For the 325 registered sailors from 40 countries now racing in France, the hope is to do well this week during the World Sailing World Cup Final in 2019, but also in 2024.
Marseille (FRA) is the same venue for both, but the matter at hand is the completion of the 2019 World Cup schedule. Racing started on Tuesday and will conclude with the medal races on the weekend.
Racing in the 10 Olympic classes will have the 49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17 and RS:X fleets in medal races on Saturday. The 470s, Laser, Laser Radial and Finn will sail their medal races on Sunday.
Among the top entries racing this week are 20 reigning Olympic or World Champions:
Men/RS:X:
● Pierre Le Coq (FRA) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze medalist
● Louis Giard (FRA) ~ 2018 World Championships bronze medalist
Men/Laser: No 2016 Olympic or 2018 Worlds medalists
Men/470:
● Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS) ~ 2016 Olympic silver; four 470 World Championships
● Kevin Peponnet/Jeremie Mion (FRA) ~ 2018 World Champions
● Tetsuya Isozaki/Akira Takayanagi (JPN) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalists
● Jordi Xammar/Nicolas Rodriguez (ESP) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze medalists
Men/Finn:
● Max Salminen (SWE) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
Men/49er:
● Sime Fantela/Movihil Fantela (CRO) ~ 2018 World Champions
● Mathieu Frei/Noel Delpech (FRA) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalists
Women/RS:X:
● Charline Picon (FRA) ~ 2016 Olympic gold medalist; 2018 Worlds silver medalist
● Stefania Elfutina (RUS) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze medalist
● Lilian de Geus (NED) ~ 2018 World Champion
Women/Laser Radial: No 2016 Olympic or 2018 Worlds medalists
Women/470:
● Ai Kondo Yoshida/Miho Yoshioka (JPN) ~ 2018 World Champions
● Hannah Mills/Elidih McIntyre (GBR) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze medalists
● Camile Lecointre/Aloise Retornaz (FRA) ~ Lecointre: 2016 Olympic bronze
● Silvia Mas Depares/Patricia Cantero (ESP) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalists
Women/49er FX:
● Tanja Frank/Lorena Abicht (AUT) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalists
Mixed/Nacra 17:
● Santiago Lange/Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG) ~ 2016 Olympic gold; 2018 Worlds bronze
● Thomas Zajac/Barbara Matz (AUT) ~ Zajac: 2016 Olympic bronze
● Ruggero Tita/Caterina Banti (ITA) ~ 2018 World Champions
Look for results here.
