Nevin Snow and Mac Agnese (USA) won two of their three qualifying races to share the overall lead as their American teammates are also each in the top twelve, setting up the USA well for Olympic Qualifying. Snow is the US college sailor of the year and has had flashes of brilliance in the 49er but also and up and down career so far. In teaming up with Mac Agenese, a member of the 2019 America’s Cup American Magic Team he’s formed a stable partnership and an upward trajectory on his Olympic sailing career.
(USA 84 heads right (Ian Barrows with Hans Henken, while USA 43 head left (Andrew Mollerus and Ian Macdiarmid heading to a 4, and 3 finish respectively)
Also winning two races were Diego Botin with Florian Tritell (ESP), fresh off their seminal Sail GP win, to sit tied with the Americans on two points overall.
Three teams are tied for third at this early stage, with Wang/Qi (CHN), Fantela brothers (CRO), and Przbytek/Piasecki (POL) each on four points. 19 nations sit within the 25-place cutoff for gold fleet, showing the increasing depth of 49er racing globally. Asia has had its best-ever day in the 49er, with China, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, and India all making the gold fleet standard. Asia has been purchasing 40% of the world’s 49ers since 2012, and as the depth and focus have improved, now the results are too.
The Hague, The Netherlands is hosting the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships from 11th to 20th August 2023. More than 1200 sailors from 80 nations are racing across ten Olympic sailing disciplines. Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition places will be awarded as well as 10 World Championship medals Credit: Sailing Energy / World Sailing. 11 August 2023.
Ten nations, excluding France, will qualify for Paris, and nations have a rooting interest in other nations from their continent as a quirk of the qualifying system. For example, if China and Korea were to finish in their current positions, they would not need to qualify at the next stage, the continental qualification, opening up greater opportunities for other Asian nations. The case is likewise in the Americas and Oceania, which will all have teams on the bubble of Olympic qualifying.
The defending World Champions, Labmriex and Van De Werken has a very good day with a 1, 4, 5.
(above, Lambriex and Van De Werken (NED), sailing well on home waters)
The British squad is the other nation to have three teams in the top 25, led by Robins and Hughes.
This is a developing story, meaning we will continue to update this blog as the day progresses. At the time of first publishing, the 49erFX and Nacra 17 are on course for their first races of the day, which can be followed on live tracking via the link below.
For full results, photos, and stories, follow at: International 49er Class Association
