinghy (470) were due to sail three races, and the Mixed Multihull (Nacra 17) started their Olympic Regatta, today. Leaving just the Mens and Womens Kiteboard to start tomorrow, Sunday.
The centrepiece for the day was the Medal Racing for the foiling windsurfer - iQFoil which is making its Olympic debut in Marseille.
For most it was their first look at the use of a series of knockout Finals to determine the Medal winners, with the composition of the Final series being determined by placings in the Qualifying races which have been sailed earlier in the week.
While some may describe the format as quick and exciting, the awful reality is that it is sudden death. Many sports have knockout competitions as a way of deciding the winner, however to have a three or four year Olympic program determined in a single seven minute race - seems excessively brutal.
While the iQFoil is a big step ahead of the RS:X windsurfer used since the 2008 Sailing Olympics, the format has some shortcomings which were highlighted during the course of the regatta generally.
Neither of the Gold Medals on offer today were won by the winner of the Qualifying Series.
In fact the format, as we saw in the last America's Cup Challenger series would appear to be loaded in favour of those who progress through all phases of the Quarter and Semis, and who come into the Final with two races on which to understand the nuances of the course and conditions. Today it was fresh with a lumpy sea. There were big shifts/swings on the course which are part and parcel of any yacht race. But it is one thing to be in a race where a competitor has had two "practice" sessions/Finals, coming up against another who hasn't even sailed one.
Long story short is that Britain's Emma Wilson, had sailed an amazing qualifying series emerging 30pts clear of the second placed competitor Sharon Kantor (ISR). However Wilson may as well have just won the Qualifying Round on a countback, for all the credit given for her series performance. As the Qualifier winner Wilson went straight into the Final. Kantor as second placed in the Qualifying series got direct entry to the Semi Finals, and the advantage of one race on the course, before the Final to decide the Medals.
Wilson looked good early on but with the other two competitors sitting to windward on the first upwind, she was pinned, the other two tacked away on a better angle to the mark, leaving Wilson to look up their tailpipes as they got a nice angle into the top mark. Italy's Marta Margetti won the Gold medal with Sharon Kantor holding on to win the Silver medal. A clearly distraught Wilson was a long way back.
It was a similar story in the Mens Final with Qualifying Series winner Grae Morris (AUS) going cold into the Final. The Gold medal was won by Israel's Tom Reuveny who like Sharon Kantor came in with the advantage of having had an early look at the course during the Semi-Final. Morris could be thankful for a small mercy when the first start of the Mens Final was signalled as General Recall, necessitating a complete restart but with the villain of the piece being penalised by a 5secs delay at the start.
Again, the five second penalty may have seemed to be a great idea in theory, but judging that differential on an iQFoil hurtling along at 20kts is a major exercise in time on distance judgement.
After all three Mens Final competitors clustered behind the Committee boat it was decided that in fact no-one had been over the line (which was evident on the TV graphics), and all three got away successfully on the second start (for Wilson), third start for Rueveny and fourth start for Luuc Van Opzeeland (NED) who had come into the Final through the Quarterfinal.
Interestingly neither Qualifying series winner won the Gold Medal. Grae Wilson won the Silver, and Emma Wilson the Bronze.
The Womens Dinghy event sailed in the ILCA 6 has some very familiar names at the top of the leaderboard after six races. Netherlands' Marit Bouwmeester, who has been competing in the class since 2007, and has Olympic Gold Silver and Bronze medals leads the 43 boat fleet. Defending Olympic champion Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) is second, with Britain's Hannah Snellgrove having an outstanding day winning two of the three races sailed in 16-17kt winds.
It is a similar situation in the Mens Dinghy (ILCA-7), with the upper echelon of the leaderboard being populated with more of the rockstars of the former Laser class. Defending champion Matt Wearn (AUS) has stepped out to an Emma Wilson type lead of 22pts, with four races plus the Medal race to be sailed. Second overall is Britain's Michael Beckett, with another highly experienced campaigner Pavlos Kontides (CYP) two points adrift in third.
In the Mixed Dinghy (470) one of five new Events at this Olympiad, Japan leads after four races by 4pts from Austria, and with Sweden 1pt astern. the latter two are there by virtue of being able to discard their worst score, and if Japan's Keiju Okada and Miho Yoshioka continue the very consistent way they have started, they should be returning home with a Medal. Okada finished seventh in the then Mens 470 at Tokyo2020. The Silver medalist from Tokyo Anton Dahlberg (SWE) is third overall 1pt behind the Austrians.
The Mixed Multihull started it Olympics today, sailing three races in a 15kt breeze. To the surprise of no-one, defending Olympic champions Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti (ITA) are leading after winning the first two races today and finishing second in the third. The points table is already quite tight with the top four boats (ITA, ARG, FIN and NZL) having a consistent series today. They already have a discard applying.
Tomorrow (Saturday) the final two events in the 2024 Olympics - the Mens and Womens Kite - get underway.
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