Returning to action

Besson, along with partner Marie Riou, won all four Nacra 17 World Championship titles in the Rio 2016 quadrennial but failed to capitalise on that dominance as a back injury hampered any Olympic medal ambitions the pair harboured.

There will be a Riou partnering Besson once again in Hyères, but this time it will be in the shape of former Laser Radial competitor, Amélie. Despite the name, the two Riou’s aren’t related and have mixed sailing backgrounds. For Amélie it is quite a shift in gear to go from the One Person Dinghy to the Two Person Multihull and this will be a tough first test.

Like many French sailors, Besson has a strong history of sailing catamaran’s and took that experience to help former partner Marie adapt from match racing to make a formidable Nacra 17 team. Besson will need to weave some more magic on the younger Riou, Amélie, while putting the disappointment of the injury ravaged Rio Games behind him to look to Tokyo 2020.

While Besson used time between major regattas to recover from injury, Ben Saxton (GBR) has had to use his time between winning the World Cup Series Miami and Hyères to find a new partner after Nicola Groves made the decision to pursue challenges out of the water. Stepping in to Groves’ shoes for Hyères is Steph Orton who moves from the 49erFX.

Although being among the youngest team in the fleet, New Zealand’s Olivia Mackay and Micah Wilkinson already know what it takes to win becoming Red Bull Foiling Generation champions in 2016 and have good experience in the Nacra 17.

Still learning their trade in the Nacra 17 are Austria’s Nico Delle-Karth, who sails with Laura Schofegger. Both have moved from the skiff fleet but have shown real potential in their new class. Delle-Karth and Schofegger claimed bronze in Miami.

By Richard Aspland – World Sailing