France topped the national medal table after foiling to three golds on the last day of the 54th Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères – TPM.
There were thrillers across the fleet 8-10 knots easterlies that grew and filled in as the day went on. The medals were spread through the nations with France winning three golds and Spain and Britain all winning two of the ten Olympic classes.
The battle between nations was more than matched by the intense battle within each country as the sailors aim to claim the single national place in each fleet for the Olympics Games. In the Ilca 7 that national excellence, success and rivalry was condensed onto the podium with Elliot Hanson overturning the overnight lead of compatriot and rival Michael Beckett.
Some advanced their Olympic hopes whilst others watched them start to evaporate like the nearby salt flats to the Giens peninsula.
There is now just one more SOF before the “big one” in Marseille – where the Paris 2024 Olympics sailing will be held – around 50 miles west along the coast. SOF 2024 will be the “Last Chance Regatta”.
49er (men’s and women’s high-performance double-handed dinghy)
Women’s FX
1st – NED – Odile van Aanholt & Annette Duetz – 50 points
2nd – ITA – Jana Germani & Giorgia Bertuzzi – 102 points
3rd – BRA – Martine Grael & Kahena Kunze – 112 points
The Dutch world champions, Odile van Aanholt & Annette Duetz, had already guaranteed gold in the penultimate race on Friday (finishing the day an enormous 48 points ahead), and they revealed had earned with more than just sweat and skill. Their bay in the boat park was covered in blood from a serious cut Duetz had sustained in training before the
All the focus was on the medal race was for silver and bronze. Jana Germani & Giorgia Bertuzzi (ITA), comfortably held on to their overnight second (12 points ahead) to take silver, but behind them was a huge battle for bronze involving the whole medal race fleet. It says much about quality of Brazil’s double Olympic champions, Martine Grael & Kahena Kunze, that after a very difficult week they fought through to finish third in the medal race and take bronze.
Men’s 49er
1st – ESP – Diego Bottin & Florian Trittel – 78 points
2nd – AUS – Jim Colley and Shaun Connor – 87 points
3rd – POL – Mikolaj Staniul & Jakub Sztorch – 90 points
Spain’s Diego Bottin & Florian Trittel had one hand on gold after finishing Friday 16 points ahead at the top and despite a mistake at the start managed to work back, keep their only rivals close and finish seventh.
The battle behind them was intense with Australia’s Jim Colley and Shaun Connor climbing into silver by finishing second in the medal race.
Overnight the five boats behind the Spanish had been separated by only six points and
Poland’s Mikolaj Staniul & Jakub Sztorch, second overnight, held onto bronze by finishing fifth.
Nacra 17 (mixed double-handed hydrofoil catamaran)
1st – GBR – John Gimson & Anna Burnett – 32 points
2nd – ARG – Mateo Majdalini & Eugenia Bosco – 70 points
3rd – ITA – Gianlugi Ugolini & Maria Giubilei – 77 points
Britain’s John Gimson & Anna Burnett had already guaranteed gold on Friday (finishing the day 32 points ahead), so all the focus was on the race for silver and bronze. There was no change in the overnight positions as Argentina’s Mateo Majdalini & Eugenia Bosco held on to second place with relative comfort finishing just ahead of Italian’s Gianlugi Ugolini & Maria Giubilei in fifth.
It’s been a light winds week and we had good pace. There were some things from Palma that we didn’t feel we’d done that well and we kind of rectified that this week and having Iain (Percy, Britain’s Olympic champion and America’s Cup sailor) was very helpful. He’s our coach, but he’s a very busy man so we get him in for the important ones.
The result is a with a pinch of salt because the conditions were quite one dimensional this week in terms of the wind speed. I know as soon we get above 11 knots and we’re up and foiling it’s wide open again and we won’t be the quickest boat in that so there’s still a lot of work to do.
