In an ominous warning for the upcoming Olympic Game, the Tokyo 2020-bound Dutch 49er and 49erF teams clinched gold on the last day of racing at the Hempel World Cup Series – Allianz Regatta.
On home waters, Bart Lambriex and Pim van Vugt took top spot on a tiebreak in the 49er, while Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz wrapped up a convincing victory in the 49erFX.
In stark contrast to yesterday, the wind reverted back to the light and tricky breeze seen earlier this week, with just 6-7 knots out on the course. There was a delay of around three hours to the scheduled start times for both fleets.
The 49er medal race Lambriex and van Vugt crossed the line third, one position ahead of Germany’s Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger, putting both teams level on points – and with the higher-placed Medal Race standing, victory went to the Dutch.
French team Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros, who are also heading to Tokyo 2020 this summer, did enough to seal bronze.
The 49erFX fleet wasn’t quite as close, with Bekkering and Duetz taking an 11-point lead into the Medal Race, they won the Medal Race to confirm gold, 22 points ahead of second placed Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille of Germany.
Team-mates Maru Scheel and Freya Feilcke, crossed the finish line fourth ahead of their closest rivals to move into the top three for bronze.
Britain’s Isabelle Fellows and Alice Masterman were unable to crack the podium, finishing fourth overall after an excellent series.
With the Sailing competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games set to start on 25 July, qualified athletes will now be focusing their full attention on their final preparations.
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