Looking at the French Olympic Week, revisiting Charleston Race Week, looking ahead to TOR Atlantic
by David Schmidt 21 Apr 16:00 BST
April 21, 2026
57th French Olympic Week in Hyères - Day 1 © Sailing Energy / French Olympic Week Hyères - TPM
For many Americans, 2028 might feel like a far distant horizon right now, however for Olympic sailing hopefuls, the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be held in and around the city of Los Angeles, are rapidly hoving into view. While many of these athletes are still building their speed, experience, and racecourse acumen ahead of their Olympic selection processes, which will take place later in the quadrennial, these months and years represent important opportunities for developing a finer understanding of their respective class's cutting edge. Take, for example, the 57th edition of the French Olympic Week (April 18-25), which is unfurling on the Mediterranean waters off of Hyères, France.
Racing is taking place in ten classes, namely Mixed 470s, 49ers and 49erFXs, Men's and Women's Formula Kite, ILCA 6s and 7s, Men's and Women's iQFOILs, and Nacra 17s. All told, 705 sailors representing 59 countries are participating in this high-level Olympic class regatta, which will be contested across seven racecourses on the Bay of Hyères.
North American interests are being represented in the 49er class by Americans Andrew Mollerus and Trevor Bornath, and Nevin Snow and Ian MacDiarmid. At the time of this writing (Monday morning, U.S. West Coast time) Mollerus and Bornath were sitting in first place after three races, while Snow and MacDiarmid were in sixth place.
In the Men's Formula Kites, Noah Runciman and Adam Keaton are both representing the Stars and Stripes, with Runciman currently sitting in 15th place, and Keaton in 28th.
In the ILCA 6 class, Canadian Clara Gravely is currently sitting in 53rd place while fellow Canadian Annalise Balasubramanian is currently sitting in 70th place. American Charlotte Rose is in eigth place, while Sophia Debs, who is also flying a USA sail number, is in 74th place.
In the ILCA 7 class, American Daniel Escudero is in 46th place, while his countryman Julian Soto is in 131st place. Canadian James Juhasz is in 55th place, with his countryman Ryan Anderson sitting in 101st place, while Namkhai Bourquin and Sanka Bourquin, who are both representing Mexico, are in 111th and 128th places, respectively.
Amongst the competition in the Men's iQFOIL class, Canadian Valentino Blewett is currently sitting in 13th place, while Jeronimo Abogado Irish Stephenson, who is representing Mexico, is in 64th place.
In the women's iQFOIL class, American Brianna Orams is currently sitting in 34th place.
And finally, in the Nacra 17 class, Americans Riley Gibbs and Louisa Nordstrom are sitting in 17th place, while Mika Sternberg and Josh Goldberg, who are also representing the USA, are in 35th place. Canadians Galen Richardson and Madeline Gillis are currently sitting in 28th place, while Caspar Nez Anderson and Grace Poole are sitting in 34th place.
In all cases, it's important to remember that only a few races have been scored, so expect plenty of leaderboard changes and upsets as the week's racing presses forward.
Sail-World wishes all participating sailors great luck at this event, and we look forward to seeing how the final results settle out, once the finishing guns have fallen silent.
Meanwhile, much closer to home, last weekend also saw great keelboat and one design racing unfurl on the waters off of Charleston, South Carolina, at Charleston Race Week. Henry Brauer and his Reiver crew took top place in the PHRF Inshore class, Amy Woodward's J-Magikk won the J/24 class, Jeffrey Todd's Hot Toddy took the win in the J/22 class, Laura Grondin's Dark Energy won the Melges 24 class, Tej Trevor Parekh's Bea Safari won the VX One class, and Bruno Pasquinelli's Stampede was the boat to beat in the J/70 class.
Joost-Olan Sheehan's Warrior Won earned top honors in the Class ORC sportboat class, Mike Beasley's Black Sheep won the Class B ORC sportboat class, Bill Zarter's Deja Voodoo took the win in the J/105 class, while Matthew Schaedler's Blitzkrieg took the win in the ORC A class.
Ben Walker's Chance beat out the other multihulls in the PHRF Pursuit Multihull class, Martin Zonnenberg's Quickdraw showed how it was done in the PHRF Pursuit Spinnaker A class, while Jim Smith's Cheers won the PHRF Pursuit Spinnaker B class. Finally, Deric Hetzel's Callisto took the win in the Pursuit Main and Jib class.
Meanwhile, for fans of offshore racing, Team Francesca Clapcich Powered by 11th Hour Racing has announced their crew lineup for The Ocean Race Atlantic, which starts on September 1 and will take teams racing aboard IMOCA 60 monohulls from New York to Lorient, France. The team will be led by Italian-American skipper Francesca Clapcich, and includes Alberto Bona (ITA), Elodie-Jane Mettraux (SUI), and Will Harris (GBR). They will be joined by Meredith Rodgers (USA), who is working the team's Onboard Reporter (OBR).
"I really wanted to build a team with a mix of different experiences, and I'm pleased with the caliber of crew we have brought together - all of them with expert offshore sailing knowledge," said Clapcich in an official team communication. "The best thing is that we're all very good friends, and sometimes it's nice to go racing with people you genuinely enjoy being around. That was definitely part of the goal when putting this team together."
May the four winds blow you safely home.
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor