Top 10 up for grabs on final day of qualifying in San Pedro OCR Week 2

Today’s racing will determine the 10 boats advancing to Saturday’s Medal Races in each Olympic class, raising the stakes for athletes situated in positions nine through 15 as the regatta enters its final stretch.

Standings in the three fleets have stayed remarkably open, especially for those sitting below the top two places. The closest battle may be in the Nacra 17 fleet, where Sweden’s Emil Järudd and Hanna Jonsson surged into the overall lead by a single point after winning the final race of the day. France’s Tim Mourniac and Aloïse Retornaz slipped to a very tight second, while Dutch teammates Willemijn Offerman and Scipio Houtman stand in third after opening yesterday with a bullet.

“It was the first day we sailed on the inner course, and it was shifty and gusty, so you really had to keep your head out of the boat,” said Jonsson. “It was a lot of manoeuvres and a lot of close racing – lots of action and heavy work.”

With 21 Nacra 17s racing inside the LA breakwater, the boats’ 8.5-foot beams layered in a space management factor for crews.

“It’s not so common that we have to yell for room to tack,” Järudd laughed. “We have terrible angles upwind in the Nacra. We’re almost 120 degrees sometimes, so it was really boundary racing for us on the inside which was exciting.”

Further down the leaderboard, Brits John Gimson and Anna Burnet spent Thursday grinding their way back into podium contention after a tough final race on Wednesday. The pair posted three consecutive second-place finishes to earn their way back into the top five overall. Finns Akseli Keskinen, Austrians Laura Farese and Matthäus Zöchling, and Americans Riley Gibbs and Kay Brunsvold currently sit on the cut line, with each posting at least one top-three finish so far on the week. With the Nacra 17 fleet returning to more predictable racing outside the breakwater today, opportunities will avail themselves for those teams that get off the start line with speed to move up the standings and secure their spot in the final.

In the 49er class, the day’s course was set up further south than the week’s earlier races, with the start line sited about 1.5 miles south-west of Angel’s Gate. Aided by a knot of downwind current, Richard Schulteis and Fabian Rieger defended their overall lead despite what they described as a “mixed feelings” day. The German team recovered from an early penalty to post a top-three finish in the final race.

“The first race was a little bit up and down. We had to do a penalty turn, but then we had a nice catch-up in the second race and the last race was also quite clean,” said Rieger. “Overall we’re leading, so we’re quite happy.”

Schulteis and Rieger have now led the regatta wire-to-wire. New Zealand’s Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn concluded Day four in second overall after posting finishes of first and second in the opening two races, while France’s Erwan Fischer and Clément Péquin held onto third.

The pair say they plan to place their primary thought and focus on racing their own race, rather than necessarily defending their advantage.

“Racing inside, it could be a little more interesting with a bit more tricky conditions,” Rieger said. “We’re looking forward to that. We’re focused on the day’s racing for now and then we’ll see where we are for the medal race.”

Another key development in the class saw home-venue duo Nevin Snow and Ian MacDiarmid of the US return to the top 10, rebounding from a difficult Wednesday series. Sebastien Schneiter and Arno De Planta of Switzerland sit just one point behind Snow and MacDiarmid after a four-race redemption run earned them a shot at making the cut for tomorrow’s Final. Schneiter and De Planta occupy the cutoff position for qualifying with Austrian team Keanu Prettner and Jakob Flachberger, who share identical cumulative scores.

The 49erFX leaderboard remains just as fluid. Great Britain’s Freya Black and Saskia Tidey strengthened their overall lead after opening the day with another win, continuing a steady performance that has seen them move from third after Day one and second after Day two, eventually taking over the lead Wednesday. Vilma Bobek and Ebba Berntsson of Sweden stayed in second.

Canada’s Georgia and Antonia Lewin-LaFrance mounted a drive that included a pair of back-to-back second-place finishes in the final two races of the day. The Canadian sisters said that limiting mistakes has become increasingly important following a difficult Wednesday that included a costly capsize.

“Little mistakes are really, really costly out here,” said Georgia Lewin-LaFrance. “We’re trying to keep our heads in it and finish strong and keep learning from the conditions on the different race courses.”

Like many competitors this week, Georgia and Antonia, who currently sit third overall, also pointed to the future Olympic venue’s unique start dynamics, which sees much of the fleet launching off the line on port to reach the favoured right side of the course.

“It’s hectic,” said Antonia Lewin-LaFrance. “If you relax for one second and don’t look around for a moment, you’re going to be late.”

Racing continues through Saturday, 8 August. Event details, entry lists, results, and schedules can be found at sanpedroocr.org and you can follow the regatta on Instagram at @SanPedroOCR. In this second week of racing, 140 competitors from 20 countries are competing, including 27 Olympians. Among them are the winners of seven Olympic medals including one gold, five silver, and one bronze.

Text courtesy of San Pedro OCR. Images copyright Lexi Pline.