It’s a long road to the LA 2028 Games and Thessaloniki will open a new chapter for the fast Olympic dinghy classes.
The Champions from Paris 2024 have mostly either retired or are taking breaks for various reasons, leaving the start of the new quadrennial to a group of sailors who either missed selection or missed medals and are looking to move up the standings.
Across all the fleets – 49er, 49erFX and Nacra17 – it is Team Australia that is out in force with 12 entries. The Australian Sailing squad is noticeably looking toward Brisbane 2032 and have four entries of young teams in each of the three events.
Theirs is an example of how modern Olympic sailing is taking shape. They have a national coach driven squad mentality, where team members push and support each other in hopes of being the squad on top at the end.
The Nacra 17 championship is likely to feature the ongoing battle between Gigi Ugolini with Maria Giubilei of Italy and Britain’s John Gimson with Anna Burnet.
Gimson and Burnet took gold at the recent Semaine Olympique Française – the second event of the 2025 Sailing Grand Slam series – ahead of the Italians.
“With the platform so robust and everyone foiling upwind very often, the Nacra 17 is amazing to race. The fleet has spent the last few years figuring out foiling, and now we are able to push since everything on the boat is robust. I can’t wait to see if the youngsters have figured out anything new, but otherwise we are excited to get out racing,” said John Gimson, the Tokyo Silver medalist.
The FX fleet is wide open right now with the plenty of contenders. Only 1 and a half teams from the top 10 in Paris are here in Thessaloniki right now.
Anyone of more than 20 teams could end up on the podium this week, making for an open field. It is rare to see so much turnover in an Olympic fleet, meaning there are greater opportunities for upward mobility and the rewards that comes with that.
The men’s 49er fleet has also had significant turnover since Paris, though to a lesser extent than in the FX.
Only three teams from the top 10 in Paris are here this week. The fourth-place finisher from Paris, Ireland’s Robert Dickson with Sean Waddilove are the top-ranked team who have not really taken much of a break, looking to make the push through to LA.
Racing runs from 3-8 June.
2025 British Entries in Thessaloniki
Nacra 17 Mixed
GBR 21 John GIMSON and Anna BURNET
GBR 355 Arthur FRY and Chloe COLLENETTE
49er Men
GBR 135 Zac BLOMELEY and Max TODD
GBR 999 William PANK and Thommie GRIT
GBR 505 Arran HOLMAN and Freddie LONSDALE
49erFX Women
GBR 713 Eleanor KEERS and Jessica JOBSON
GBR 24 Freya BLACK and Saskia TIDEY
