Day 1
- 729 competitors
- 56 nations
- All 10 fleets on the water – 31 races
- Next Olympic generation shining
The 56th edition of French Olympic Week (Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères – Toulon Provence Méditerranée) began in classic Côte d’Azur conditions as 729 competitors from 56 nations started six days of racing. All ten fleets managed the full programme of 31 races in building offshore westerlies as Hyères was bathed in unending sunshine.
After hosing the highest level of sailing for over half a century, Hyères has seen every arc of the Olympic wheel and in the year after Paris 2024 it is a time when new stars shine and old hands take note.
“Yes! Best day ever! Oh dear, don’t put that down,” Britain’s Eleanor Keers & Jess Jobson said laughing in the boat park when asked if it was their best performance in a senior Women’s FX regatta. It was the kind of raw excitement that makes this event so kinetic.
“It was just our first time senior racing in those conditions. And in Palma, we started off the first day, first race leading on the mark and then we lost it on the first downwind, so to actually manage to hold it was really felt really good. It felt like a good comeback.”
Nacra 17 (mixed double-handed catamaran)
Three races today
21 April, 2025
Italy continue to underline their incredible strength and depth in the mixed multihull. Gianluigi Ugolini & Maria Giubilei (14, 2, 1 in the three races), lead after finishing on a high (and discarding a difficult first race) from the most consistent boat in the fleet, the Austria duo of Laura Farese & Matthäus Zöchling (2, 1, 2).
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Ugolini & Giubilei are far from new stars, as they pushed their training partners – Italy’s double Olympic champions, Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti – all the way for selection for Paris 2024, but this is their cycle to step in the sunshine.
Gianluigi Ugolini & Maria Giubilei (ITA):“With the discard, yes we are (leading). The second and third race were good for us; in the first one, unfortunately, we took our plastic bag on the foil on the second part of the first upwind. So, we were out from the game of the head group. In the last race, we had a bad start, but we made a good upwind piece, found a good channel, and expressed the pressure we had.
It’s only the first day but we’re happy to see what’s next.
It was much lighter than we expected, the first race it dropped to seven knots. It was about 14 and it was building up by the end.
Maybe tomorrow will be not so strong, but yes. strong week. We like strong wing, and we hope for strong wind.”
Laura Farese & Matthäus Zöchling (AUT) :“In the second and the third race we were in a really close fight with Gigi and Maria, and it was always like, one boat ahead, one both length. We managed to win the second, they managed to win the third. I think the two of us were kind of ahead of the fleet.
I think in the end, we had really nice conditions. We managed three races with good breeze, all in control [laughing]. If it’s 10 knots or above, it’s always upwind foiling.”
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49er (men’s and women’s double-handed skiff)
Women’s FX
21 April, 2025
Three races today
Belgium’s Isaura Maenhaut & Anouk Geerts (6, 14, 1) moved into the lead after winning the third and last race of the day, but the two-time Olympians had a new rival on their radar as the emerging British duo of Eleanor Keers & Jess Jobson put together the most consistent racing of day with three top ten finishes (1, 7, 8).
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Isaura Maenhaut & Anouk Geerts (BEL) : “The focus was it’s a really big fleet, so we had to get out of the big group, and in the last race we managed to get to the outside first. It’s such a big group, it’s hard, as soon as one small thing goes wrong, you get like kind of sucked to the middle of the group and then it gets more complicated, and there’s not so many clear lanes anymore. So, I think it’s a closer racing than what we’re used to.
It’s the first year (after the last Olympics), so I think some people are maybe not returning yet from the Olympics.
There’s a lot of new faces, teams are out training full-time, the whole series, I think, which is nice to see it. And there’s a lot of young talent coming up also. So it’s quite good racing.
I think we’ve seen that they (The British duo in second) had like a really good day and they’re coming up.
Eleanor Keers & Jess Jobson (GBR) : “The wind built from the first race a little bit – 10 knots building up to 14 – it’s kind of like Portland Harbour, which is where we train – so a good day for British crews,” Keers & Jobson said.
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Men’s 49er
Three races today
21 April, 2025
USA’s duo of Nevin Snow & Ian MacDiarmid (2, 10, 1) beat Britain’s Elliott Wells & Billy Vennis-Ozanne (19, 1, 2) into second place in the final race of the day and on the overall leaderboard.
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The Semaine Olympique Française Programme:
Monday, April 21 to Friday, April 25: Qualifying Rounds
Friday, April 25: iQFOiL and Formula Kite Medal Races
Saturday, April 26: ILCA, 49er, Nacra 17, and 470 Medal Races
Saturday, April 26: 17:00 – Awards Ceremony and Closing Ceremony
Sailing’s Grand Slam Calendar
– Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia – Mallorca, Spain (28 March – 5 April)
– Semaine Olympique Française – TPM – Hyères, France (18-26 April)
– Kieler Woche – Kiel, Germany (21-29 june)
– Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta – Long Beach, USA (12-20 july)
– The Holland Regatta – Netherlands (17-21 september)
