HYÈRES, FRANCE (April 30, 2022) – The medal race and finals series concluded today on Mediterranean waters for the 53rd French Olympic Week and the US Sailing Team is bringing home a gold and two silvers.
Medal Winners:
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- GOLD: Daniela Moroz, Women’s Formula Kite
- SILVER: Steph Roble / Maggie Shea, 49erFX
- SILVER: Nevin Snow / Mac Agnese, 49er
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Other USST Top Finishers at French Olympic Week 2022:
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- 10th: Andrew Mollerus / Ian MacDiarmid, 49er
- 11th: Ian Barrows / Hans Henken, 49er
- 14th: Sarah Newberry / David Liebenberg, Nacra 17
- 20th: Markus Edegran, Men’s Formula Kite
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“Going into the finals today I only needed to win one race to win the event,” said Women’s Formula Kite athlete Daniela Moroz. “It was super light wind so there was a lot of pumping out of tacks and gybes. It was key to stay in the pressure and get to the right side of the course as quickly as possible and I ended up coming away with the win on that first race of the day and securing the gold.”
“It was a really fun week,” continued Moroz. “We sailed a wide variety of conditions and rode almost all of the kite sizes in our kit to adapt to the wind and the sea state. It was really tough and I had some very tight battles with Lauriane Nolot [from France] but overall enjoyed a great week in Hyères.”
“This week went really well for us,” said 49er athlete Nevin Snow. “We learned a lot every day and we managed to stay in the top three all six days of the event, finishing off in second. We’re happy with how we delivered on the goals we set out at the beginning of the event and the results that came in the process of executing on those goals.”
“The Palma regatta and this regatta in Hyères were our first chance to test the new mast and sails, so it was a great opportunity to gather some data,” added Maggie Shea. “We found some good settings and some bad settings, and we’re excited to go back to the drawing board this spring and continue progressing before the Europeans and Worlds this summer.”
“Hyeres provided great conditions and competition for our athletes to test themselves,” said USST Coach Charlie McKee. “Steph and Maggie took some lessons away from Palma, put them to good use here, and sailed really well to earn a well-deserved silver. Daniela came here focused and well-prepared, and delivered an extremely consistent and impressive performance to win the gold. In the 49er fleet Nevin and Mac came back to international competition after a long absence and shocked the fleet with their ability to immediately perform at the highest level. Their teammates (and Palma silver medalists) Ian Barrows and Hans Henken were hugely helpful in getting Nevin and Mac back up to speed, and the cooperative spirit these athletes displayed showed the true power of ‘Team’ within the resurgent US skiff program.”
“The sailors are focused, training hard and collaborating,” said Paul Cayard, Executive Director of US Olympic Sailing. “We have great coaches. There is a TEAM behind the athletes and coaches. Thanks to our sponsors and donors, we have more resources to provide more support. The results from the Spring events in Europe are encouraging. However, our destination is far.”
Wednesday, April 29 Update (Race Day 5) – The penultimate day of French Olympic Week concluded with the final gold fleet races before the top 10 advance to tomorrow’s medal races.
Advancing to Saturdays’s medal races / finals series from the US Sailing Team:
- Formula Kite: Daniela Moroz (entering finals in 1st)
- 49er: Nevin Snow / Mac Agnese (entering the medal race in 2nd)
- 49erFX: Steph Roble / Maggie Shea (entering the medal race in 3rd)
- 49er: Andrew Mollerus / Ian MacDiarmid (entering the medal race in 9th)
French Olympic Week holds a lot of value for US Sailing Team athletes that won’t be reflected on the scoresheets. “After two years away from racing because of the pandemic and so that I could have a baby, David and I came back together to compete at French Olympic Week,” said USA Nacra 17 skipper, Sarah Newberry. “As veteran campaigning athletes, this campaign is a really exciting opportunity for us to bring our knowledge, our expertise, and our wisdom to work to craft a strong team from the inside out. The last six months of getting back in the boat has been rather basic: regaining strength and mobility, reconnecting with the mechanics of the boat, etc. so our time in Hyères was our ability to check in on that progress. We had some really great successes this regatta and some moments where we relearned things that we’ve known before. All in all, it was an extremely exciting event for us as we were actively learning in every race throughout the week. We feel like we reentered the fleet with a lot of great energy at a really high level and are looking forward to continuing this progress back in the states and in our next events.”
