If Endre Funnemark manages to reach the medal final during today’s sailings in Hyères, the dream of sailing at the Olympics is still alive. If he doesn’t make it, the race is over.
The distance up is big, but not completely impossible, for Endre Funnemark in Windsurfing Men (iQFOiL). The windsurfers have their last regatta day today before the concluding medal final, and Endre is down to 19th place. For him, it is important to get into the top ten and to the medal final. Because in the final everything is zeroed out, so the chance of being among the top six nationally, which will give an Olympic place, suddenly becomes good.
The windsurfers will start the day with marathon sailing (at 10:00) which counts twice, and they will then end the day with a couple of course sailings. There are 34 points to collect for Endre if he is to reach tenth place.
– Endre has had some good sailings, but also some very bad ones. In one of yesterday’s sailings, he was in 3rd place, but fell off the foil in a round and never got back up properly. In another race, he collided with a competitor before the start, and did not cross the line until ten seconds after the others, says sports manager Eirik Verås Larsen.
He still has faith that Endre can manage to capture an Olympic place.
The Olympic dream was shattered
However, the dream of an Olympic place now seems to be over for Julia Jacobsen and Emil Forslund in Dinghy Mix (470). After sailing to three 6th places in the total of six races that have been sailed, their hopes were still bright green, but when the one 6th place last night was turned into a counter, it was probably the nail in the coffin.
– It happened after a Norwegian protest against the Korean team. First the Koreans were disqualified, but now it is Julia and Emil themselves who have received the counter. At the moment I don’t quite know what has happened, but it seems like a real “back fire”, says sports manager Eirik Verås Larsen.
Now the distance to the top four, which will mean Olympic qualification, has become far too great. The Norwegian team is in 16th place.
The Mix team and Endre both sail in the group for non-qualified nations for the Olympics, while the other Norwegian sailors sail in the group of nations that have already qualified for the Olympics.
Unstable wind with a touch of Mistral
During yesterday’s sailings, the wind conditions were very unstable. Hyères was at the very edge of a Mistral wind field – which meant that the wind came and went and constantly changed direction. Mistral wind is a well-known Mediterranean phenomenon which means that cold, unstable and strong offshore winds come down from the Alps and spread over the Mediterranean. Today’s weather forecast indicates that the regatta courses in Hyères will lie deeper in the Mistralwind field and that the wind will increase throughout the day.
The conditions characterize the Norwegian results. For example, Hermann Tomasgaard got a 4th and a 39th place in Dinghy Men (ILCA 7) yesterday, after coming in 2nd place on the first day. Hermann is in 2nd place overall. Christoffer Sørlie, who came in 46th place on the first day, clinched 2nd place and beat Hermann in yesterday’s first voyage, but ended up in 44th place in the next.
– Christoffer has really picked up his boat speed and sometimes sails very well, but he is still a bit too unstable, comments Eirik Verås Larsen.
Line Flem Høst in Dinghy Women (ILCA 6) also had ups and downs. With the positions 7-42-8, she is in 7th place overall.
Two sailors in the final?
The most consistent and best of the Norwegian sailors yesterday was Mina Mobekk in Windsurfing Women (iQFOiL). After a slightly weak Monday, she sailed steadily to two 2nd places in yesterday’s course sailings. She is in 7th place overall. Tuva Oppedal also had a decent day with 8th and 11th place, but she must improve today to be among the top ten who get to sail in the medal final. Tuva is in 11th place before the windsurfers’ last regatta day before the final.
– Mina complained a little about back problems on Monday and received treatment in the evening. It seemed to have helped her. Yesterday she was good. We hope that both Mina and Tuva will make it to the finals today, says the sports manager.
For Helene Næss and Marie Rønningen, the final place is already clear, because in the Skiff Women class (49erFX) there are only nine teams participating. That still does not mean that everything is going smoothly for the Norwegian team, because after yesterday’s sailings, Helene and Marie are in 8th place out of the nine. They have struggled to figure out the difficult conditions.
