Pending protests, Bart Lambriex with Floris van de Werken have sailed brilliantly on the final day to secure their thrid straight world title without even needing to race the medal race.
On the final day of gold fleet racing, the Dutch duo scored a 1, 1, 3, dominating an extremely talented fleet of the world’s best sailors. The only other teams to ever with three straight 49er worlds are Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) who won consecutive four consecutive titles from 2013-2016, followed by two more in 2019 and 2020.
Race 13 is a win for Lambriex; fourth place went to Botin. Botin won the pin and headed left, while most of the fleet tacked immediately to port, including Lambriex. Lambriex had the best speed and rounded first, but Botin did fine winning the left. Botin fouled a starboard tack boat as they rounded the windward mark and had to do a 360, but only slipped down to 7th place. From there, Botin passed three boats to finish 4th while the Dutch won the race handily.
Race 14 Lambriex and van de Werken are on their game. They bailed out of a couple of tight spots at the start and moved to the Port Tack Option start instead. That is, they immediately ducked the fleet on port and headed right. In the pack, four boats pushed each other too hard, including Botin and Trittel, all scoring BFD (black flag disqualification). The result is not quite a disaster for the Spanish as they are only dropping a 12 prior, but with the Dutch winning again, it put the championship just about out of reach.
Few boats in the top 10 had great second races of the day. Moving into third overall is the Suiss, Schneiter and De Planta with a fifth and then Mollerus/Maddiarmid (USA) moved into fourth overall.
Race 15 – The Dutch sailed well again, finishing third, while Peters and Sterritt (GBR) won the race. Botin and Trittel (ESP) finished 16th, which means the Dutch have secured the overall victory. The Dutch now have a 26.8 point lead over the second-place Spanish, securing them the victory.
With protests still pending, the following countries have qualified for the games in 49er.
- Netherlands
- Spain
- Switzerland
- USA
- New Zealand
- Poland
- Great Britain
- Croatia
- Denmark
- Austria
Italy, Germany, and Ireland are the next three placed countries who have missed qualifying.
Also, Australia is now guaranteed a spot based on New Zealand qualifying, and there only being two competing nations in Oceania, and one spot awarded at the Oceania Qualifier. Canada also sets up well, as the USA has qualified early leaving one spot for North America at the Pan Am Games, and only Canada and Mexico remaining in North America.
In tough are the Asian nations and to some extent South America. Asia has the most nations remaining, and with none qualifying so far, they must all fight for a single spot at the Asian qualifier in Thailand this December. South America will also have a tough battle, with Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and potentially Peru all seeking out a single spot in the Pan Am Games. All teams not qualified by the end of the continental qualifiers must aim for one of the three at-large berths at the last chance qualifier in April 2024.
The medal race will be on August 18th, and there will be a solid battle for the silver medal between Spain and SUI, with the British, Kiwis, and American’s having a shot at the bronze.
For all the photos, results, and tracking.
