Light winds make for tricky opening day in Marseille

We have lift-off – and although the opening day of the Paris 2024 sailing competition wasn’t as action-packed as we’d all have hoped due to a distinct lack of breeze, Team GB's 49er and 49erFX crews were able to bank three races each. 

49erFX

The privilege of opening the Paris 2024 sailing competition went to the 49erFX fleet. As always with light-wind racing there were plenty of mixed results, and Britain’s Freya Black and Saskia Tidey finished the day in a solid 10th on the back of a ninth, a 16th and an eighth.

49er

James Peters and Fynn Sterritt suffered at the hands of the weather gods. An 18th in race one wasn’t what they’d planned for their Olympic debuts – but an 11th in race two having had to take a penalty turn showed their ability to come back from adversity. A 13th in race three sees them start day two in 14th overall. 

iQFOiL women and men

They went out to great cheers from the watching crowds – and after a bit of bobbing about they came back again. The iQFOiL needs eight knots to get flying, and sadly it never materialised. A frustrating day for Sam Sills and Emma Wilson, but both remain prepped and ready for the moment the starting gun does fire. 

See the full results from day 1.

What’s coming up

The forecast for Monday looks even lighter than today – so it could be another tricky one waiting ashore for the breeze to fill in. Fingers crossed that the 49er, 49erFX and both windsurfing fleets can get some racing in. See the full schedule.

Find out more

Head to the RYA’s Paris 2024 hub for all the info on how to follow Team GB’s sailors at Paris 2024 including information about the team, classes, how to watch and more.