Olympic Test Event
July 10-16, 2023 - Marseille, France
We finished fourth place at the Olympic Test Event in Marseille - merely two points off the podium! This regatta was a dress rehearsal for the Games exactly one year in advance, at the Olympic venue, on the Olympic racecourses. Throughout the week, we saw the full range of conditions, which allowed us to evaluate our speed and skills against the best of the international fleet. As was the case in Tokyo, we expect a variety of conditions in Marseille next year - everything from the gnarly, onshore Mistral breeze to an equally strong offshore, shifty breeze, and then anything in between
We started strong by winning the first race and carried that momentum onward for the rest of the week, sitting in first through fourth position overall. Wearing the blue and red pinnies throughout the week, which identify the second and third-place teams on that given day, was a valuable experience to embrace the pressure of leading the fleet.
We arrived at the boat park on the final morning, ready to secure a podium finish for the regatta. As we went through the pre-race procedures before launching, we noted that one of our competitors did not participate in the measurement process, and there was some scuttlebutt on the beach that an injury might prevent them from sailing the medal race. We huddled as a team to review the medal race rules and finalize our strategy based on the point spread of the standings. According to our calculations, given the absent team, we had to finish in front of the Belgian team to win the bronze medal overall and the US Olympic Trials. We were pumped; we love a good match race.
During the starting sequence of the medal race, the umpires assigned three Rule 42 penalties to our competitors, one of which went to the Belgian team in the last moments before the starting signal. With Belgium spinning, we chose to be smart about the acceleration trigger time and minimize any risk of infractions or penalties. We stayed out of trouble by positioning ourselves between the Belgians and the rest of the fleet, and we crossed the finish line in seventh place (link to race replay on the SAP tracking). Job done - we thought.
After finishing, we learned that the RC had chosen to score the absent competitors “DNC” instead of tenth overall, which was what we expected from our understanding of the sailing Instructions. Unfortunately, there was a breakdown in communication before the race by the officials, and that changed a lot for us. The organizers later apologized for not notifying us of their intention to make this scoring accommodation on the beach before launching, and they thanked us for the feedback. After all, the Olympic Test Event is a dress rehearsal for the organizers, volunteers, and sailors.
On the bright side, the Olympic Test Event was one of the strongest fleets we’ve ever raced against, and we were fighting for the top spots all week long. We are motivated and encouraged by our belief that when we deliver our best performance, we are sailing at a level that will put us in medal contention for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
