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Six male and three female 470 teams have booked their nation a spot on the start line of the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition following the 2015 470 World Championship in Haifa, Israel.
Out of the 26 Men’s 470 and 20 Women’s 470 boats that will be seen at the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition six men’s and three women’s spots were available at the 2015 Worlds. Thirteen men’s and ten women’s places were decided over one year ago at the Santander 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships with the large percentage of spots now sealed.
The six Men’s 470 nations to qualify for Rio 2016 from the 2015 470 Worlds (in nation order) are:
Argentina
Finland
Germany
Israel
South Africa
Turkey
The three Women’s 470 nations to qualify for Rio 2016 (in nation order) are:
Australia
Germany
Poland
Australia’s Mat Belcher clinched his sixth consecutive Men’s 470 world title in Haifa, his third with Will Ryan following a successful partnership with Malcolm Page.
Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar of Austria defended their women’s crown in Haifa with a convincing margin of points over Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR).
Click here for full results – http://2015worlds.470.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall
As hosts, Brazil automatically receives a place on the start line. Six places in the Men’s and Women’s 470 fleets will be awarded via a series of Continental Qualification Events sanctioned by ISAF, to finish by 1 June 2016 at the latest.
The inclusion for the first time by ISAF of Continental Qualification Events in the Qualification Pathway is an opportunity to develop sailing around the world and reflect the IOC Qualification System Principles. Key requirements of these Principles are to ensure the participation of the best athletes and ensure universality through continental representation.
The final day at ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao was filled with tension as the Medal Races decided the podium places, Rio 2016 Olympic qualification spots and Abu Dhabi World Cup Final positions.
Alongside this, sailors in the top three in each fleet receive a share of the 150,000 Euro prize fund.
Light wind and strong current has been a regularity throughout the week with those reading the conditions to full effect reaping the rewards. A 5-7 south eastern breeze made for a tense finale with sailors aiming to leave nothing on the water.
Chinese sailors dominated the day taking gold in the Men’s 470, Finn, Laser Radial and the Men’s and Women’s RS:X. Meanwhile, Singapore’s Justin Liu and Denise Lim in the Nacra 17, Laser sailor Lorenzo Chiavarini (GBR) and Japan’s Women’s 470 team took the spoils in their fleets.
Nacra 17
Singapore’s Justin Liu and Denise Lim stylishly wrapped up gold in the Nacra 17 with a Medal Race victory. It was their tenth race win of the week and with gold, they have qualified Singapore for a Rio 2016 Nacra 17 spot.
The pair revelled in Qingdao’s light air and with conditions in the Medal Race similar to the days prior, the odds were in their favour. Liu and Lim worked their way through the fleet during the Medal Race and finished 51 seconds clear of Japan’s Hiroki Goto and Wakako Tabata.
Throughout the week the Singaporeans remained coy about their chances, not taking anything for granted. When they crossed the finish there was visible sense of a relief that was quickly overtaken by joy as they let the celebrations commence.
“It’s amazing,” said Liu through a beaming smile. “There were so many challenges to make it here and to try and qualify the country. To be able to do it is amazing. It’ll be our first Olympics so there is so much to look forward to.”
Lim added, “We sailed the conditions quite well, and with our coaches help, he helped us a lot with the current and the wind changes and I think that gave us an advantage over the rest.”
Whilst the Singaporeans can look forward, the teams from China, Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand were understandably disappointed. A world cup silver and bronze for Zijin Wen and Rubei Yuan (CHN) and Tat Choi Fung and Yu Ting Chan (HKG) were mere consolation with Olympic dreams filling their head in advance of the competition.
Japan’s Goto and Tabata had beaten their main rivals in several key regattas building up to Qingdao but the big breeze that they excel in failed to kick in in Qingdao as they finished fifth overall.
Nonetheless, Goto remained complimentary to the Singaporeans and has an eye on the future, “I have to take my hat off to the Singapore team. It was light wind and they totally dominated. They sailed the wind so well.
“My aim was to inspire the next generation of Nacra sailors, and the next Olympic Sailing [Competition] will be in my home town of Enoshima. I will be there, hopefully as a coach because I have young people asking me to help them, so this is good. I’m not happy now but we have to look to the future for everyone.”
The Olympic Games aims to inspire generation after generation and with key inspirations such as Hiroki Goto driving the sport and multihull sailing forward, watch out for a high flying Japanese Nacra 17 team at Tokyo 2020.
Men’s and Women’s 470
Meanwhile in the Women’s 470 there was cause for Japanese merriment as the team snapped up gold and silver respectively.
Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka (JPN) held onto their overnight lead whilst a second in the Medal Race promoted Akiyo Yamaguchi and Eri Hatayama (JPN) into silver medal position.
