The opening day of sailing at the Olympics always brings high emotion, and a few shocks and surprises.
Here’s a taste of how things played out on a sultry Sunday in Marseille…
High Flyers
The German 49erFX team of Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille only qualified for a place at the Games at the Last Chance Regatta, but are now in third overall after day two.
Even more surprisingly, Germany’s Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger only found out they were coming to the Games at the start of the month.
After failing to hit Germany’s performance criteria, Meggendorfer and Spranger didn’t find out if the German Olympic Sports Federation would even send them to the Games until 2nd July.
Judging by today’s performance, placing seventh overall, the Federation’s gamble on sending their team looks to have been well rewarded.
The Germans sit on equal points with the reigning world champions from France, Erwan Fischer and Clement Pequin.
Hard Yards
Two Olympic gold medallists (ESP and NZL) are in the bottom two places of the fleet after three light-wind races in the 49erFX.
As Olympic gold medallists in other sailing disciplines, the two skippers of these boats – Tamara Echegoyen (ESP) and Jo Aleh (NZL) – were blessed with the honour of being flag bearers for their nations at the spectacular Opening Ceremony in Paris less than 48 hours earlier.
Now the Spanish and Kiwis have a mountain to climb if they’re to get in contention for the medals this week.
Sailing Fans Flock to Marseille
The opening day of Olympic Sailing is always an exciting occasion, but the atmosphere along the Marseille coastline was boosted by the thousands of fans that turned up to watch the 49er and 49erFX classes in action.
In total 8,000 people showed up at Club 2024, the fan zone along the beach by the Roucas-Blanc Marina, to enjoy the atmosphere and the action from day two.
Irish Embracing French Sports
Irish sailors are fully immersing themselves in French sporting culture, spending time playing pétanque when they’re not on the water.
Working out what to do when not competing can be tricky for athletes, but it seems the Irish camp have found a solution that keeps their attentions bubbling.
“We’ve been playing pétanque downstairs in the Olympic village, which is a great game to take your mind off sailing,” said Robert Dickson, who sits second in the 49er rankings alongside crewmate Sean Waddilove.
Dealing with the Heat
The hot conditions in Marseille were not the easiest to manoeuvre, but the Dutch duo of Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz adjusted well, taking an early lead in the Women’s Skiff.
To achieve this, the reigning world champions focused on heat protocol throughout the race.
When asked how the pair kept cool, van Aanholt smiled, struck a pose and said: “We’re just very cool people!”
