There is an expression sailors have heard many times over the years: “The wind isn’t usually like this here.” Those word could easily describe the light winds that plagued the Olympic sailing competition Monday off Marseille.
The mixed dinghy race was abandoned after the wind dropped out soon after the start. But the women's dinghy, mixed multihull, and men's and women's kite all raced.
Women's Dinghy
Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands effectively secured gold in the women's dinghy on Monday and is set to be crowned as the most successful woman in Olympic sailing after building an unassailable lead ahead of the medal race. Denmark's Anne-Marie Rindom, her closest rival on the Mediterranean in Marseille, has effectively secured silver, adding to the gold she won in 2021.
Bouwmeester stood on her white-hulled dinghy, both arms aloft, to celebrate her victory after race officials confirmed the final race of the day would not take place, handing Bouwmeester victory as the sailor with the lowest overall score.
Bouwmeester must complete the medal race on Tuesday to be confirmed as champion and become the most successful woman in Olympic sailing with two golds, a silver and a bronze, overhauling Great Britain's Hannah Mills, who has two golds and a silver.
Bouwmeester won gold in 2016, a silver in 2012 and bronze in Tokyo.
Look for Bouwmeester and Rindom to stay out of the way of the bronze medal contenders: Maud Jayet (28-year-old from Switzerland), Line Flem Hoest (28-year-old from Norway), Elena Vorobev (36-year-old from Croatia) and Emma Plasschaert (30-year-old from Belgium). All four sailors have a mathematical chance of finishing in third place. Jayet is in the driver seat with a five-point advantage.
American Ericka Reineke had a tough race, getting buried on the starting line. She was well back on the first leg and never recovered, finishing 26th in Race 9. She has to keep the score because of a disqualification for starting early in Race 7. Still, she is ninth in the overall standings and has a chance to move up as high as sixth with a strong medal race tomorrow. Reineke says her parents were not sailors, however their family lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and she was able to participate with the Lauderdale Yacht Club, which has been a strong supporter of junior sailors for many years.
Mixed Multihull
The scores in the mixed multihull changed somewhat on Monday. Italy’s ace duo, Ruggero Tita, 32, and Caterina Marianna Banti, 37, have been flawless in the first two days of racing with five firsts and one second. They looked more vulnerable in the light winds, finishing with a pair of sixths. The Italians still lead the opening series with a 14-point lead over Mateo, 30, and Eugenia Bosco, 27, of Argentina.
Americans Sarah Newberry Moore (36-year-old from Miami, Florida) and David Leidenberg (32-year-old from Richmond, California) had an 11th in Race 7 Monday and then were disqualified in Race 8 for starting over the line. They placed 15th in Race 9. With three races left, they are unlikely to make the medal race on Wednesday.
Kiteboarding
The women’s and men’s Kite classes were able to get one race in on Monday. American Daniela Moroz, 23, had a solid second place finish, moving her up to third place in the standings just 2.2 points out of first.
Elena Lengwiler, 28, leads the field thanks in part to receiving redress from the jury for an undefined incident in the fourth race, which will be scored using her average points from the opening series.
The kites could have up to nine more races.
Max Maeder (17-year-old from Singapore) is tied for first in the men's class with a 5-1-2-3 series with Toni Vodisek (24-year-old from Slovenia), who has an 2-5-1-3 series so far.
Maeder has an interesting philosophy about racing in the Games, “I am here with a goal in mind in a non-results related way and I think that relieves the pressure a bit.”
American Markus Edegran (30-year-old from Mount Kisco, New York) had his best race of the regatta with a sixth-place finish today. Edegran is a graduate of St. Mary’s of Maryland (2019) and raced dinghies in college until he became intrigued by kites.
The weather forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday projects winds to be in the 5-10 mph range. We will see if the forecast is accurate, and hopefully there will more racing. Join us on Peacock.
Reuters contributed to this report