Last Chance Regatta & Qualified Nations Regatta at French Olympic Week - Day 6
by US Sailing Team 26 Apr 17:56 BST
April 21-27, 2024
US Sailing Team at the Last Chance Regatta day 6 © Allison Chenard / US Sailing Team
The penultimate day of racing greeted competitors with dark, rainy skies and 10-15 knots of breeze. US Sailing Team's Ford McCann took the water for the ILCA 7 Last Chance medal race but entered with too many points between himself and third to make Olympic country qualification possible.
McCann set up on the starting line below regatta leader Jeemin Ha (South Korea) and was faced with a challenging wave set right at go. Halfway up the first leg, he broke free and made progress up the middle-left of the course and moved into 7th, then had a brief stint in 5th on the first downwind run in good breeze. McCann rounded the leeward gate in 8th and remained as such for the rest of the race. The top three country rankings for Olympic tickets were given to South Korea, Estonia, and Malaysia, and El Salvador claimed the Emerging Nations berth.
"This week delivered a wide range of conditions and I believe each of us had our time to shine," said USST athlete Ford McCann, referencing training partners Marshall McCann and Leo Boucher. "After a slow start to the regatta, the pressure was on to keep in touch with the leaders and I was able to log a few great starts and land some top results. Unfortunately, a few uncontrollable moments and a few risky calls were enough to weigh down my scoreline. Looking back, I believe I'm at my top form and that with a little more experience and a couple more championships under my belt that I would have been right in the Olympic mix. We never took time or resources for granted in this short campaign, and I'm grateful for the wisdom shared from veterans of the sailing world as we look to Los Angeles."
US Sailing Team athlete Charlotte Rose will enter tomorrow's ILCA 6 medal race in first after scoring two top-three finishes in today's races. Rose has been incredibly consistent this event, with only two finishes outside the top 10, one of which was her drop score. Rose will be joined in the medal race by Dutch sailor and gold, silver, and bronze medalist Marit Bouwmeester, two-time World Champion Emma Plasschaert from Belgium, and World Champion Mária Érdi, all currently sitting in 2nd, 4th, and 7th, respectively.
USST 49er athletes Andrew Mollerus and Ian MacDiarmid will also be moving on to the medal race tomorrow in 6th overall. After a tricky week of racing, Mollerus and MacDiarmid are only five points out from third place.
With Paris country qualification opportunities now closed, the United States will officially field a team of nine classes in Marseille this summer: Mixed 470, 49er, 49erFX, ILCA 6, Men's and Women's Kite, Men's and Women's iQFOiL, and Nacra 17. The complete Paris roster will be announced on May 12 with the completion of the Nacra 17 World Championship in La Grande Motte, France where the USA Nacra representatives will be decided.
USA Standings in the Last Chance Regatta at French Olympic Week
- FINAL: Men's iQFOiL - USA 2nd country ranking overall (needed 5th or higher)
- 2nd - Noah Lyons, US Sailing Team & Paris 2024 Nominated Athlete
- FINAL: Men's Formula Kite - USA 3rd country ranking overall (needed 5th or higher)
- 4th - Markus Edegran, US Sailing Team & Paris 2024 Nominated Athlete
- 27th - Adam Keaton
- FINAL: ILCA 7 - USA 7th country ranking overall (need 3rd or higher)
- 7th - Ford McCann, US Sailing Team & Paris 2024 Selected Athlete
- 14th - Marshall McCann
- 20th - Leo Boucher
USA Standings in the Qualified Nations Regatta at French Olympic Week
- ILCA 6
- 1st - Charlotte Rose, US Sailing Team
- FINAL: 26th - Christina Sakellaris
- FINAL: 30th - Lilly Myers
- 49er
- 6th - Andrew Mollerus & Ian MacDiarmid, US Sailing Team
- FINAL: 15th - Ian Barrows & Hans Henken, US Sailing Team & Paris 2024 Nominated Athletes
- FINAL: Mixed 470
- 11th - Stu McNay, OLY & Lara Dallman-Weiss, OLY, US Sailing Team & Paris 2024 Nominated Athletes, 4x Olympian & Tokyo Olympian
- FINAL: Women's Formula Kite
- 15th - Daniela Moroz, US Sailing Team & Paris 2024 Nominated Athlete
- FINAL: Women's iQFOiL
15th - Dominique Stater, US Sailing Team & Paris 2024 Nominated Athlete
Event website: sof.ffvoile.fr
Find full results here