Wrap up of the Last Chance Regatta

Heavy rain had fallen all day on the south coast of France but there was no dampening the enthusiasm of the lucky few who knew they had done enough to qualify a place for their country at the Olympics.

49er skiff LCR

Men’s skiff teams from Germany, Belgium and Brazil went into Friday’s 49er medal race on almost equal points. With a 1,2,3 finish in the medal race, the overall podium ranking remained the same and these three nations could celebrate having secured the nation’s spots at the Olympics. Both skiff events have seen fierce competition in Hyères, and the men’s skiff 49er concluded with Hong Kong, China claiming the last of the four Olympic qualification spots on offer following Akira Sakai and Russell Aylsworth placing seventh.

Sakai and Ayslworth’s hard work means their country joins Germany, Belgium and Brazil in taking a last-chance Paris 2024 ticket.

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49erFX skiff LCR

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Aleksandra Melzacka and Sandra Jankowiak have dominated the women’s skiff competition all week. Their reward is earning Poland a place at Paris before Friday’s medal race was even run. Behind the leaders, are the second Polish team of Czapska and Rajchert who finished second in the medal race and overall. As Poland, Finland, Czech and Japan already knew they had done enough to secure the remaining nation’s spots for Paris 2024, the battle for Germany’s ticket was on! The Germans had to finish in front of Japan overall to secure their Olympic ticket, as they were not on the developing nation list. The outcome was in their favor as Bergmann and Wille finished 3rd overall, taking the 3rd country ticket available!

“It has been a tough week,” said Tanaka. “We’re not so good in strong winds but we did our best in the conditions. It’s not an easy game, very tough, but we qualified for the Olympics and we’re happy.”

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Nacra 17 Mixed Multihull LCR

In the mixed multihull Nacra 17, there were still two of the four Olympic qualifying places on offer and one of them went to Belgium, who placed two boats in the top four with Lucas Claeyssens and Eline Verstraelen finishing third, and Arthur de Jonghe and Janne Ravelingien coming fourth.

The other place went to Japan after Shibuki Iitsuka and Oura Nishida Capiglia’s fifth place. The event was won by Danish pair Natacha Violet Saouma-Pedersen and Mathias Bruun Borreskov who led from the front all week while Türkiye’s Alican Kaynar and Beste Kaynakçi were second.