Men's skiff
After 12 races over four days, ten crews advanced on Wednesday to the medal race, scheduled to take place on Thursday, Aug. 1.
In men's skiff, Americans Ian Barrows and Hans Henken have qualified for the biggest race of their careers. They stand in fourth place, four points out of a podium position. The U.S. has not won a medal in sailing since 2016 and now have a chance to achieve this elusive goal.
The medal race is worth double points, so mathematically the Americans have a chance if they have a good result in the finale. The race is short and will only take about 20 minutes.
Three other crews are within five points and are hoping to move up the leaderboard. The U.S. is four points behind New Zealand’s Issac McHardie and William McKenzie. So far, the Kiwis have won four races, and the Americans have not won a race.
Wednesday's contest was an emotional roller coaster for all the top crews. Spain’s Diego Botin and Florian Trittel had a 15th- and 12th-place finish before rallying to 6th at the end of the late day. The final race started at 6 p.m. local time in a breeze that freshened to 13 knots as the sun started to slip toward the horizon.
Both Barrows and Henken are familiar with short course racing. They were standouts during their intercollegiate careers at Yale and Stanford, respectively. They were brilliant in the first race today, working hard to start next to the race committee boat and heading for the southern part of the racecourse. They believed there was more wind in that direction, and they found it. The Americans led at the first mark.
Curiously, the Kiwis took the south of the racecourse the second beat and yet found stronger wind and passed the Americans to win the race. The U.S. was second.
Race 2 was golden for Barrows and Henken. While they finished 8th, the three boats ahead of them in the standings were well behind. The U.S. moved into the bronze medal slot, but the good feeling did not last long. The U.S. finished 12th in the last race (the 12th race of the series) to cement fourth.
The U.S. Sailing team’s coaching staff and weather team will spend the night studying the weather for the medal race. The key moment will be getting cleanly off the starting line and aiming in the direction of the strongest wind. The chaos of any start is exciting, and with medals on the line, this one should be even more thrilling. The race is scheduled to start at 8:40 a.m. ET.
Women's skiff
The American women were steady today with an 8-7-9 series to advance to their medal race scheduled for 9:40 a.m. ET. They stand in 10th place. They are too far behind in points to earn a medal, but they could move up to seventh. Their best finish in the Olympic regatta was third.
Overall, the American crew, Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea, have averaged a 9.5 finish out of twenty boats in the fleet. Expect a spirited match race in the women’s skiff in the medal race. Only one-point separates Sarah Stevaert and Charline Picon (France) from second place sailors Odile van Aanholt (The Netherlands). The two crews have to be careful not to push each other too far back because Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler (Sweden) are only six points out of third place.
Women's windsurfing
The women’s windsurfer class got off to good start on a marathon racecourse after an hour delay, but eventually the fleet ran out of wind. The iQFOiL boards are frustratingly slow when they do not have enough wind to get up on their foils. The wind shadow around the Chateau d’If fortress stalled the fleet of 24 windsurfers for an agonizing long period of time.
Israel’s Sharon Kantor enjoyed a huge lead only to see the race committee abandon the race when it was clear none of the boats were going to finish the within the 90-minute time limit. The women waited for the wind to fill, and the series continued.
Great Britain’s Emma Wilson had a 1-1-1-3 in the four races run in the afternoon. Racing continues Thursday. American Dominique Stater sits 22nd out of 24 boats after 10 races.
Men's windsurfing
The men’s windsurfer class had four races today. Grae Morris (Australia) has a one-point lead over Pawel Tarnowski (Poland) and a three-point lead over Tom Reuney (Israel). American Noah Lyons had a 9-6-BFD-11 today. The BFD was for jumping the gun at the start and being disqualified from the race. He will discard that finish.
With another day of racing ahead, Lyons is 11 points out of a podium position. With strong finishes on Thursday, Aug. 1, he could qualify for the semifinal series scheduled for Friday, Aug. 2.