A total of 16 Canadian sailors will take part in next weekÛªs competition
Kingston, April 22, 2022 ÛÒ Canadian sailor Sarah Douglas from Toronto, ON, will be back in action next week, April 25-30, at the French Olympic Week competition in Hy̬res, FRA, two weeks after winning a gold medal in ILCA 6 at the World Sailing Hempel World Cup in Spain.
After winning six of the 11 scheduled races in Spain and coming up with her first podium finish ÛÒ as well as her first career gold medal ÛÒ at a World Sailing competition, Sarah Douglas spent some time training at the sailing venue for the 2024 Olympic Games in Marseille on her way to Hy̬res.
At the French Olympic Week competition, the 28-year-old athlete will once again face the top ranked sailors in the world in ILCA 6, including Hannah Snellgrove from Great Britain and Vasileia Karachaliou from Greece, who respectively took the second and third spots at the first World Cup held this season. Emma Plasschaert from Belgium, who was fourth at Tokyo 2020, will also take part in the competition.
ÛÏIÛªm looking forward to the second European event of the season,Û said Sarah Douglas. ÛÏIÛªve just spent the past week training in Marseille, at the 2024 Olympic sailing venue, and learning more about it and the conditions. A majority of the top sailors will be there for French Olympic Week and IÛªm excited to wrap up this Europe trip with another high-calibre regatta.Û
16 Canadian sailors in Hy̬res
Including Sarah Douglas, a total of 16 Canadian sailors will compete at the French Olympic Week competition in Hy̬res. Among them will be Tokyo 2020 Olympians Ali ten Hove and Mariah Millen in 49er FX, as well as four athletes in ILCA 6 and 10 in ILCA 7.
“Princess Sofia taught us some pretty hard lessons, but we are happy to walk away from the event with some new learnings,” said Ali ten Hove and Mariah Millen, who finished 29th at the World Cup in Spain. “This will be our first time in Hy̬res and it will be a great opportunity to start putting the pieces together, by focusing on our process goals and continuing to target skills as we prep for our peak events later this season.”
Canadian sailors at the French Olympic Week competition in Hy̬res, FRA
ILCA 6
Sarah Douglas (Toronto, ON, ABYC) – Canadian Sailing Team
Clara Gravely (Toronto, ON, ABYC) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
Coralie Vittecoq ÛÒ (MontrÌ©al, QC, Pointe-Claire YC/BLBC) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
Maura Dewey ÛÒ (Victoria, B.C., RVYC) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
49er FX
Ali ten Hove (Kingston, ON) & Mariah Millen (Toronto, ON) ÛÒ Kingston YC/RCYC – Canadian Sailing Team
ILCA 7
Luke Ruitenberg (St. MargaretÛªs Bay, N.S., RNSYS) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
Fillah Karim (Vancouver, B.C., RVYC) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
Liam Bruce (Oakville, ON, Port Credit YC) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
Ryan Anderson (Halifax, N.S., RNSYS) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
Francis Charland (Ì_le Cadieux, QC, CVDM)
Kofi Dinel (Montr̩al, QC, BLBC)
Ian Elliott (Victoria, B.C. RVYC/HKKK/MKS)
Ben Flower (Tobermory, ON, Tobermory YC)
James Juhasz (Oakville, ON, BHYC)
Forrest Wachholz (Innisfil, ON, Barrie YC)
More details as well as a link to results are available on Sail Canada website ÌÊ www.sailing.ca.
About Sail Canada
Established in 1931, Sail Canada is the national governing body for the sport of sailing in the country. Sail Canada is a leading international sailing nation, proud of its world class athletes, lifelong participants and inclusive culture. The organization and its members are committed to excellence by developing and training its leaders, athletes, sailors, instructors, coaches and officials. With the valued support from our partners, the Provincial Sailing Associations and our member clubs, schools, organizations and stakeholders, sailing is promoted in all its forms. By setting standards and delivering programs from home pond to podium for Canadians of all ages and abilities, from dinghies to keelboats, cruising to navigation, windsurfing to powerboating and accessible sailing, Sail Canada sets sail for all, sail to win and sail for life.
A sport in the Olympic program since the first Games in 1896, except in 1904, the pursuit of success in these Games is what fuels the focus of Sail Canada as Canadian athletes have so far achieved nine Olympic and five Paralympic medals.
