49er and 49erFX European Championships as well as the Nacra 17 World Championships in La Grande Motte, France concluded on Sunday.
Isaura Maenhaut and Anouk Geurts (BEL) did not quite perform as well as they would have liked in the medal race, but that didn’t matter because they had built up enough of a lead during the week. This is Maenhaut and Geurts first major title that they have won in their career, and the timing couldn't be better with the Olympics around the corner. Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon were very popular local winners of the silver medal for France, and Great Britain’s Freya Black and Saskia Tidey were delighted to take the bronze.
Hernan Umpierre and Fernando Diz made a strong start to the medal race and led around the first mark but unfortunately finished in seventh place. The doubts were beginning to creep in, but the South Americans, much like the Belgians in the 49erFX fleet, might have finished in a less than ideal position in the medal race but they had built their buffer during a stellar week of racing to walk away as the overall winners.
A penalty spin at the final windward mark nearly cost James Peters and Fynn Sterritt (GBR) the European title. The British losing three places from the penalty put a little bit of pressure on, but the team pulled out all the stops this week and finished second overall behind Uruguay, securing the European title with Switzerland finishing just three points behind in third.
This was also the day that Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove earned their place at the Games. Austria and Poland are due to announce their nominated teams for the Olympics in the coming days.
After winning their first world title in Denmark back in 2018, the reigning Olympic Champions have won three back to back Nacra 17 world titles: Canada 2022, the Netherlands 2023 and now France 2024. It bodes well for the Italians’ defence of the Olympic title in Marseille just over two months from now.
Winning the Worlds is a major milestone in what could prove to be an extraordinary year for the determined Italian who hopes to win another Olympic gold. The crew from Argentina, Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco, won the Nacra 17 medal race in light winds on Sunday afternoon, very nearly getting on to the podium. But the silver went to John Gimson and Anna Burnet of Great Britain, and Italy’s other fast team Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei just held onto the bronze.
