The other six Olympic fleets - 470, ILCA 6 & 7, Nacra 17, 49er, and FX - have their Medal Races tomorrow - Saturday - in what are forecast to be more easterly, but similarly light breeze. Barring an overnight protest and penalty in the 470 mixed dinghy, Germany’s Simon Diesch & Anna Markfort are uncatchable with a 21-point lead and Nicholas Halliday the same in the ILCA 7 with a 23-point lead.
Day 4 • iQFoil and Formula Kite Medal Races on Friday • Israel vs China in the women’s windsurfing (iQFoil) • 18 year-old Max Maeder in pole position in the Kite On a day in which fortunes shifted as much as the winds, French Olympic Week will have its first Medal Races on Friday as the top 8 men and women kitesurfers and windsurfers battle it out for the podium. The other six of the ten Olympic classes will have their Medal Races on Saturday with all to sail with some incredibly close leaderboards.
Day 3 “This was my first time in the Mistral, I like strong winds, but…it got crazy!” - Roos Wind “It was epic, just survival conditions - and the Ilca 6 are still out there!” - Nicholas Halliday “You know it's gonna hurt like a m0£%@$*%£@!#, but you’ve just got to send it.” - Anna Munch “It was a hell of a day.” Nicolas Goyard ILCA 6, Kites and iQFoil last on the water to face the full force “Epic”, “Crazy”, “Nothing like it” and many words too colourful to include in a family press release sprang from the excited Mistral-lashed lips and sometimes stunned faces of those Olympic classes last back to the boat park. There is no sailing regatta in the world like French Olympic Week in Hyères when the Mistral blasts over 25 knots into the Bay under blue skies in brilliant sunshine.
Day 2 Emma Plasschaert’s lessons for waiting Sunset finish after a day of waiting for wind Mistral forecast for tomorrow Racing in Hyères can test every sinew and synapse, and the second day of the 56th French Olympic Week (Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères – Toulon Provence Méditerranée) was a test of patience.
Day 1 729 competitors 56 nations All 10 fleets on the water - 31 races Next Olympic generation shining The 56th edition of French Olympic Week (Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères – Toulon Provence Méditerranée) began in classic Côte d’Azur conditions as 729 competitors from 56 nations started six days of racing. All ten fleets managed the full programme of 31 races in building offshore westerlies as Hyères was bathed in unending sunshine.
The 56th Semaine Olympique de Hyères – Toulon Provence Méditerranée (SOF, France’s Olympic sailing week) will officially get under way with the opening ceremony at 18:00.