Gibbs and Weis of U.S. set for Nacra 17 Medal race

Cover photo: Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) and Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Photo © Sailing Energy / World Sailing …..

Enoshima, Japan – 8/2/2021 – U.S. Sailing – A lack of wind forced the postponement of racing in all active sailing events on Monday at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. After a lengthy onshore delay, the Race Committee elected to push Monday’s scheduled races to Tuesday, including the 49er and 49erFX skiff medal races that had been planned for today.

“[The latest weather information] is too uncertain to rely on and leaves too little time for launching and preparing to race with the deadline of 1630 for a warning signal,” said Principal Race Officer Tom Duggan regarding the skiff races via official communication at 14:34 local time. “With the stronger forecast for tomorrow, the Race Committee’s decision is that racing is postponed.”

US Sailing Team athletes will be in action in three classes on Tuesday, including in the Nacra 17 medal race, which will be broadcast live around the world. Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) and Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) earned their medal race berth after a strong performance on the final day of qualifying races off Enoshima. The first-time Olympians and Pan American Games gold medalists are mathematically eliminated from medal contention in Tokyo, but stand in 9th overall and could advance as high as 7th during Tuesday’s medal race.

In the Men’s and Women’s 470 classes, US Sailing Team athletes are in tight qualifying battles for the medal race in both fleets. Following the two races scheduled for Tuesday in each class, the top ten teams will advance. Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.) stand in 11th overall. In the women’s fleet, Nikole Barnes (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.) and Lara Dallman-Weiss (Shoreview, Minn.) sit in 9th overall.

Planned Schedule for Tuesday, August 3 (Day 10):

1200 Local – Women’s 470 Race 9 (Barnes and Dallman-Weiss)
1210 Local – Men’s 470 Race 9 (McNay and Hughes)
1230 Local – 49erFX Medal Race
1330 Local – 49er Medal Race
1430 Local – Finn Medal Race
1530 Local – Nacra 17 Medal Race (Gibbs and Weis)

Completed Racing for Team USA:

Women’s 49erFX – Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.) Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) – 11th Overall
Women’s Laser Radial – Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) – 37th Overall
Men’s Laser – Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) – 13th Overall
Women’s RS:X – Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) – 15th Overall
Men’s RS:X – Pedro Pascual (Miami, Fla.) – 9th Overall
Men’s Finn – Luke Muller (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) – 13th Overall

NBC Olympics Sailing Broadcast:

The NBC Olympics website is hosting the Tokyo 2020 sailing event for U.S. audiences starting at 11:00 PM EDT (8:00 PM PDT) during the event. There are two televised race areas per day, the “Enoshima” and “Kamakura” courses. As the classes rotate through each course daily, different athletes will be featured on the broadcast.