Update
Perfect family affair: Rio 2016 and Argentina’s Santi Lange (right) and crew Cecilia Carranza Saroli (centre) are joined in their Nacra gold medal celebrations by Lange’s two sons Klaus and Yago who have swum over after finishing 7th overall in the Men’s 49er class
is pretty good. Yes, I know, thanks captain obvious, but mother nature was not in a very co-operative mood for this inaugural event. For NYYC American Magic the result was a combination of a lot
of work and time in the boat. Goodie/Tom, Michael/Riley sailed well. The lack of breeze on Saturday was frustrating and I know the guys were not happy with the performance. So it was good to see them come out and stay committed to the process of racing. As we progress through the rest of 2023 as a team it is important
to remind ourselves that these are test events. Success here does not guarantee us anything. But when I walked into work on Monday morning you could see the smiles and the injection of energy that success on the racecourse provide. The memories of 2021 are fading and a weekend of winning helps. Standing by, Barcelona, Spain!
PURE STEEL – Carlos Pich When Santi Lange announced during the Olympic Class World Championship in The Hague that he was abandoning his Olympic career there was a powerful reaction among current Olympic sailors, but also across a large part of the world sailing community. Lange is a born competitor, but also a lover of sailing and a
gentleman on and off the water. He is surely one of the most respected and admired sailors, setting a benchmark when he underwent serious lung surgery less than a year before Rio 2016. When his stubbornness, sacrifice and sheer talent were rewarded with the gold medal, the Argentine joined the list of great legends of world sport. So was the decision to end a glorious career because of recent
racing results, or was it premeditated…? Santi Lange: What happened is that our qualifiers for the 2024 Argentine Olympic team were the Princess Sofia regattas, Hyères and the World Cup in The Hague. In Hyères I had a poor regatta because five days earlier I underwent surgery on my appendix which unfortunately had left me quite weak. After that it was almost impos- sible to win the selection but if there is still a mathematical possibility you have to try! Our Argentinian rivals were sailing really well and I could see we needed a miracle, so by the time we were driving to The Hague I was already ‘chewing over’ the situation. Seahorse: Honestly, Lange, if you had won the Argentine place, would you then have retired after Marseille 2024, or were you already considering starting another Olympic campaign…
14 SEAHORSE
SL: It depends (laughs). I think that if I had been competitive in the 2024 Ga mes I would have continued, but only if I had seen myself capable of sailing at a high level, not continuing for the sake of it. While I am competitive I really enjoy the sport. I would not have ruled out continuing until 2028. SH:Would you remind us about your Olympic story – in case anyone considers you a ‘recent’ star of the sport! SL: My first campaigns were Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984, for which I failed to qualify. The first Olympics I competed in were in Seoul 1988 (eighth) sailing in the Soling with Pedro Ferrero and Raúl Sena. Then I had some problems with the Argentine federation for Barcelona 1992, but I was in Atlanta 1996 in the Laser (ninth). Then I started my affair with the Tornado. First it was Sydney 2000 (10th) with Mariano Parada, then for the next two Games Carlos Espínola. We won bronze in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. For Rio 2016 I switched to the mixed Nacra 17 with Cecilia Carranza and we won. My seventh Olympics was Tokyo 2020 (seventh), again in the Nacra with Cecilia. We did not win but had the honour of being the flag bearers for Argentina at the opening ceremony. SH: How has Olympic sailing evolved over all these years? SL: It is clear that today the speed of the boat and the physical qualities of the crew are more important than the tactical and strategic game. The kitesurf and wind foil classes compete on very short courses and the test lasts just minutes, even in Nacra races last only 20 minutes. The Nacra is super-exciting, squeezing all the performance out of the boat is a challenge. The higher you sail (fly) the more likely you are to lose control. The boathandling is much more intense than anywhere else, it dictates results much more than being cleverer with the wind. SH: So if regattas were a little longer would they be more interesting? SL: No, no!! I think that when you do shorter races the tournament has more interesting parts. I think it is better that there are more tests, even if they are shorter. This makes the game more interesting because there are more decisions to make. In certain conditions long races have very few changes in positions, whoever leads has all the advantage. Two current regattas are equivalent to one from before, but they are much more dynamic and intense. SH:What about the different boats from your Olympic campaigns? SL: My first two campaigns – in which I didn’t get to the Games – were in the 470. Then in the Soling and then the Laser, because it was the cheapest option and the situation in my country at that time was very delicate.
ALAMY
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