Nacra 17: Riley Gibbs & Anna Weis crowned Panamerican Champs 2019

Photo: SailGP Team US & Majdalani-Bosco fb. – Riley Gibbs & Ana Weis finished second in the Medal Race held today to secure first overall and the Panamerican 2019 Gold Medal. Outstanding performance with 7 bullets and fighting for the podium with two World top ten crews like Majadalani-Bosco (ARG) and Albretch-Nicolino (BRA).

Riley & Anna also secured the Olympic berth for the US. If in coming Nacra 17 Worlds they continue the level shown at Paracas they will also pave their path to represent their country at Tokyo 2020.

The Argentines had their chances and finished in great form winning R12 yesterday and the Medal Race today, giving themselves a chance for #1. Still their capsize in R10 near the finish line was in the end a tough obstacle to surpass. Either way they managed to finish 4pts behind and showed how focused they’ve been doing everything they could in the last races. Congrats to Mateo & Euge, first try for a medal and they got Silver. We are super Proud of the kids. More to come in the Future.

Third place for Brazil, Albretch-Nicolino finished 3rd today winning the Bronze Medal.

Uruguay confirmed with the South American slot for Tokyo and USA too winning the North American one thanks to Gibbs & Weis win. (I wrongly report past days US already had their spot for Tokyo)

Results below. Official ones at https://wrsd.lima2019.pe/PAG2019/en/results/sailing/overall-results-mixed-multihull-.htm , follow the Events dropdown in that link to review all classes.

Below results report sent by Nacra 17 & 49er Class Assoc. https://49er.org/event/2019-pan-american-games

Report by 49er & Nacra 17 Sailing : Brazil, Canada Secure Olympic 49er Berths

In absolute maximum wind conditions, the Canadian 49er team of Alex Heinzman and Justin Barnes beat Americans, Andrew Mollerus and Ian MacDiarmid, to claim the North American Olympic berth. The two teams were separated by only 1 point after 12 races, meaning the medal race would decide the outcome in a who beats who scenario.

The race was in doubt as the wind speed was at absolute maximum for the fleet. All the teams capsized at some point in the race, and the Canadians crossed the finish line upside down as they capsized in their final gybe, but with the American’s held up in a long capsize from the first lap they still managed to secure their position.

Argentinians Yago and Klaus Lange won the race and moved up into the silver medal position. Brazilians, Marco Grael and Gabriel Borges had already secured the gold medal and the South American Olympic berth prior to the medal race, and finished securely in third.
Yago and Klaus Lange win medal race, finish in Silver medal position

The narrow qualification for Canada is vital in the overall scheme of Olympic qualification since the 49er fleet is by far the most difficult fleet to qualify for the games for of all ten classes right now. With only 19 berths in total, there will only be 3 spots available at the 2019 World Championship in Auckland with a huge number of world class teams and nations vying for those spots including recent regatta winners from Spain, Poland, Italy, and others. The American’s will have a tough task now to work back into the mix.

Canada last qualified for the games in 2012 and will have five young teams up their training to see who can win the Canadian nomination to their Olympic team.
Nacra 17 Medal Race

The Nacra 17 fleet had a significantly easier time of the condition than the 49er fleet did, with the elevators providing much needed stability even in the tough conditions.

The big news overnight was that Uruguay’s Pablo Defasio and Dominique Knuppel won a redress hearing from race 11 of the series, dropping them 5.5 points less than the 10th they scored in that race, which mathematically secured them 4th overall and the South American continental berth. Had that not been the case, this medal race would have been a tight battle between the Uruguayan team who finish fifth overall.

There was one item left on the line for the race, as by winning Argentina’s Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco overtook Brazilians
Samuel Abrecht with Gabi Nicolino for the silver medal.

It was a very high quality regatta for the Nacra 17 fleet with 10 teams and close racing up and down the fleet. With both Argentina and Brazil having previously qualified at the 2018 Worlds in Aarhus it gave some extra light for the four other South American countries who have all been working well with each other in the Nacra 17.

There should be five more quota spots up for grabs at the next qualified, the 2019 Worlds in Auckland.

49erFX Medal Race

With conditions increasing all day, the race committee cancelled the 49erFX medal race. There was almost no ability for any place changing to occur in any event, so it likely made no difference and the teams were happy enough to call and end to proceedings and look forward to the Test Event that starts next week.

Penultimate Day – America take strangle hold of Nacra Olympic qualifying

American’s Riley Gibbs and Anna Weis won all four races on the day, to sit in gold medal position at the Pan Am Games. They dominated the day and now have a 32 point lead on the second best placing team from North America.

According to Weis, their success on the water is thanks to the recent improvements she and Gibbs have made together, “We’re improving every day as a team. Our speed and communication felt really good today. I think little improvements like that are what has made the difference in helping us do well.”

Their performance is even more impressive when considering that just eight weeks ago, it was possible that the pair would be unable to compete due to injuries. “Recently, I had a bi-lateral fasciotomy, which is, at a super basic level, surgery on both of my arms,” said Weis. “Despite my expected recovery time being somewhat up in the air, I thankfully rebounded pretty quickly and was lucky enough to be able to sail this event.” After Gibbs and Weis finish racing at the Pan American Games, they will head directly to Japan for the Ready Steady Tokyo Olympic Test Event. (Source US Sailing Newsletter)
Olympic Impact

The top teams from each of North and South America will each win for their countries an Olympic qualification berth. With 10 teams competing, five from each hemisphere, it’s a critical competition for these sailors and nations as they vie for Tokyo 2020

After a slow start to the Pan Am Games from Paracas, Peru, things really got going with four races for the Nacra 17 fleet on the third day of competition. To catch up to schedule, there were four races for the fleet, which will surely have favored the more experienced and physically fitter teams.

In the South American battle, Brazil and Argentina both sailed well cleaning up all of the second and third place results on the day, and sit tied with each other both 8 points behind the American’s. However, both of these nations qualified at Aarhus 2020, so the next teams from South America are the ones looking to qualify, and they’re in a tight battle. Uruguay and Peru are in fourth and fifth overall, on 31 and 32 points respectively, so will continue to fight for the remaining berth.

Assuming the American’s hold on for win, all is not lost for the four remaining teams from North America. Because this continental qualifying regatta is out of sequence with the Olympic qualifying schedule, if America is within the top 3 unqualified nations in Auckland 2019 World Championship, then the next highest placing team would get the spot.

It’s been quite hard to follow along with #Lima2019 so far, with no proper results table, photos, or daily reports. You can keep up with the daily happenings here, and there will be live tracking during the medal races to conclude the regatta. Of course, we’ll add what we can to the 49er and Nacra 17 pages as we find things.

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