Qualifying races set the stage for Championship racing in San Pedro

The ILCA 6 and 7 fleets spent Monday afternoon locking in Gold Fleet positions and setting the stage for three days of high-stakes racing on the future Olympic waters of LA 2028.

Great Britain’s Michael Beckett delivered the day’s most dominant performance, winning both ILCA 7 races to surge into the overall lead heading into Gold Fleet. From Ireland, two-time Olympian Finn Lynch climbed to second overall and double Olympic champion Matt Wearn sits third.

“When I get off the line with speed, I have good races,” said Lynch. “It took awhile for the sea breeze to kick, and in our first race of the day, we had a bit of a lighter one.  Then in the second one, it was more like 15 knots. The sea breeze gave us some really beautiful racing.”

In the ILCA 6 fleet, American Charlotte Rose remains firmly in podium contention in third overall after another consistent day, while Olympian Eve McMahon of Ireland jumped into second following an important win in the day’s final race.

“On the first day of racing, I had a bit of a shocker in one of the races, with a big mistake that  cost me 16 places,” McMahon said. “But today it was going in and attacking and trying to get as high up in the rankings as I could before the fleet splits. The big fight begins Tuesday.”

In perhaps the biggest shakeup of the day, Denmark’s Anna Munch moved into first place overall after a decisive second-place finish in Race 5.

With five races complete, the ILCA fleets have now split into Gold and Silver Fleets. The top 45 sailors in each class will spend the next three days battling for one of just 10 places in Friday’s finals, where the regatta champions will ultimately be decided.

The 470 fleet remains one of the closest contests of the regatta. Germany’s Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort held onto the overall lead, while France’s Matisse Pacaud and Lucie De Gennes stayed in second. Sweden’s Anton Dahlberg and Lovisa Lindner climbed into third overall after posting second and first place finishes, closing the gap on the leaders.

Attention now turns to Wednesday racing, where sailors are expecting to encounter some of the strongest breeze of the week.

San Pedro OCR is one of only two major Olympic Class events that take place in the United States. Nearly 200 sailors from 34 countries will race at San Pedro OCR during the six-day event. in the LA Harbor.  Among the contenders are 35 Olympians, including six winners of a collective eight Olympic medals – two gold, two silver, and four bronze.

Event details, entry lists, results, and schedules can be found at register.sanpedroocr.org and you can follow the regatta on instagram at @SanPedroOCR. 

Text courtesy of San Pedro OCR. Images copyright Lexi Pline and Lisa Bronitt.