Marseille, France – Stefano Peschiera used his experience and expertise to take an early advantage in the Men’s Dinghy off the coast of Marseille.
Following appearances in Rio and Tokyo in the Men’s Laser, the Peruvian sailor began his third Olympic Games impeccably, finishing first in the second race of the day to claim an early seven-point lead in the ILCA 7 class.
Reigning Olympic champion Matt Wearn began his medal defence strongly with second in race two, putting him narrowly behind Peschiera.
Portugal’s Eduardo Marques followed in third overall, carried by a fine fifth in race one, as he managed to navigate the unpredictable winds.
Peschiera said: “It was tricky. There were really patchy conditions out there. The right was mainly favoured today, but I think it was difficult to predict or see. I was mainly consistent. This is one of the most competitive fleets, so nothing is set.
“We’re going to take away all the good things and learn from any mistakes and treat it like one more day of sailing. The Marseille bay keeps surprising us, no two days are the same here.
“I’ve trained pretty hard for this, like everyone else, so I think it came down to the mental part today.”
Marques said: “It was really hard to understand where the pressure was coming from. In the first race I think I managed quite well, the second one was a bit messy for me, but I’m still happy.
“This place is really hard. It’s more about the pressure than the shifts. I’m just staying relaxed and trying to go as fast as possible.”
CERVERA LAUNCHES FRENCH BID IN FIRST WOMEN’S DINGHY RACE
Louise Cervera enjoyed a stellar first day of racing at Paris 2024 with a valuable win in the Women’s Dinghy.
The French sailor went out and impressed in the opening race of the ILCA 6 class, managing to handle the wind shifts well.
It was originally planned that a second race would take place, but that was subsequently postponed due to a lack of wind.
China’s Min Gu also rose to the occasion early, finishing a close second behind Cervera to lay an early marker of intent for the rest of the regatta.
Italy’s Chiara Benini Floriani then followed in third, once again managing to handle the challenging winds in Marseille.
Louise Cervera: “It’s nice to start with a victory. My plan was to give it my all. I had good speed and I started on the right side, so I took advantage of it to stay in front.
“It’s a good start, I had dreamed of it! The tactic today was to carefully observe the different wind strengths, not to make too many turns and to go for speed.
“Taking the first yellow jersey at my first Olympic Games gives me confidence and reassures me a little, because before starting you don’t know how to position yourself in relation to the others.
“What’s also incredible is the supporters at the exit of the port. It gives you shivers and extra energy, it makes you want to push harder, to go for it with your heart.”
Benini Floriani said: “The wind wasn’t as light as I feared; it got a bit tight. I had fun even though I wasn’t in the leading positions at the windward mark, but I made a good recovery afterward.
“It was a long day, but fortunately they had us wait onshore. We watched the tracking of the men, which definitely helped us read the field well.”
How it Works:
Medals for the Men’s Dinghy (ILCA 7) and for the Women’s Dinghy (ILCA 6) will be decided by the cumulative results of the 40-strong fleet over 10 races. The boat with the lowest total will rank first.
Athletes will be able to discard their worst finishing position after they’ve completed three races.
At the end of the Opening Series, the top ten boats in the fleet will qualify for the Medal Race, which is worth double points. The score in the Medal Race cannot be discarded. The sailor with the smallest overall points total will win gold.
This article was edited by ILCA with content provided by World Sailing, published initially on paris2024.sailing.org