As Yamaguchi and Hatayama crossed the finished line there were smiles stretched across their faces with high fives aplenty. Kondo Yoshida and Yoshioka followed behind them in third and revelled in their compatriots’ celebrations with grins creeping in before they finished.
It was a tense race in the light breeze for all the competitors and the points were close going into the race. Xiaoli Wang and Lizhu Huang (CHN) were breathing down the Kondo Yoshida and Yoshioka’s necks but the Japanese experience shone through as they remained calm as Kondo Yoshida explained, “Today there was a two point lead for us against the Chinese team who were our closest rivals. We got the win and we are very very happy.”
Shasha Chen and Haiyan Gao (CHN) completed the Women’s 470 podium.
It was a three way shoot out in the Men’s 470 between the Austrian, Chinese and Spanish teams. Four points separated them going into the Medal Race and it was China’s Hao Lan and Chao Wang who prevailed.
Lan and Wang finished second in the Medal Race compared to overnight leader David Bargehr and David Mahr’s fourth (AUT) and Onan Barreiros and Juan Curbelo Cabrera’s (ESP) third. As a result the Austrians were made to settle for silver, one point behind the Chinese with the Spaniards rounding off the podium.
“There is a little bit of a mixture between happy and disappointed,” explained Bargehr. “But overall the happy feeling is superior because we won a medal here and it’s always good to win a medal.
“We knew that points were very close with not much separation so we knew we had to sail a really good Medal Race to win this event.
“After the race you are always more clever than before, but it was a really tight Medal Race and it could have gone either way. And always you need a little bit of luck in a Medal Race.”
Laser and Laser Radial
The advantage going into the Laser Medal Race belonged to Great Britain’s Lorenzo Chiavarini as he owned a 17 point lead. He delivered the goods with a sixth place finish to complete a comfortable victory.
“I was a bit nervous coming into the day,” explained the British sailor, “but once I got out on the water everything started calming down.
“The race track was shorter so the gains were less today. Tiredness was also another point of the day but for me it was important to keep Tonci [Stipanovic] around me and not let him go too far.”
Croatia’s Stipanovic needed the to go massively in his favour if he was to overthrow Chiavarini. The British sailor controlled him and kept the Croatian behind him throughout the race with Stipanovic finishing second overall.
The Medal Race victory went the way of Pavlos Kontides (CYP) who moved up into the bronze medal position.
Chinese Laser Radial sailor Dongshuang Zhang loves sailing in Qingdao. She took her third consecutive victory at the event with another professional performance.
Zhang finished second in the Medal Race which confirmed her as gold medallist after the second placed Isabella Bertold (CAN) finished eighth overall.
Despite finishing 17 points clear of her rivals, taking another World Cup gold medal, 12,000 Euros in prize money and booking a spot at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final Zhang was less than impressed with her performance as she explained, “The race went very well, better than yesterday. I’m not very satisfied with the regatta, I made a lot of small mistakes which I will work on little by little.”
Men’s and Women’s RS:X
It was double gold for China in the Men’s and Women’s RS:X with Chunzuang Liu and Jiahui Wu clinching gold in their respected fleets.
Wu led the Women’s RS:X fleet from the first day but heading into the Medal Race Peina Chen (CHN) was firmly in contention, just six points off the leader. Chen finished one place ahead of Wu in the Medal Race but it wasn’t enough to topple her as Wu sealed gold.
“There was little wind and a lot of pumping,” explained Wu after racing, “but I am very happy with the win. It was a great competition for me and the less wind suited my style.”
Pei Ling Chen (CHN) took the Medal Race victory to pick up bronze.
Experienced Spanish racer Blanca Manchon finished in eighth but was upbeat after racing with lots of lessons learnt from Qingdao’s challenging current, “I had two OCS this week, I was risking a lot because I came here for training so it was good for me to try a little risk on the starts, but with the currents it was hard to be on the line and sometimes I just made a mistake. If I didn’t have that second OCS I would have finished third so I am happy.
“This place is totally different to Spain. It’s funny. It’s a different culture and wind so it was good. There was not much wind but it was great for my training.”
Not much separated the Men’s RS:X fleet throughout the Medal Race with tensions high but Liu managed to put himself in a good position. A second place confirmed his gold medal and upon crossing the finish line he let out a triumphant, “woohoo.”
Once ashore Liu said, “I performed really well, better than normal. Over the regatta there has been good and bad, but overall it has been good and I have learned a lot. We have made great progress as a nation in windsurfing with tough exercises.”
Bing Ye (CHN) and Zhichao Zang (CHN) complete the podium.
Finn
China’s Lei Gong overthrew Luwen Shen in the Finn to snap up a hard earned gold medal.
Gong and Shen battled hard throughout the week with very little separating them on the race track. The advantage belonged to Shen going into the Medal Race as he led Gong by five points.
