Finals Friday fliers fear favourites in Hyères but Nacra nosedive shows no gold guaranteed

Italy’s double Olympic champions, Ruggero Tita & Caterina Banti, the dominant force in the Nacra this week – this decade – nosedived in the second race and down the leaderboard. But this is why they come to this stretch of the Med, because the challenge is different every day. Do not bet against them storming back by Saturday’s finals, but it gave the rest of the fleets hope in the face of Olympic odds and gods.

Thursday brought the forecast big easterlies to the 57th Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères – TPM and if they were slightly reduced for most by few knots – those further out in the bay still felt the chop. 

The top 10 from the iQFOiL and Formula Kite move to finals day on Friday. The other six fleets have final day on Friday. Rather than big easterlies they will face 10-12-knot southwesterlies heading westerly to 16-18 knots later in the afternoon with a much calmer sea state.

Nacra 17 (mixed double-handed catamaran)

Another 80% day for Nacra 17 on the Charlie course, one of the furthest out and in the biggest competitions. The wind was dropping from the peak by the time they raced on Wednesday, but increasing today, and every 30 seconds the choppy sea state threw up 2-3 metres cross waves. It was powerful and technical, the crews could attack, but only if they could keep the bows and platform under control. It was a test even for the best.

49er (men’s and women’s double-handed skiff)

Clean handling was vital in the chop, especially in the transitions which saw the inexperienced sometimes getting in a tangle with their own kites – the marking buoys.

Women’s FX

Sweden’s Vilma Bobeck & Ebba Berntsson mastered the conditions best, winning the first two races and finishing second in the last to jump into third and open a gap on those behind.

Australia’s Laura Harding and Annie Wilmot continued their march up the leaderboard, hopping over Italy’s Sofia Giunchiglia & Giulia Schio, who could only finish nineteenth in the last race, but stayed second overall.

Men’s 49er

As all others struggled, consistent excellence also rewarded France’s Erwan Fischer & Clément Péquin with the lead after they finished 3, 1, 2 in their three races to move ahead of Ireland’s Robert Dickson & Sean Waddilove.

ILCA 6 and 7 – (women’s & men’s solo dinghy)

Another day of hard hiking (if not quite so many heroics as Wednesday) tested the fitness of the two fleets and the Australian dominance was half broken in the fallout of some surprising results in the women’s fleet.

ILCA 6

Lots of big scores across the top of the leaderboard showed how hard the women’s fleet found it. 2024 SOF champion, USA’s Charlotte Rose backed up her win in the final race of Wednesday with a win in the first on Thursday but could only finish 12 and 9 in the next races. That was enough though in the chaos around her to open a lead at the top. Hungary’s Maria Erdi followed a Black Flag disqualification in the first with a 4 and then victory in the final race to move into second with Palma champion, Ireland’s Eve McMahon hanging on to third. The overnight leader, Australia’s Zoe Thomson, slipped back to eighth.

ILCA 7

Australia’s double Olympic champion, Matt Wearn, won the first two races of the day and despite looking more human and finishing fifth in the third and final race, he has opened up a gap at the top of an unusually spread leaderboard. His two British rivals, Michael Beckett and Elliot Hanson are within striking distance, but they need some magic or a Wearn slip over the next two days.  Germany’s Philipp Buhl won the final race to put himself in contention.

470 (mixed double-handed dinghy)

Not quite such epic conditions as Wednesday for the mixed dinghies and not quite so perfect for Spain’s Jordi Xammar Hernández & Marta Cardona Alcántara. But they followed a perfect three victories on Wednesday with a third place and then victory in the second and final race of the day to open up a ten point lead over their nearest rivals, the British, Wrigley / Harris, with two French duos close behind.

Formula Kite (men’s and women’s kite)

Finals day Friday beckons. Two dominant leaders – who both won in Palma – await the rest. Launching from the beach in Salins, north of the Hyères sailing area and racing on Bravo course, the Kites had chop and churn again but more protection closer to shore.

Women

France’s Paris 2024 silver medalist, Lauriane Nolot, won the first four races of the day and on the fifth race she rested. Argentina’s Catalina Turienzo won that final race to guarantee second and a place in the final, with Britain and China looking like the likely challengers.

Men

Singapore’s Max Maeder did not rest! He scored the perfect five. A statement day. He won from the front, the side and the back. Italy’s Riccardo Pianosi, the SOF 2025 champion and second in Palma, was his most consistent challenger and goes through the final in second.

iQFOiL (men’s & women’s windsurfing)

Finals day Friday beckons. The iQFOiL were still powered up, but less hanging on than yesterday. It was fast, physical racing with sharp flight control over the chop.

Women

No one dominated the day and Israel’s Palma champion and SOF 2024 & 2025 champion, Tamar Steinberg did enough to comfortably keep her overall lead. The drama came below her. Italy’s Olympic champion, Marta Maggetti, won the last of the four races today beating China’s Zheng Yan into second to hop above her into second on the leaderboard and guarantee a direct path to the final tomorrow. China’s Wenqi Li won two races to move up to sixth.

Men

Two wins out of the four races put Australia’s Paris 2024 silver medallist, Grae Morris straight into the final. Some big numbers saw overnight leader, Italy’s Nicolo Renna, drop into third, with China’s 2025 SOF champion, Kun Bi, doing what he needed to do to move into second and guarantee a place in the final. Renna will need to come through the semi-finals now along with compatriot, Federico Alan Pilloni, who won the other two races.

Text and images courtesy of FFVoile.fr.