Big Breeze for the Mixed Multihull debut + How to follow race day #3

Find out what’s on the agenda at the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition today and find out further information on how to follow the racing, watch the tracking, download imagery and follow World Sailing on social media.

Big breeze up to 20 knots is set to greet the Olympic debut of the Mixed Multihulls – Nacra 17 and the start of competition for the Men’s and Women’s Two Person Dinghies – 470. While most of the 470 sailors will say ‘bring it on’ to the breeze, the Nacra 17 boys and girls will be heading out with a little more trepidation. If the wind really kicks in on the Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf Mountain) course, there is the possibility of pitchpoling and capsizing.

It’s a day of rest for the Men’s and Women’s Windsurfer fleets, but it’s a continuation of business for all three One Person Dinghy fleets. The Finns are racing on Niterói and the Laser and Laser Radials test out the Copacabana course.

This morning the weather has been overcast but the typical pattern has been for the clouds to clear and the sunshine to break through by the start of play at 1300 hours.

Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17

There are few mandatory mixed events across the whole Olympic Games, so it will be great to see the men and women competing side by side on these frisky 17-foot catamarans. The fleet will be competing in three 30-minute races on their first day, building up to a total of 12 races before the top ten go through to the Medal Race on Tuesday 16 August.

The French team have won all four World Championships in the brief history of this brand new Olympic event. But Billy Besson (FRA) is nursing a long-term back injury and with crew mate Marie Riou has only managed an hour’s training per day during the build-up to the start of competition.

With that question mark over the French, the field looks wide open, with Australia, Spain, Italy and many others holding realistic hopes of a first-ever medal in this exciting new event. If previous experience at a Games counts, then Fernando Echávarri’s (ESP) gold medal in the Tornado multihull at Beijing 2008 will prove invaluable as he competes with Tara Pacheco, a former 470 World and European Champion.