We’re really looking forward to following the sailing action at the Paris Olympic Games where our very own sponsored sailors Odile van Aahholt and Annette Duetz will be competing for a coveted Bronze, Silver or Gold Medal!

Since teaming up two and half years ago Netherlands skipper Odile and crew Annette have been focused on qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games event. During their partnership they’ve achieved some pretty amazing results and now enter the Olympic Games as the current World Champions of the super-fast Women’s skiff known as the 49erFX.

They really couldn’t be in a better place to take on the world!

Twenty boats – the best of the best – will compete to take home the world’s most prestigious sporting Medal.

The sailing venue is the French Mediterranean coastal city of Marseille.

Beginning on Sunday 28th July and concluding on Thursday August 1 – our sailors will compete with the best sailors from twenty nations. Each team will be dreaming of winning a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal for their country’s national pride, and for their supporters wherever in the world they may be. The stakes for all of them couldn’t be higher!

Event heats

The first race on the first day of the Women’s skiff event (Sunday July 28th) begins at 15:35 Central European Time (UTC + 1 hour).

There will be three races on each of the first four days of their event (twelve in total) and on the fifth day (Aug 1) there will be a single race (usually limited to the top ten teams) which will determine the medal winners.

Event links

• You can see the Olympic schedule, ‘favourite’ a sport, and register for Calendar notifications here: https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/schedule/24-july
• You can watch live or on-demand sports coverage from the broadcast rights holder in your country. Here are the olympic action broadcasters listed by country : https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/where-to-watch-olympic-games-live
• You can learn a little more about sailing here if you’re new to the sport : https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/videos/sailing

Event Guidelines

Races will not usually take place if the wind speed is below 4 knots or above 25 knots. At wind speeds above 8 knots the 49erFX will begin to plane – making for exciting racing.

The target time for each race is 30 minutes, and 20 minutes for the medal race. The course distance will be lengthened or shortened to achieve those times as nearly as possible.

The course begins with an upwind leg, round a marker buoy, then downwind back to the starting gate; for each heat the course is run twice (very occasionally three times).

The top speed of a 49erFX is around 25 knots / 30 mph / 46km/h.

The waiting time between finishing one heat and beginning the next is kept to a minimum – a few minutes, usually.

Good Luck!

We will of course be publishing the Sailing results and the competition’s highlights after the event.

Good Luck to Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz!