Another trying day at the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series in Miami. After minimal racing yesterday due to the weather, today marked the last opportunity for sailors to move up the scoreboard before the medal races of tomorrow.
In the 470 Men’s fleet, this week has been a battle against Mexico, but our Canadian sailors managed to come out on top. With only one race within the last two days, Nova Scotia sailors, Jacob Chaplin-Saunders and Oliver Bone led the Canadians to success, officially securing Canada a country berth at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Jacob comments, “it feels great to get the job done. We’re really excited to see Canada go to the games again in the 470. It was a tricky week for us, but we stayed calm and sailed well right up to the end.”
“We’re ready to keep the process going and focus on sailing the boat well, getting back to where we have been in the past in terms of our boat handling.” The next big event for the 470s will be in Palma where they will have another shot at showing their skills for a chance to make it to the Canadian Olympic Team. “We have some good Canadian competition in our fleet so we’re ready to work hard leading up to the games”
In the Finn, CSDS member, Kyle Martin kept Canada on the map with a bullet in the last race of the day. Placing him in second place overall going into tomorrow’s medal race, he comments: “today was challenging, we had very shifty, light conditions with a lot of variable pressure, so it was all about connecting all the pressure bands together. Looking forward to tomorrow!”
While no races were completed on the Laser course today, five Canadian sailors remain in the top 10 heading into tomorrow’s medal race. The stakes are high as this remains the last opportunity for Canada to qualify a country birth for Tokyo. Only one spot behind his opponent, Robert Davis accompanied by his fellow teammates will give it their all in the final race of the event.
Cheer on Canada tomorrow in the RS:X, Finn, and Laser fleet as they head into medal races.
Laser – 10:51 (GMT-5)
Finn – 11:24 (GMT-5)
RS:X Women – 11:57 (GMT-5)
Track all Canadian sailors here
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