On Thursday World Sailing carried out some combined fleet racing, in ideal conditions to test the three new contenders for Paris 2024, the D-Zero, Melges 14 and the RS Aero.
It has to be pointed out that the racing was rather ‘skewed’ by the presence of reigning Laser World Champion Pavlos Kontides, who won all six races regardless of the boat he was in. (note the Laser/Radial did not compete)
Three races were won by the D-Zero, the others by the RS Aero and Melges 14, always with Kontides helming.
With the female reduced rig versions, the D-Zero won all the races, no matter who was helming.
The event has one more day to go according to the programme, then the feedback of the sailors will be processed by the WS Evaluation Panel to prepare their report for the World Sailing Council in May.
The Evaluation Panel consists of the following members:
Dina Kowalyshyn (USA) – Chair of the Evaluation Panel and Equipment Committee Chair
Torben Grael (BRA) – Board Member
Nadine Stegenwalner (GER) – Board Member
Yann Rocherieux (FRA) – Board Member and Athletes’ Commission Chair
Jurgen Cluytmans (BEL) – Equipment Committee member, International Measureres Sub-committee Chair, Equipment Rules of Sailing Sub-committee Chair
Jo Aleh (NZL) – Athletes’ Commission
Stefaan Rahm (SWE) – Events Committee member
Rob Holden (RSA) – Training Delivery Manager
Bernard Destrube (FRA) – Medical Commission member
Jaime Navarro and Hendrik Plate – World Sailing Technical Team
At the end of each day the Evaluation Panel have received feedback from sailors on items such as athletic suitability, performance, appeal, customisation, transportation, standardisation of equipment, quality of product and sustainability.
Furthermore, the Evaluation Panel have received daily presentations from the manufacturers on universality, quality control and cost.
World Sailing’s Council will select the Equipment for Paris 2024 later in 2019.