Keep up with the regatta:
Monday, April 25 – Opening Ceremony & first race day of Qualifying Series
Saturday, April 30 – Medal Race
Regatta website: https://sof.ffvoile.fr
Regatta Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ffvoilefra/
Regatta YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ffvoile
Regatta Twitter: https://twitter.com/ffvoile
Wednesday, April 28 Update (Race Day 4) – The morning started out calm in Hyeres with glassy water, sunshine, and the warmest temperatures competitors have seen all week. With a few days of glorious sailing conditions in the books, a quiet start to day four was rather welcomed for athletes who have been pushing hard each day. Race Committee postponed the fleets with the earliest starts, but the wind filled in before long and French Olympic Week was back in action for the first day of gold/silver/bronze fleet racing.
Daniela Moroz reclaimed her first place standing after a solid day three and continued her dominance on day four. Team Roble/Shea currently sits in 2nd place heading into day two of 49erFX gold fleet tomorrow, and all 3 USA 49ers are battling it out in gold fleet together (Snow/Agnese, Barrows/Henken, Mollerus/MacDiarmid). Competitors will sail one more day of gold fleet racing before the top 10 give it their all in the medal race on Saturday.
Wednesday, April 27 Update (Race Day 3) – We spent the day with the kite fleet aboard coach Chris Draper’s boat and invite you to check out the play-by-play linked here for a peek into a day of racing at the 2022 French Olympic Week.
Standings: 49er | 49erFX | ILCA 6 | Men’s Formula Kite | Women’s Formula Kite | Nacra 17 | 470
Keep up with the regatta:
Monday, April 25 – Opening Ceremony & first race day of Qualifying Series
Saturday, April 30 – Medal Race
Regatta website: https://sof.ffvoile.fr
Regatta Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ffvoilefra/
Regatta YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ffvoile
Regatta Twitter: https://twitter.com/ffvoile
Tuesday, April 26 Update (Race Day 2) – The conditions filled in just as USST Meteorologist Chelsea Carlson forecasted: light and variable breeze in the morning, a gradient fill from the southwest around 12-1pm, and finally a consistent settle around 15-18 knots from 2pm onward. A handful of US Sailing Team athletes donned the yellow / blue / red pinnies from their standings following day one of French Olympic Week 2022. Daniela Moroz raced in the yellow pinnie for her 1st place standing coming into day two, Steph Roble / Maggie Shea wore blue for their second place standing, and Nevin Snow / Mac Agnese repped the red for their third place status.
Across the board, US Sailing Team and Olympic Development Program athletes continued plugging away at their respective goals for the second large international regatta of the Paris 2024 campaign period. For the USST, the Trofeo Princesa Sofía and French Olympic Week in Hyères go hand-in-hand regarding the roles they play in the broader approach to building a solid foundation. “The team is gaining valuable experience racing against the world’s best in fantastic conditions,” said USST Coach Charlie McKee. “The Princess Sofía and French Olympic Week are measurement points in the Paris 2024 preparation period and in our pursuit of strengthening the team as a whole. We’re focused on our goals and are thrilled the venue is providing a great playing field this week to work on our progress.”
Monday, April 25 Update (Race Day 1) – Competitors of the 53rd Semaine Olympique Française (French Olympic Week) were welcomed to the water for the first day of competition with sporty conditions and winds reaching gusts of the upper 20s out of the southwest. All fleets were “go” today with the earliest starts at 1100 and 49erFXs sailing into the late afternoon.
