The 2019 Ready Steady Tokyo Olympic Sailing Test Event will offer a preview of what to expect in one year’s time at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Three hundred sixty-three competitors are ramping up for racing on August 17 to 22 at the Olympic Sailing venue of Enoshima Yacht Harbor in Enoshima, Japan.
Among the entry list, 17 athletes will represent the United States, with one entry in each of the 10 events except in the Laser and Laser Radial fleets, where two entrants will sail under the American flag.
U.S. Competitors at Ready Steady Tokyo Sailing Olympic Test Event:
• Men’s 470 – Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) & Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.)
• Women’s 470 – Nikole Barnes (Miami, Fla.) & Lara Dallman-Weis (Shoreview, Minn.)
• Men’s Laser – Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.)
• Men’s Laser – Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.)
• Women’s Laser Radial – Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
• Women’s Laser Radial – Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
• Men’s 49er – Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont, N.Y.) & Ian MacDiarmid (Delray Beach, Fla.)
• Women’s 49erFX – Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) & Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.)
• Men’s RS:X – Pedro Pascual (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
• Women’s RS:X – Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.)
• Men’s Finn – Luke Muller (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
• Mixed Nacra 17 – Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) & Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Heading into the event, several of the US Sailing Team athletes will have the momentum of recent medal wins at the Pan American Games on their side. Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) received the Bronze in the Men’s Laser fleet, Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) earned the Silver in the Women’s 49erFX class, and Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) and Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) won the Gold in the Nacra 17 event.
The Pan Am Games wrapped up August 12, which also saw Roble, Shea, Gibbs, and Weis secure country berths for U.S. representation at the Tokyo 2020 Games, in their respective classes.
“We’re excited to have accomplished this important goal for the team,” said Shea. “Our focus is now on performing well at the Test Event. We’re hoping to learn as much as possible about the Olympic venue before shifting our focus to solely the U.S. Olympic Trials.”
Because this event limits the number of entrants allocated to each country, it will closely simulate the Olympic regatta. Of the 2015 Rio Test Event medalists, 13 landed on the podium at the 2016 Games.
Racing is scheduled to commence on Saturday August 17. The 49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17, and RS:X fleets will conclude racing on August 21 with the 470s, Laser, Laser Radial, and Finns following on August 22.
Editor’s note: While not a direct hit, Enoshima is getting an outer taste of Typhoon Krosa, the third tropical cyclone to make landfall across mainland Japan in as many weeks. The Sailing venue is now seeing big wind and waves, though the wind is expected to settle down by the start of racing on August 17. As for the waves, day one of racing could still be pretty good for the photographers… if you know what we mean.
Source: Liz Owen – World Sailing, sailingscuttlebutt
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