The final Medal Races of the Paris 2024 Olympic Test Event took place on Sunday in Marseille.
In the Nacra 17 Mixed Multihull class Gianluigi Ugolini (SSL Skipper Rank #22) and Maria Giubilei (SSL Crew Rank #19) continued their domination, despite having a crash on Saturday that almost ended their hopes of victory. Thankfully the French team boat builders Laurent Tournier & Olivier Hecking came to the rescue repairing the boat overnight.
Their win in the Medal Race meant they overhauled SSL Team Finland’s Sinem Kurtbay (SSL Skipper Rank #54) and Akseli Keskinen (SSL Crew Rank #61) to seal the gold medal. SSL Team Great Britain’s John Gimson (SSL Skipper Rank #5) and Anna Burnet (SSL Crew Rank #3) completed the podium to take bronze.
There was double Dutch delight in the 49er and 49er FX Men’s and Women’s Skiff classes, with SSL Team Netherlands’ Bart Lambriex (SSL Skipper Rank #7) and crew Floris van de Werken (SSL Crew Rank #8) clinching gold in the 49er while fellow SSL Team Netherlands sailors, and reigning 49er FX World Champions, Odile van Aanholt (SSL Skipper Rank #8) and Annette Duetz (SSL Crew Rank #7) sealed the win in the 49er FX.
Floris van de Werken said after the racing: "We're happy to do well in Olympic waters and we're happy that we know what we need to do well to execute our game plan well. Technically and strategically, we got a lot of knowledge this week."
Odile Van Aanholt commented on their win: "We're super happy. We went into it very well but you always want to end it well and we certainly did that, so we are two very happy girls."
Completing the podium in the 49er were France’s Erwan Fischer (SSL Skipper Rank #447) and Clement Pequin (SSL Crew Rank #546) winning silver and SSL Team Switzerland’s Sebastien Schneiter (SSL Skipper Rank #211), together with crew Arno de Planta, securing the bronze medal.
In the 49er FX SSL Team Brazil’s Martine Grael (SSL Skipper Rank #6) and Kahena Kunze (SSL Crew Rank #4) did enough in the medal race to win silver, while an injury forced Sweden’s Vilma Bobeck (SSL Skipper Rank #109) and Rebecca Netzler (SSL Crew Rank #130) to miss the medal race, but they had already done enough to take bronze.
Full results from the Paris 2024 Olympic Test Event can be found here.
Attention in the Olympic classes now turns to Aarhus, and the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships, taking place between the 10th and 20th August.
All SSL Ranking positions are as of 17th July 2023 and are taken from the Global Ranking. See the full rankings here.
Mark has been managing sailing websites since 1996, always being at the forefront of technology, and now manages the combined Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com network. He has covered events such as the International Moth World Championship and Cowes Week, focusing on the sailors' thoughts and words. Mark has been European Champion in the Farr 30 & J/24 class and has won numerous UK titles, and competes regularly in local and national events in dinghies and sportsboats.