Quotes from the US Sailing Team & Olympic Development Program athletes:
“We’ve been receiving a lot of support from the squad,” said USST 49er athlete, Nevin Snow, currently sitting in 3rd place with partner Mac Agnese after day one. “While they’ve been racing and training in Europe the past month we’ve been communicating with each other to stay in the loop for when we hit the ground. They’re old friends of ours so it’s been really easy to jump in and get up to speed in France.”
“As far as our regatta outlook, our goals really lie outside of the results on the scoresheet,” added Snow. “Today we were focused on boat handling and starts as opposed to race finishes, and in the process we happened to post some nice finishes. We’re stoked to do well on day one and are looking forward to the rest of the regatta and the opportunity to work on the areas we set out to focus on.”
“The first day of French Olympic Week had sporty conditions all around for the kites,” said ODP Men’s Formula Kite athlete, Noah Runciman. “We were on 9 and 11 meter kites which are two smaller kites of our kit and were pushing speeds of 37-38 knots. Lots of close racing and I’m stoked for the rest of it.”
“We had a really fun day today,” said USST 49erFX athlete, Steph Roble, currently sitting in 2nd place with partner Maggie Shea. “We focused on getting good starts and the pin end was favored both times so our game plan was to execute starting at the pin and then getting to the right hand side of the race course. We took advantage of the shifts up the course that had some geographical effects with lifts on starboard as we got to the top of the beat. It was pretty windy at some points so we were trying to keep our maneuvers clean and simple and just lock into our boat speed which resulted in two solid races today.”
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Hot Off the Heels of Palma,
USST Ready for Action in Hyères, France
HYÈRES, FRANCE (April 24, 2022) – For the first time, all 2024 Olympic classes have gathered in the host country of the Paris Olympics, competing just down the coast from the official sailing venue of Marseille. It’s the second time that all classes will gather in 2022 before mostly splitting off into single class events, World Championships, and test regattas in The Hague, The Netherlands in preparation for the combined 2023 World Championships.
Over 1,000 competitors representing 50+ nations will take to the water for the French Olympic Week in Hyères’s notoriously challenging conditions.
Representing the USA:
US Sailing Team
- Ian Barrows / Hans Henken, 49er
- Markus Edegran, Formula Kite
- Andrew Mollerus, Ian MacDiarmid, 49er
- Daniela Moroz, Formula Kite
- Sarah Newberry / David Liebenberg, Nacra 17
- Louisa Nordstrom / Trevor Bornarth, 470
- Steph Roble / Maggie Shea, 49erFX
- Nevin Snow / Mac Agnese (ODP), 49er
Olympic Development Program (ODP)
- Noah Runciman, Formula Kite
- Christina Sakellaris, ILCA 6
Other US Athletes Competing
- Carson Crain / Caroline Atwood, Nacra 17
- Farrah Hall, iQFOiL
- Lucy Wilmot / Erika Reineke, 49erFX
From the US Sailing Team:
On top of the attractive exposure to international competition in epic conditions, the 2022 French Olympic Week provides another valuable opportunity for athletes who sailed the Trofeo Princesa Sofía in neighboring Spain earlier this month.
“We’re grateful to have another event so soon after Palma,” said USST 470 athlete Louisa Nordstrom. “We left the Princess Sofia Regatta with many good takeaways. Hyeres is a great opportunity to apply lessons learned and have another go with the international fleet.”
“This regatta represents another stepping stone as we work toward our larger goals for the squad,” said USST 49er coach, Mark Asquith. “The lads are feeling refreshed after some time off to reflect on the Princess Sofia and are looking forward to continuing on with our progress. We also have Nevin Snow and Mac Agnese joining the US squad for this regatta and the whole team has synced on insights from Palma and calibrated our approach to Hyères.”
Proud Supporters of the US Sailing Team
