(Aarhus, Denmark) After three days and six races at the Sailing World Championships, the Laser fleets had a lay day to rest, recharge, and ready themselves for the final series. The 119 Laser Radials will be split into two fleets, gold and silver. The 165 Laser Standards are separating into gold, silver, and bronze fleets for the next two days of racing.
The Hempel Sailing World Championships is the first opportunity for sailors to qualify for Tokyo 2020. In the Laser Standard fleet, the top 14 countries will qualify, while the top 18 will qualify in the Laser Radial fleet.
Based on past performance, it is no surprise that New Zealand and Australia are currently leading the event in the Laser Standards. They are both a shoo-in for qualification at this point, especially Australia with three sailors sitting in the top 4 on the leaderboard. Contrary to Australian representation at the event, Cyprus has one sailor competing for qualification in the Laser Standard. Pavlos Kontides maintained top-10 finishes in the qualifying series and is right up there with the Australians, currently tied with Tom Burton in the standings; he is also sure to achieve Olympic qualification from this event. Based on performance in the qualifying series, Great Britain and Germany have a strong hold on their positions as well, heading into the final races. A surprise, however, has come from performance of team USA in the Laser Standards. Olympian Charlie Buckingham has had a difficult last few races and is sitting in 33rd overall behind teammate Chris Barnard in 29th. They will have to fight their way up over the next two days in order to attain one of the last country-qualifying spots.
In the Laser Radials, Anne-Marie Rindom has the opportunity to qualify Denmark for the Olympics in her native country as she currently sits atop the leaderboard before the finals. USA and the Netherlands are also practically guaranteed to qualify in the Laser Radial. Both countries have three strong competitors in the top 20 heading into the final series. Based on performance, Norway, Belgium, and Finland are also sure to qualify at this event. A surprise in the Radials has come from Germany and Japan, each with strong sailors but both are currently in positions that will have to be defended and protected if they want to secure a qualification. In the positive words of Nethra Kumanan (IND), “I think making it Tokyo 2020 is realistic, it will be very hard but certainly is realistic.”
The next two days will show very exciting racing as the stakes are raised. Be sure to tune in for LIVE coverage of the Gold fleet racing on Tuesday, August 7.
12:00 CET – Laser Standard Gold Fleet
14:30 CET – Laser Radial Gold Fleet
Top 3 Results
Laser Radial – Women
1) Anne-Marie Rindom – DEN – 13 pts
2) Line Flem Høst – NOR – 20 pts
3) Paige Railey – USA – 22 pts
Laser Standard – Men
1) Sam Meech – NZL – 9 pts
2) Luke Elliott – AUS – 13 pts
3) Matt Wearn – AUS – 13 pts
Full results can be found here: https://aarhus2018.sailing.org/results
Photos can be found here: https://worldsailing.photoshelter.com/gallery-collection/CLASSES/C00003_jqV9_a2kA
Daily videos can be found here: https://aarhus2018.sailing.org/watch