Formula Kite (men’s and women’s foiling kitesurfing)
Women’s
1st – FRA – Lauriane Nolot
2nd – USA – Daniella Moroz
3rd – FRA – Jessie Kampman
Hyères and France’s local hero and rising star, Lauriane Nolot, made it all gold for France in the kites winning the finals series after dominating the week. Nolot completed a golden april after also winning in Palma. USA’s six time and reigning world champion, Daniela Moroz, who beat Nolot into second in Hyères last year fought her way back through the semi-finals to win silver. France’s Jessie Kampman took bronze ahead of Britain’s Ellie Aldridge, who had started the day in second and went straight through to the four-rider final.
Men’s
1st – FRA – Axel Mazella
2nd -SGP – Maximilian Maeder
3rd – GBR – Connor Bainbridge
France’s Axel Mazella, leader for the whole week, claimed gold ahead of the 16-year-old Singaporean, Maximilian Maeder, with Britain’s Connor Bainbridge winning bronze. It was a re-mix of the Palma podium at the beginning of April where Maeder won, Baninbridge was second and Mazella third.
470 (mixed double-handed dinghy)
1st – ESP – Jordi Xammar- Hernandez & Nora Brugman – 53 points
2nd – AUT – Lara Vadlau & Lukas Mähr – 61 points
3rd – GER – Malte Winkel & Anastasiya Winkel – 64 points
After dominating the week but stalling on Friday, Spain’s Jordi Xammar- Hernandez & Nora Brugman took gold by beating Austria’s Lara Vadlau & Lukas Mähr, who had started the day on equal points, but could only finish sixth in the medal race to claim silver.
The Spanish were second in the race to Germany’s Malte Winkel & Anastasiya Winkel, who took bronze, leapfrogging Portugal’s Diogo Costa & Carolina Joäo, who had started the day one point ahead but finished 5th in race.
ILCA 6 and 7 – (women’s & men’s solo dinghy)
ILCA 7
1st – GBR – Elliot Hanson – 36 points
2nd – GBR – Michael Beckett – 37 points
3rd – CYP Pavlos Kontides – 43 points
Britain’s Elliot Hanson won a thrilling medal race to take gold, one point ahead of fellow Briton Michael Beckett, the overnight leader (by five points), who watched the title slip from his grasp at the end as he slipped back to fourth in the wake of Croatia’s Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Tonci Stipanovic.
2012 Olympic silver medallist Pavlos Kontides finished second in the race to take the bronze medal ahead of Australia’s Olympic champion, Matt Wearn, who could only finish sixth.
ILCA 6
1st – CAN – Sarah Douglas – 74 points
2nd – DEN – Anne-Marie Rindom – 75points
3rd – AUS – Casey Imeneo – 83 points
The exciting two-boat race for gold between the leader for most of the week, Canada’s Sarah Douglas, sixth at the Tokyo Olympics, and Denmark’s Olympic Champion, Anne-Marie Rindom, took place at the back of the medal race fleet. It was important marker for Douglas to lay down before the Olympics.
Rindom had started three points behind and Douglas held on to gold despite finishing last in the medal race. Rindom was unable to catch the boat in front on the last downwind after escaping from Douglas on the second upwind leg.
Australia’s Casey Imeneo held on to bronze by finishing fifth, just behind her closest pursuer Hungary’s Maria Erdi.
iQFOiL (men’s & women’s)
Women’s
1st – CZE – Barbora Svikova
2nd – JPN – Rina Niijima
3rd – DEN – Laerke Buhl-Hansen
Czech Republic’s Barbora Svikova came through the semi-finals to claim gold in the winner takes all final, with Japan’s Rina Niijima fighting her way through the pack to take silver. Denmark’s Laerke Buhl-Hansen had dominated the week with 10 wins out the of the 14 races but had to settle for bronze in the three-rider final series.
Men’s
1st – FRA Fabien Pianazza
2nd – TUR – Onur Cavit Biriz
3rd – BRA – Mateus Isaac
France’s Fabien Pianazza won France’s third gold of the day to put them top of the national table, having to come all the way through the quarter-finals after finishing the ranking in fourth. Turkey’s Onur Cavit Biriz took silver ahead of Brazil’s Mateus Isaac, who had been the leader for most of the week.
Full results can be found here.
