Paul Cayard
Out of the drought…
The US Sailing Team had a good spring with some nice results in Palma and Hyères. Two golds and three silvers out of 20 medal oppor- tunities are certainly an improvement over our recent past performances. There is plenty of downplaying that can be said about all of this, Daniela [Moroz] is one of a kind (she is!), the
49er class is in disarray with its equipment (it is) and these are just early training regattas in year two of a shortened Olympic Quad (they are). Still our athletes trained for these events, made equip- ment choices, went to Europe and executed. It’s a start. That said, the road is long, and the hill is steep. The Paris Olympic
Games is the next large measurement point on Team USA’s ‘path to the podium’. The sailing will be held in Marseille in July of that year and the lead-up to that is a bit complicated due to the compressed quad… ‘triad’? Due to Tokyo 2020/21 everything has been pushed a year out
which creates the compression. Beyond all the normal events in Olympic Sailing, including World and European Championships, there is a lead-up to country qualifications and the Games regatta itself. Normally these qualifying events start two years ahead of the Games, but due to the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games country qualifying doesn’t start until August of 2023. It is important to begin planning now for 2023 as things will happen very fast. To begin this process there will be a practice event in The Hague
this summer as a lead-up to the first country qualifier, the Combined World Championships in August 2023. While this year’s regatta doesn’t count for anything it is an important opportunity to get the lie of the land (and sea) for 2023. This huge event will see classes
32 SEAHORSE
race in staggered time slots through August and September of 2022. In 2023 there will be an Olympic Test Event (Pre-Olympics for us
older folks) in July, in Marseille. Immediately after that, in August, it’s back to The Hague for the Combined World Championships, just 11 months before the Games. Forty per cent of the country spots for the 2024 Olympics (the absolute number varies by class) will be allocated at this one event! Shortly after the Combined Worlds will be regional continental
qualifiers. For the USA, Canada, Mexico and the islands in and around the Caribbean it will be the Pan American Games in Chile. One country per event will qualify from North America and the Caribbean, and one country will qualify from South and Central America at the PanAm Games. Europe will have European Championships, Asia, Oceana and Africa will be similar. For the individual male and female dinghy events (ILCA 7 and 6) it will be two countries per regional continent. If this sounds complicated, don’t worry, it is. Following the regional continental qualifiers in 2023, there will
be a ‘last chance regatta’ in early 2024 to fill out the remaining Games spots. Add to early 2024 our selection trials, world champion - ships and Games preparation and you have some scheduling challenges… Not only do athletes need to compete and rest, but equipment will have to be moved around to match this schedule (no one actually knows at this point when or where the ‘last chance regatta’ and 2024 world championships will be scheduled). Shipping schedules are less than reliable these days but at least
the cost is triple what it used to be so we have that going for us!!! All this means that no one wants to be relying on the ‘last chance’. At Team USA we are thinking about all this and we are up to the challenge. We have new staff members who are adding strength
VAN DER BORCH
SAILING ENERGY
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