First Day Sailing Events of the Tokyo Olympics

The first racing for the Sailing events of the 2020 Tokyo Games will get underway on Sunday 25 July and continue through to Wednesday 4 August.

First up will be for the men’s and women’s RS:X windsurfing, the men’s Laser and women’s Laser Radial singlehanders.

Because of the time difference between Japan and the UK, the first racing will take place on Sunday morning 25 July between 04:00 hrs and 10:00 hrs BST here in the UK (12:00 hrs and 18:00 hrs Tokyo Time).

The Men’s RS:X will sail three races on the Enoshima course area and the Laser Radial will sail two on the Kamakura course, starting from 04:05 BST.

The Laser fleet will follow at 06:35 BST on the Kamakura course area before the Women’s RS:X start the first of three races at 07:05 BST.

The British sailors involved on Day 1 are:

RS:X Women – Emma Wilson (Windsurfer – 27 entries)
RS:X Men – Tom Squires (Windsurfer – 25 entries)
Laser Men – Elliot Hanson (One Person Dinghy – 35 entries)
Laser Radial Women – Alison Young (One Person Dinghy – 44 entries)

And the likely main players . . .

As well as the British competitors, expect to see the Dutch windsurfer Lilian de Geus at the front in the women’s RS:X and in the men’s RS:X another Dutch front runner will be Kiran Badloe . . . They are the reigning world champions.

In the men’s Laser, Matt Wearn is looking to claim gold and make it three in a row for Australia. But can Brazil’s Robert Scheidt go one place better than Rio and claim a sixth Olympic medal?

And in the women’s Radial, defending Olympic Champion Marit Bouwmeester of Holland (yes the Dutch are looking strong at this Games) will most likely be at the front with Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) and Emma Plasschaert (BEL).

The first day will finally reveal just what effect the delay and lack of top competition has had on the pecking-order and set the scene for those that follow over the next days.

Weather outlook is light, possibly tricky if offshore breeze, but with a tropical storm moving in things could change quickly.

For live viewing options see How to View the Tokyo Olympic Sailing

Olympic Sailing – How many sailing medals can Team GB win?

Everything you need to know about Olympic Sailing at Tokyo 2020+1