For more than 50 years, the elite of Olympic sailing have been journeying to Hyères, the historic jewel of the French Riviera, at the end of April. Over the years, the Semaine Olympique Française - Toulon Provence Méditerranée has become an unmissable event for every national team. In 2023, for its 54th edition, Hyères will have the pleasure of once again welcoming the world's best Olympic sailors in preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The 54th French Olympic Week in Hyères (SOF) will take place between 22 to 29 April 2023. With Paris 2024 Olympic Games just over a year away, the world's best athletes will be present in Hyères. And on the water, the 10 Olympic series will put on a show!
Organized a few days after the end of the 53rd edition of the French Olympic Week in Hyères -TPM, the Virtual SOF was a real popular success among the inshore e-sailors community. No less than 4,912 players took up the challenge on the virtual water of Hyères, Toulon Provence Méditerranée. World Sailing and the French Sailing Federation had largely endowed this virtual event.
From Friday, May 6 for 72 hours, the Virtual Semaine Olympique Française will be contested on Virtual Regatta Inshore. For the second year running, players will compete virtually on the same body of water as the sailors did this week in the bay of Hyères, in the Toulon Provence Méditerranée area. The “Blue” competition starts on Friday, May 6 at 4pm
After a week of thrills and spills, fine foiling and some Champagne sailing, the best of the 751 competitors across the 10 Olympic Classes at the 53rd Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères - TPM (SOF) fought for the podium in their Medal Races. Both France and Poland finished with two gold medals.
Poland’s Agata Barwinska took the first gold of the 53rd Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères - TPM with a mastery of light winds, match racing and mathematics in the women’s ILCA 6. Dominik Buksak and Szymon Wierzbicki, who lead the 49er by 17 points should make it two golds for Poland tomorrow. The men in the ILCA 7 will have a very different time in what promises to be the tightest Medal Race on Saturday. It was another glorious day of unending blue skies in Hyères, but the shift right from 6-8-knot offshore northeasterlies to a bigger south-southwesterly breeze did not materialise and many struggled for consistency as they watched their podium places disappear. Everyone in the Medal Races tomorrow will be eyeing the weather nervously with strong westerlies forecast for the afternoon after very light conditions in the morning, will they arrive in time for the racing?