Plenty of teams showed up on day 1 of the 2023 Sailing World Championship, and three teams sit atop the leaderboard on three points. Belgians Isaura Maenhaut with Anouk Geurts capped a day starting with two seconds with a win for a dream start to their Paris 2024 Qualification campaign. The pair were very young at their first games in Tokyo, but have been steadily moving up the leaderboard all quadrennial and are verging on contender status.
They are tied with 2023 World Championship silver medalists, Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler (SWE). The pair were third at the Test Event last month but had a scare as Vilma suffered a knee injury on the pennultimate day of the Test Event. She’s had a month of rest and recovery prior to the worlds, and so far it doesn’t look like her brace is fazing her sailing too much.
Olivia Price with Evie Haseldine (AUS) sit tied on top too, with a win, a second, and a fourth. Price won Silver at the 2012 games in the match racing, and the pair have been pushing hard all season, with a 12th in Palma, an 11th in Hyeres, at a 10th at the Test Event.
Price had retired from sailing following the Australian Sailing decision not to send and FX to the Rio games, but came back for the chance to sail with Evie, about a decade her junior. The pair grew up together as family friends, and are now forming a partnership that has all the pedigree to reach the elite levels of the FX fleet.
Addition races were won by Roble and Shea (USA), the Schmidt sisters (DEN), and Hofmann and Bartelheimer (GER).
At Tidey day from the brits
Molly Meech subtly reminds the kids that one day, if they work really hard at the sport they love, they too could join us in a fenced in sand pit.
For results, stories, photos and links head to International 49er Class Association » 2023 World Sailing Championship
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