However it was Gong’s experience that shone through in the Medal Race as he took a convincing bullet with Shen sailing through in fourth. One point was the difference at the end of the day.
For China’s Finn team it was a job well done throughout the week as they booked the nation a spot at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Attention now turns to the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final that is scheduled to take place from 27 October to 1 November 2015 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The best placed Asian and International sailors from ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao have booked their spot on the start line with the remaining sailors to be invited based on the ISAF World Sailing Rankings that will be released on 21 September.
Sailors and officials were welcomed to the 2015 edition of ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao at the opening ceremony on Tuesday 15 September.
More than 300 sailors from 32 nations have completed registration and are ready to race out of the venue of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition.
ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao is the fifth regatta of the 2015 series and is the final qualification regatta in the build up to the 2015 Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final. Whoever wins in each fleet will book their spot on the Abu Dhabi start line and the competition is set to be fierce over four days of fleet racing and Sunday’s Medal Race.
Alongside Abu Dhabi qualification spots, sailors will be gunning for a share of the 150,000 Euro prize fund as well as an ISAF Sailing World Cup medal. For Asian sailors in the Men’s and Women’s 470, Finn and Nacra 17, Qingdao holds extra significance as it is the qualifier for Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition. Across the four fleets, sailors from China, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will all be aiming to book a Rio 2016 spot.
Ahead of racing, sailors had a few final moments of relaxation at the opening ceremony and were treated to a cultural dance, traditional song from a local children’s choir as well as local cuisine.
During the opening ceremony ISAF Technical Delegate, Antonio González de la Madrid said, “On behalf of ISAF I would like to thank the city of Qingdao for the incredible welcome that you have shown all the sailors and officials who have come here.
“It is the third time Qingdao has hosted an ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta and it is very important for ISAF to continue our strong relationship with the Chinese Yachting Association and the Qingdao Municipal Government.
“The organizing committee have done an outstanding job in preparation for ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao and we have more than 230 sailors from 32 nations in attendance, highlighting the strength of the event as it continues to grow.
“This week, the sailors will be aiming to qualify for the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, claim a share of the prize fund as well as sealing an ISAF Sailing World Cup medal.
“Alongside this, ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao is an important step on the road to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Asian sailors in the Men’s and Women’s 470, Finn and Nacra 17 will be aiming to qualify their nation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
“The Olympic Games can leave an amazing legacy within each host nation and it’s excellent to see the legacy of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games lives strong here, in Qingdao, China’s Sailing City.”
With the forecast set to be fair for the opening day of racing on Wednesday 16 September sailors will take to the water from 10:30 onwards in preparation for a 12:00 local time start.
The stakes at ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao, taking place from 14-20 September 2015, will be raised with Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition places on the line.
As the Asian continental qualification regatta for the Men’s and Women’s 470, Finn and Nacra 17 the competition in Qingdao is set to be fierce with a depth of international sailing talent within the respective fleets. Alongside Olympic qualification, more than 240 sailors from 37 nations will be gunning for a share of the $150,000 USD prize fund, ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots as well as a World Cup medal.
Qingdao will be the final chance for Asian Nacra 17 sailors to qualify for Rio 2016 after 13 spots were distributed at the 2014 ISAF Worlds and 2015 Nacra 17 Worlds. The 470 and Finn sailors will have another opportunity later on in the year at their respective World Championships.
The last time an Asian crew, who weren’t representing the host nation, sailed in an Olympic multihull competition was Seoul 1988 as Naoyuki Ogawa and Takashi Tamura flew the Japanese flag on their Tornado. Fast forward to 2015 and crews from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Thailand have an opportunity to qualify for an Olympic Games outright and on merit.
Japan’s Hiroki Goto and Wakako Tabata arguably come into the regatta as the pair to beat. Goto and Tabata finished ahead of Justin Liu and Denise Lim (SIN) by two spots at the 2015 Nacra 17 Worlds and five clear of Hong Kong’s Tat Choi Fund and Yu Ting Chan.
Goto has hopes of qualifying for Rio but his intention and drive is to inspire the youth of the country to sail multihulls ahead of Tokyo 2020, a home Olympic Games.
“There is almost no multihull sailing in Japan whatsoever,” commented Goto. “We have a home [Olympic] Games in Tokyo and we need someone there. It would be ideal to get someone in the Games before. I wanted someone to start but no one came forward so I went for it.
“The change to the qualification is good. It would be so tough otherwise for example Africa and Asia to qualify for the Olympics.
“I really hope that I can encourage the younger generation to take up multihull. I am 42 and I want to show if I can do it, they can definitely do it.”
Goto’s hopes could turn into reality in Qingdao but the Singaporean and Hong Kong teams will provide a real challenge whilst a contingent of four Chinese teams will benefit from knowing their home waters.
Whoever takes that spot will also book their ticket to the Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final making it a double whammy from Qingdao.
