Morning report: Windsurfing medals up for grabs

Today’s racing will take place in:

• Finn Men
• 49er Men
• 49er FX Women
• Foiling Nacra 17 Mixed
• RS:X Women – Medal Race
• RS:X Men – Medal Race

Good morning from Enoshima, where by the end of today we’ll have seen some Medal Ceremonies. Between now and then, it’s looking like a light-wind day across the race courses. The innermost course, called Enoshima, is where the Medal Races will be contested and it can be very tricky waters, often with a backwash off the shore making for confused sea state.

While Kiran Badloe (NED) has already secured gold in the RS:X Men, but the battle for windsurfing silver and bronze is going to be intense this afternoon.

Thomas Goyard (FRA) is in second overall, only two points ahead of Mattia Camboni of Italy, with Poland’s Piotr Myszka also in close contention.

The top three athletes in the RS:X Women have broken away from the rest of the pack sufficiently to know that they’ve won a medal. Now it’s a question of which colour. China’s Yunxiu Lu holds a slender lead ahead of Great Britain’s Emma Wilson with France’s reigning Olympic Champion Charline Picon looking to make it two golds in a row. This will be a fascinating three-way battle for the top step of the podium.

The Nacra 17 catamarans are back in action, but it will be a different kind of slo-mo action in potentially subfoiling conditions. Italians Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti hold the lead ahead of John Gimson and Anna Burnet (GBR), with Germany and Argentina not far behind.

Giles Scott (GBR) is looking to defend the lead ahead of the Spaniard ten years his junior, the ambitious and tenacious Joan Cardona. Plenty of others in the hunt including third-placed Zsombor Berecz from Hungary.

It’s neck and neck at the top of the 49er scoreboard with three teams on equal points – Great Britain, New Zealand and Spain. Will Pete Burling and Blair Tuke or Diego Botín and Iago López Marra be able to claim the gold bibs from Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell before the Medal Race? Denmark is just five points further back in fourth overall. 

The points have really tightened up at the top of the 49erFX leaderboard. Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED) hold top spot by just a point from the reigning World Champions from Spain, Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barcelo. The defending gold medallists Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) have been gaining since a poor opening day.

It’s a day off for the 470 Men and Women. For the top 10 athletes in the Laser Men and Laser Radial Women fleets, it’s a day to gather their thoughts before their Medal Races on Sunday.

Weather

• Mostly sunny with no chance of thunderstorm.
• Gradient winds: NE 5kt → SE 5kt
• Race Area surface wind less than 6kt, SSE-SSW 6kt from 11LT,  S-SSW 7-8kt from 12LT, SSW-SW 7-8kt from 14LT, SSW-SW 6-7kt from 16LT, Less than 5kt from 18LT.
• Sea state: 0.5m wave height.

Schedule

Medal Races

Enoshima Course

1430 JST  RS:X Women, Medal Race
1530 JST RS:X Men, Medal Race

Fleet Races

Enoshima Course

1200 JST 49er Men, 3 races

Kamakura Course

1200 JST 49erFX Women, 3 races

Zushi Course

1200 JST Nacra 17 Mixed, 3 races

Sagami Course

1200hrs  Finn Men, 2 races

To follow the racing on tracker, click here.

To find out more about international broadcasters of the Sailing, click here.

For more detail from the Weather Forecast, click here.

Words by Andy Rice – World Sailing
Photography by Sailing Energy / World Sailing