Gold fleet beckons for the chosen few in Barcelona

It was a stressful final day of qualifying for the 72 boat 49er fleet, with only 25 able to make the gold fleet races.

With seven of ten scheduled races completed, there were still more than 20 teams on the edge hoping to sail well enough to keep their hopes alive.

The conditions were a combination of side shore and off shore breeze, causing headaches for the race officials and sailors alike to find suitable racing conditions. After the ninth race of qualifying, the Gold net had closed in from around 20 teams to 8, with only six points separating the teams. Half would make the gold fleet, the other half will be stuck on the outside looking in.

A few teams added solid races to their tallies to ensure they’d be included in the top bunch. None more so than Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign (GBR) who have had to chase hard all week to catch up to their countrymen in order to remain in the conversation about Rio 2016 selection. Relegation from the Gold fleet could have ended their chances, but with a sixth and eighth, they were up to 16th overall and safe. 

Poland’s Tomasz Januszewski and Jake Nowak had a tenth and a bullet to move up all the way to 19th. Feeling the opposite side of the pressure were Tim Elsner and Moritz Klingenberg (GER) who carded an 18th and 28th dropping to 28th overall from 13th. The pair now need a good final race to rescue their earlier success.

Unluckily for some, the conditions were too shifty and the final qualifying race was left off the program to allow racing in the 49erFX fleet. Carl Sylvan and Marcus Anjemark, on a high from Palma after Sweden took the final Olympic qualifying berth, were left just outside by only a single point. They lodged a protest for an incident between them and the Polish Team aiming to get the additional spot up the rankings to make gold fleet. The Portuguese Olympic bound sailors Jorge Lima and Jose Costa also protested feeling the conditions should have forced the abandonment of the eighth race of the series, a race where they were third from last and that they could not discard due to a previous DNF. The Portuguese duo sit only three points out of the Gold fleet. The Swedish team won their protest, forcing the Polish team out of the Gold fleet, while the Portuguese lost theirs and stay below the line. 

Things were intense for the 49erFX racing, but for different reasons. The conditions got windier, but just as shifty and incredibly puffy. Only two races were held after three hours on the water, with few teams making it through the day without any capsizes. 

Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich (ITA) remain in the lead but moving up to second with the best day on the water were Argentina’s Vicky Travascio and Sol Branz. The Argentinian pair have been doing really well in the breeze for the past few months and continued that trend in qualifying this week.

Teams got back to shore and with enough energy to share their wilder capsizing tales. American Olympians Paris Henken and Helena Scutt managed to back wheelie their skiff while fighting to rescue a capsize. Others told of making it around the forestay and taking leaps downwind off the swell headed in the wrong direction, typical skiff shore sharing.

The format for the 49erFX is a bit different due to the small fleet size.  All 36 teams will now proceed to gold fleet from the 18 boat qualifiers, which means that the regatta really hots up from here.

There are only 12 points separating the top nine teams, so the race for the championship truly begins with gold fleet.

Gold fleet will race for the final three days, 25 boats in 49er, 36 boats in the 49erFX. 

The 49er Silver fleet will be split into two equal fleets who will continue to race on an equal footing for places 26 through 72.

All of the action, including results, at http://49er.org/2016-european-championship/