The Men’s 470 will be one of the most hotly contested battles with eight nations, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand all battling for one Olympic spot.
Singapore’s Darren Choy, who will be sailing with Jeremiah Yeo, has had a feel of what the Olympics is like after competing at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games and is aiming for the real deal. “The Youth Olympic Games made me want to experience the Olympic Games and feel the true spirit in the games because it is the highest prestige in the sport and to compete for Singapore would be an honour,” said Choy.
He continued, “The event is a really important one for us. It is our only ticket now to the 2016 Rio Olympics, as well as the opportunity to show that we are worth sponsoring and funding. I would love to qualify as this would give me a taste on what the Games are like and to experience it would be a dream for me.”
Compared to those around them, Choy and Yeo are two of the youngest sailors in the fleet and miss out on some big time experience that their rivals hold and Choy was quick to identify his main rivals for Qingdao when asked, “It would definitely have to be the top Chinese and Korean teams as they have been on the Olympic circuit for many years, thus have a lot of experience. We’ve been working on some speed technique and race preparation in Singapore and I’m aiming to be the top Asian nation, and to qualify Singapore for the Rio Olympics.”
China will be represented by 13 Men’s 470 teams in Qingdao and with a strong presence on the start line, could be viewed as the favourites to take the Olympic spot. However, in a fleet of 32 that also features top 470 sailors such as David Bargehr and Lukas Mahr (AUT) and Onan Barreiros and Juan Curbelo Cabrera (ESP), anything can happen.
In the Women’s 470, the fight will be between Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. The strong teams from China and Japan qualified at the Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds making it a three horse race for qualification.
As for the battle to Abu Dhabi, defending champions Mengxi Wei and Yani Xu (CHN) return to defend their title but will face stiff competition from Angela Pumariega and Patricia Cantero Reina (ESP) and Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka (JPN).
In the Finn fleet, eight boats will take to the start line and include seven Chinese sailors and one Iranian. The odds will be heavily stacked towards the Chinese sailors with regards to the one Olympic spot on offer and the Abu Dhabi World Cup final spot but Iran’s Ahmad Ahmadi will fight hard across the week.
Racing across the nine Olympic fleets is scheduled to commence on 16 September with Medal Races bringing the regatta to a close on 20 September.
The 2015 Nacra 17 World Championship held in Aarhus, Denmark from 2-10 July was the second opportunity for nations to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition in the Mixed Multihull.
Rio 2016 will see 20 nations on the Nacra 17 startline. Ten places were decided at the Santander 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships with three further spots available at the 2015 Nacra 17 Worlds.
The three nations to qualify for Rio 2016 from the 2015 Nacra 17 Worlds are:
Aruba
Germany
Spain
Billy Besson and Marie Riou (FRA) won gold at the Nacra 17 Worlds for the third consecutive year following a dominant performance. From nine races the French duo took six victories and a third in the Medal Race sealed the deal.
Australia’s Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin took silver whilst Mandy Mulder and Coen De Koning (NED) picked up bronze.
As hosts, Brazil automatically receives a place on the start line. Six places will be awarded via a series of Continental Qualification Events sanctioned by ISAF, to finish by 1 June 2016 at the latest.
The inclusion for the first time by ISAF of Continental Qualification Events in the Qualification Pathway is an opportunity to develop sailing around the world and reflect the IOC Qualification System Principles. Key requirements of these Principles are to ensure the participation of the best athletes and ensure universality through continental representation
The 2015 Laser World Championship was the second opportunity for competitors in the Men’s One Person Dinghy to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition.
Of the 46 places available on the Rio 2016 Laser startline, nine were up for grabs at the 2015 Worlds which were held in Kingston, Canada from 2-8 July 2015. The first qualification regatta, the Santander 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships saw 24 nations secure a spot in Rio.
The nine nations to qualify for Rio 2016 from the 2015 Laser Worlds (in nation order) are:
1. Argentina
2. Chile
3. Estonia
4. Hungary
5. Korea
6. Montenegro
7. Peru
8. South Africa
9. Spain
Across a testing 13 race series in Canada, Nick Thompson (GBR) came out on top to take his first Laser world championship title. Philipp Buhl (GER) and Tom Burton (AUS) finished in second and third respectively.
As hosts, Brazil automatically receives a place on the start line. Eleven places will be awarded via a series of Continental Qualification Events sanctioned by ISAF, to finish by 1 June 2016 at the latest. The remaining two places in the Laser will be decided via the International Olympic Committee Tripartite Commission.
The inclusion for the first time by ISAF of Continental Qualification Events in the Qualification Pathway is an opportunity to develop sailing around the world and reflect the IOC Qualification System Principles. Key requirements of these Principles are to ensure the participation of the best athletes and ensure universality through continental representation.
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