Paris 2024: Skiff Medal Races abandoned, will go again tomorrow; Lyons Qualifies for Medal Series
by US Sailing Team 1 Aug 23:38 BST
July 28 - August 8, 2024
Noah Lyons (Clearwater, FL) sailed into the medal series © Sailing Energy / US Sailing Team
It was an emotionally charged day on the Bay of Marseille as the Men's and Women's Skiffs tried and failed to complete their medal races, while on the other end of the bay Men's Windsurfer Noah Lyons clinched his entry into the Medal Series.
The Men's Skiffs set out for their medal race with an intended start time of 1440. Race committee started not one, but two races, only for each to be abandoned due to insufficient breeze.
The men's fleet floated around on the course and the Women's Skiffs were sent off to pit lane to prepare, but at 5pm local time, the organizers called racing off for the day, turning to the event's reserve days to prioritize more quality racing in better conditions. Olympic sailing schedules have backup "reserve" days built into the schedule for the race committee to use in case of poor weather conditions, and the skiffs had not yet needed their backup days until today. The fifth day of competition tested skiff sailors' patience and their ability to stay focused and hydrated during a long, hot day on the bay.
"The waiting game is part of it," said Maggie Shea, Team USA Women's Skiff crew. "We are ready to go and grateful for another day for the wind to cooperate. The US Sailing Team did an incredible job keeping us cool, hydrated, well fed, and ready for action."
"Considering all that happened today, I'm feeling really good," said Hans Henken, Team USA Men's Skiff crew. "We know what to expect for tomorrow and are looking forward to going out there again and giving it our all."
On the Corniche course area farther from shore, the Men's Windsurfers got the blessing of the day's best breeze. Lyons knew all he had to do was stay top 10 in order to advance to the medal series, and with a 6, 14, 22 scoreline today, he did just that. Lyons dropped the 22nd finish - his final race of the day - to end day five in 7th overall.
"My goal was to make top-10 at my first Olympic Games, and I've already achieved that, so it feels great," said Lyons. "I'm excited to push the envelope tomorrow, give it my all, see how high I can climb in the rankings, and enjoy my last day at the Olympics."
There are three stages of the Windsurfer medal series: quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, each consisting of one race. The top sailor going in to the medal series progresses directly to the final, while sailors in 2nd and 3rd advance automatically to the semifinals.
The quarterfinal race decides the rest of the semifinal, with sailors ranked 4 through 10 racing against each other with the resulting top two moving on to the semis. Two sailors will then advance to the final from the semifinals to join the top ranked sailor from the opening series. The final race is a winner take all, with the race finishes translating to medals.
Along with the excitement of medal races, today saw the opening races for the Women's Dinghy, the ILCA 6. Even with a delayed afternoon start, the fleet was only able to complete one of their two prescribed races. ILCA 6 sailor Erika Reineke was minted an Olympian today as she finished the day's one race in 13th out of 43 competitors.
In the Women's Windsurfer, Dominique Stater scored an 8, 20, 14, in the day's three races, falling short of the medal race and closing out her regatta. While this is the end of her run in Marseille, Stater isn't done yet.
"I had more to give than my scores reflected, and I wish I had climbed higher in the rankings but sometimes it doesn't go as planned," said Stater. "I have to remind myself of the work I did to get here and, regardless of the results, be proud of that accomplishment. I'm hungry for more."
Because of the postponed Medal Races, day six of competition will be the regatta's busiest day on the Bay of Marseille, with seven disciplines competing across four medal races/series and three in regular series racing. USA will participate in six of the seven tomorrow, bringing in Stu McNay (Providence, RI) and Lara Dallman-Weiss (Shoreview, MN) in the Mixed 470 for their first day of competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Viewers back home can catch the action on NBC's Peacock with archived reruns to follow.
For more information on the 13 Team USA athletes competing in the sailing events, on the racing schedule, the broadcast coverage and more, see US Sailing’s Olympics Page.