Matt Wearn is assured of GOLD with a race to spare.  Matt will officially be crowned Olympic Champion when he contests his Medal Race on Sunday as he has an insurmountable 22-point lead after 10 races. The result table is Here.

It was a tough day on the water for all. Matt posted a 12 and 8 in the light conditions on Friday (Races 9 and 10) after two wins on Thursday.  Unfortunately for him Cypriot Pavlos Kontides carded a 28th in race 10 which put him out of range of Matt going into the medal race on Sunday. According to the SIs Matt needs only to “make a genuine effort to start, sail the course and finish” in the medal race to take the gold.

“It was a tough day of racing, but I am happy to finish off with that. And yeah, I’m going to be a Gold Medallist.”
“I am still processing it myself,” said Matt’s dad Brad Wearn after the final race. “It’s his destiny. This has been his goal since he was knee-high to a grasshopper. We are just so proud of him, he’s pushed himself so hard and has been surrounded by great people along the way.”
Wearn wont be able to celebrate with family tonight, and making things more difficult is that COVID protocols will also prevent him from celebrating with fiancée Emma Plasschaert who is sailing the Laser Radial for Belgium at these Games.

Mara Stransky saved the best to last in her first Olympic campaign today. She set aside some earlier disappointment to put together the race day of her life, finishing her regatta with a third and a win in the final fleet race.

The great final day lifted Mara to a creditable 14th in the red hot fleet.

You can follow the Olympic sailing events in Enoshima on the following links.

Stream video 7plus  Sailing Channel

Get free 7plus Olympic Channels

Live Tracking

World Sailing Olympic Site

Olympic Sailing Results

Racing Schedule and Course Location

Australian Sailing Team Facebook

Australian Sailing Team Twitter

Check NSW & ACT Laser site Olympics page for on site updates and information.

See photos of Matt and Mara from World Sailing Here.

You can follow the Olympic sailing events in Enoshima on the following.

Stream video 7plus  Sailing Channel

Get free 7plus Olympic Channels

Live Tracking

World Sailing Olympic Site

Olympic Sailing Results

Racing Schedule and Course Location

Australian Sailing Team Facebook

Australian Sailing Team Twitter

Check NSW & ACT Laser site Olympics page for on site updates and information.

See photos of Matt and Mara from World Sailing Here.

Due to concerns of travel restrictions to Spain the ILCA has changed the dates of the Standard Men’s and Masters World Championships.

• 2021 ILCA 7 (Standard) Men’s World Championship – 03-10 November 2021 (previously 09-16 September 2021)
• 2021 ILCA Masters World Championships – 11-20 November 2021 (previously 17-26 September 2021)
  
  

The events will be held at the same venue – the Barcelona International Sailing Center in Barcelona, Spain.

Due to this change, the late application period has been reopened and the Entry Closing Date has been postponed. Details are posted on the ILCA web site.

Bruce Kirby Canadian born sailing legend and designer of many boats including the Laser passed away July 18, 2021. He was 92 years of age.

Bruce was a newspaper man in Ottawa and Montreal before he became a yacht designer. We was a pioneering sailing journalist, editor of One-Design and Off-Shore Yachtsman, which is still going today as Sailing World magazine.

A competitive sailor in International 14 dinghies from age 15 he went on to become a world-class sailor and Olympian. He represented Canada in the 1956, 1964, and 1968 Olympics.

As well as designing the Laser some background of which you can find Here Bruce’s design career included a multitude of successful classes such as the Sonar, Kirby 25 and Ideal 18, America’s Cup Twelve Meters, production racer/cruisers and offshore racing boats.

Bruce Kirby Canadian born sailing legend and designer of many boats including the Laser passed away July 18, 2021. He was 92 years of age.

Bruce was a newspaper man in Ottawa and Montreal before he became a yacht designer. We was a pioneering sailing journalist, editor of One-Design and Off-Shore Yachtsman, which is still going today as Sailing World magazine.

A competitive sailor in International 14 dinghies from age 15 he went on to become a world-class sailor and Olympian. He represented Canada in the 1956, 1964, and 1968 Olympics.

As well as designing the Laser some background of which you can find Here Bruce’s design career included a multitude of successful classes such as the Sonar, Kirby 25 and Ideal 18, America’s Cup Twelve Meters, production racer/cruisers and offshore racing boats.

After a years delay and considerable uncertainty the Tokyo Olympics will kick off with the opening ceremony from 9pm AEST on Friday, July 23.

Sailing will commence on the 25th of July, with the medal races taking place from 31 July to 4 August. The schedule and Olympic sailing team information is Here.  Sailing is scheduled between 1.00pm and 7.00pm AEST each day.

Channel 7 has the broadcast and streaming rights to the Olympics in Australia. Highlight sports will largely be shown on 7’s free to air channels.

In addition there are 7plus apps which will have over 40 channels streaming live action from the Games. You can download the 7plus iOS or Android app free from the App Store or Google Play Store. To view sailing simply log in to the app on your smartphone, tablet, go to the Olympics section and browse the streams to find sailing. You will then be able to watch the live action.

You can also access the Olympics streams on your computer. Right now the best place to go is 7plus.com.au/Olympics. Shortly before the Games sport specific pages will be launched. The one for sailing will be 7plus.com.au/olympic-games-tokyo-sailing.

You can also get 7plus on Fetch TV, Telstra TV, Apple TV 4th Gen+, Chromecast, Android TV, Samsung TV, Sony Linux TV, LG TV (2016 and later) and Playstation 4.

World Sailing has setup a site with all the Tokyo Olympic Sailing information at https://tokyo2020.sailing.org/news/ . You can subscribe on this site to get updates and results.

Best wishes to our 13 Olympic sailors and the entire 472 Australians who will compete in Tokyo. It has been a tough preparation for most of these athletes. There are links to the profiles of the 13 Australian Olympic sailors Here. Just click the photo to see the profile.

Australian Sailing says “Australia has a rich history of success in Olympic sailing and this year is no different with a number of strong Gold Medal chances alongside some young and emerging talent. Our Laser, Men’s 470 and Nacra 17 classes were all in the medals the last time they competed at a World Championships, and you can write off the other classes at your own risk. All our competitors have strong podium results on the international stage and it is the Olympics – anything can happen and probably will.”

Southeast Sailboats in the UK has a race track conditions and form guide for the Laser Men’s event Here. and World Sailing has the guide to the top ranked Laser Women Here

Winter winds are sometimes pretty ordinary so maybe then you can get some more use from your Laser with this Haka Laser rowing kit.

Originating from Switzerland this frame and oars setup looks well engineered though not cheap. It could allow safe rowing in combination with sailing in open water where regular rowing shells might offer rowing in combination with swimming.

More info from the Swiss firm is Here and a video on the concept is Here.

The hands of the front half of the winning 470 team Will Ryan pictured show the wear and tear and the reward of the Belcher/Ryan team.

A fabulous effort rewarded by Mathew carrying the Australian flag in the closing ceremony.