The world witnessed a crazy finish in the medal race of the women’s skiff race in the 49erFX class Friday at the Paris Olympics. Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz (Netherlands) won gold, Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler (Sweden) won silver and Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon (France) took the bronze. 

The 10 boats that qualified for the medal race got off to a clean start in 11 knots of wind off the seawall off the Marseille Marina. The sailors could surely hear the yells of encouragement from the partisan fans on shore.

Only one point separated the leading team, France, ahead of the Netherlands. The American crew made a heroic effort to reach the medal race and stood 10th with a realistic chance of moving up to seventh with a good result. 

The Dutch crew got off to a good start and showed blazing upwind speed. They had a thin lead at the first turning mark. The Americans were sailing well and rounded the first mark in fourth place and the second mark in second place. At the final turning mark before the finish, the Dutch sailors were one length ahead of USA. At that point, Sweden sat in third place and France was in seventh. It looked very routine. A short sprint over to the finish line and the gold medal would go to the Dutch and the USA would have moved up the leaderboard a few places. 

And then things got weird. 

The large catamaran race committee boat was about 100 yards ahead and to leeward. The Dutch and Americans aimed at the committee boat and became animated when they crossed, what they thought, was the finish line.  But it wasn’t the finish line. The actual finish line was still 200 yards ahead. The Dutch sailors misread the course, and the Americans blindly followed. Meanwhile, the Swedes recognized where the finish line was, sailed for it, and won the race. The Americans took their spinnaker down and stopped racing. The Dutch suddenly realized their mistake and headed for the finish line. They recovered to cross in third place. The French crossed in sixth and believed they had secured the gold medal. The Dutch sailors broke into tears thinking they had blown it with a terrible error. The Americans simply looked confused.

It was at this point that the Dutch coach boat motored over to van Aanolt and Duetz and informed the teary-eyed sailors that they had won. Duetz asked in English, “We won the Gold?” The two sailors stood in shocked silence for a good five seconds while absorbing the happy news and promptly exploded with joy. It was a wonderful thing to watch a devastating low turn into a super high in one brief moment. Just a few yards away, Steyaert and Picon learned that they were actually bronze medalists. Their joy turned quiet and then they smiled realizing that they had earned a bronze medal. This was Steyaert’s third Olympics and first time winning a medal. Picon now has a gold, silver and bronze medal on her impressive resume. (The first two medals for Picon were in the windsurfer class.)

RESULTS

The action soon moved on to the men’s skiff medal race on the same course. Spain's Diego Botin and Florian Trittel took the gold medal ahead of New Zealand's Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie. American sailers Ian Barrows and Hans Henken held on to win the bronze medal. 

The storyline going into the race was interesting. Spain’s had a 5-point lead over Ireland. Just behind New Zealand stood three points back of the Irish with the Americans four points behind the Kiwis. And, if that wasn’t enough, three more boats were only a few points behind the Americans. It set up for a big showdown.

The ten 49ers spread out across the starting line. When the starting horn sounded four of the boats were over the line and had to return to restart. One of the early starters was Ireland. The six boats with clean starts sped to windward on the starboard tack. Spain’s crew looked fast and sailed away from the other boats. It was an impressive performance. 

Barrows and Henken had battled hard all week to claw their way up to fourth place going into the medal race. In the two abandoned races yesterday, the USA was well back in the fleet when the races were called. They were lucky to get a third chance. The American crew did not have the speed of the Spanish but sailed particularly well when they had to maneuver around other boats.

Barrows and Henken were stand-out All American intercollegiate sailors (Yale and Stanford) where precise boat handling in tight quarters is at a premium. Their years of tight racing would be an asset in the biggest race of their careers. At the third mark ending the windward leg, Barrows had to make a quick decision of whether to try and tack ahead of a fast-approaching boat from Switzerland, or dip behind to avoid a potential foul but lose a critical place. It was a risky call. These are the kind of instantaneous decisions that separate victory from defeat. A mistake can haunt an athlete for years. 

Barrows went for it. The Swiss hailed protest claiming that the turn was too close, but the on-the-water umpires immediately ruled the the maneuver was clean and the race continued. On the downwind leg, the Swiss worked hard to try to blanket the wind of the American' sails. This might have become a grudge match with the Swiss upset after being outmaneuvered. It must have been annoying for Barrows and Henken to fight for clear air while trying to finish far enough ahead of Ireland to secure the bronze medal. 

Adding to the mix, Great Britain’s James Peters and Fynn Sterritt were also trying to block the wind of the USA crew’s sails. Barrows steered with steely-eyed focus. He and Henken knew the stakes. They kept their cool and made a perfect final jibing maneuver toward the gate and finished fourth in the race. The Irish never recovered from jumping the gun at the start and ended the race in ninth to finish the Games in fourth.

RESULTS

The women’s dinghy division in the ILCA 6 class had two races today. Olympic veteran Marit Bouwmeester (Netherlands) led the 43-boat fleet with a 4-1-2 series. American Ericka Reineke will be in 20th after a 13-25-18 day before racing continues on Saturday. Seven more races are scheduled before the medal race.

The mixed dinghy sailors racing International 470s opened their series with two races. In light 7 knot winds Japan’s Okada Keiju and Miho Yoshioka had a 1-2 series and lead the 19-boat fleet. Americans Stu McNay and Lara Dallman-Weiss opened with a 9-17. Stronger winds are forecasted for Day 2.

It was an important day for American sailing. Historically, the USA has done well in Olympic sailing. In one stretch between 1984 and 1992, the USA won 21 medals in 24 classes. In the last three Olympics quads the USA has only won one bronze medal (Caleb Paine in 2016). Barrows and Henken bring pride back to the USA with their medal performance in Marseille.  

Parity in the sport of Olympic sailing is in full display in these Games. So far, medals have been awarded to six countries: Netherlands, Sweden, France, Spain, New Zealand and the United States. Eight more classes will be racing over the next week. How many more countries will win a medal?  

One of America’s strongest hopes in this Games is Daniela Moroz, a San Francisco Bay kiteboarding superstar who has won the world championship six times. She has been named U.S. Sailing’s Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year four times. The kiteboard competition gets underway on Sunday, Aug. 4. On Saturday, Aug. 3, American Noah Lyons will be competing in the quarterfinals in men’s windsurfing. The top two boats from a single race between seven boats will advance to a semifinal to meet two boats that previously qualified during the opening series. The top two boats from the semifinals will face off against the top boat from the opening series. The windsurfing final will feature three boats with the winning sailor taking gold.