The eyes of the world will be focused on World Champion sailors Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz when they climb aboard the fast and furious 49erFX skiff to battle for Gold at the Olympic Games of Paris 2024 

The excitement here at Victron Energy is electric!

During the last two years our sponsored Dutch sailors have worked hard to become the world champion 49erFX team. Their dominant title gives them a psychological advantage – but that doesn’t mean they are complacent.

Odile and Annette are both crackling with energy when we talk to them. We caught up with them during a home break from their punishing schedule of twenty days on ten off Odile says: It’s pretty full on at the moment! At home the training continues. We still have gym sessions for body strength and we train our mindset for the competition. Somewhere we have to find some space to let it all go, too!

Summing up the last three months since they regained their world champion title in Lanzarote, Annette says: During the ‘Worlds’ in March we were stressed and nervous (which was actually good practice for the Games!) After we won we could just let go with relief …but now we’re starting to get energised again …and a bit nervous! To get over that we keep doing all the routine things we normally do, and that allows us to stay focussed on the training – although we always want to win every little thing!

I wonder – will there be a moment right at the start of that first race on Olympic water when they suddenly take fright as the thought hits them: ‘Hey! …this is the OLYMPICS!?

Odile remembers that’s exactly what happened at the World Championships when they were fighting so hard to recover their World Title: At the start of the first race we were like – ‘Oh this is the first race of the ‘Worlds!’. But we learned to acknowledge those nerves and declare them out loud to the other person.  It’s good to hear back: ‘Oh yes, me too!’ Then we have a little giggle and say ‘Okay, back to work now!’ By acknowledging it, it allows you to let go a little bit.

Olympics experience

The Olympic 49erFX Women’s skiff racing takes place over five days between Sunday 28th July and Thursday 1st August.  The event will be Annette’s third Olympics – at Rio eight years ago she and her sailing partner back then Annemiek Bekkering were overwhelmed by the ‘big stage’ of an olympic event, but still achieved seventh place; and at Tokyo the duo produced a brilliant performance to take Bronze.

Odile has experience from a ‘Youth’ Olympics in 2014 – an experience she loved so much she can’t wait to compete in the real thing!

Training

The event is held not in Paris of course – but 660km further south at the Olympic Marina in Marseille on France’s mediterranean coast. Since early May all training has been held on location in Marseille.

After taking a short paternity break to enjoy the birth of his second child, team coach Kaj Böcker is returning in time to steer the team to the start line at world’s biggest sporting competition.

For the past six weeks Odile and Annette have been working with interim coach – Fernando Kuo – which they both agree has been full of insight. A different coach brings new input and learning – sometimes just by telling it in a different way.

After all their experience – can there still be more to learn?

Odile says: Sailing is a sport in which you can always improve. Fernando has a team which is very good in light winds. He taught us to trim the sails slightly differently. Also, on shore, we became more decisive about light wind preparation – we had become too conservative about that. If we suspected light winds we would still hedge our bets rather than definitely setting the boat up for those conditions. Now we are more decisive – for light winds we tune the mast straighter to give a deep and full sail, and we slacken the cunningham (a downhaul for the boom – slackening it allows the mainsail to billow and adopt an aerofoil curve). 

Annette says: Whilst racing in light winds we can fine-tune using the main sheet and adjusting the sails – but it really helps if you make up your mind before the race. It made us feel comfortable about sailing in light winds. Making those decisions seems a small thing – but really helps a lot.

Having an interim coach has made us open-minded again.

Odile and Annette, along with other Olympic Games competitors, are already familiar with the venue having sailed there last July at the Summer Games Test Event. Back on french waters since May all the Dutch olympic training now takes place in Marseille. They train for ‘speed’ and ‘starts’, but also sail around the bay to see how the wind behaves in certain areas.

Odile says: From now, we’ve got the sailing instructions for the Olympic event, so we know the times and courses of the races and we can practice in those places.

Also, it’s going to be really hot – perhaps 35C or 36C. If there’s no breeze for sailing then we do heat training. We learn ways to cool down the body when we get too hot – but acclimatising to the heat is much more important. We have ten training sessions where we take our core temperature above 38.5 – basically a fever! Amongst the boys Flores goes cycling wearing layers of fleece – and a rain jacket to keep the heat in! He likes to torture himself. We all get very tired during heat training, but we must all do it.

Training includes racing against other-nation sailing-partners.

Odile says: The Polish team are good all-rounders and good in light breeze; the Norwegians are superstars in light breeze; the Swedish are good in strong breezes. We made a conscious decision to pick these really good sailors; we let them learn from us – yes – but we also learn from them. We also have ‘fundamentals’ training with them ashore. And by taking the opportunity to be surrounded by them in training means in the race there will probably be no surprises because we already know how they race.

After two-and-a-half or three hours on-the-water training it’s time to get back ashore.

In Marseille, away from the olympic village, Odile and Annette are really enjoying the company of their Olympic host family. They spend relaxing evenings sampling local food and wine – en plein air – with hosts Patrick and Bernadette Martigny.

The Dutch 49erFX team will make their Olympic arrival in Marseille on July 20th, by train …eight days before the first heat.

Train travel is a nod to sustainability, but in fact only takes six hours from the Netherlands. Everyone is getting revved up for the ‘Games’: You can tell by the questions that our Physio and Gym coach ask that they’re getting excited for you… says Odile.

Annette says: We’ve selected the sails and the mast and the boat we’re going to race with. The 49er boats are built by two different builders and have slight differences. Also the sails are made by three different sailmakers – each one stitches slightly differently and so they perform slightly differently, too. But we’re happy with our choices. The Dutch team has brand new sails – but we chose the ones we’re happy with, …the new sails can be used by the younger team members.

Odile and Annette sound like they know exactly where they’re going with this campaign. The pressure on them must be immense, but as they’ve demonstrated repeatedly during previous competitions they have the experience and intelligence to lead the fleet. Nothing can stop them from bringing home Olympic GOLD …except the twenty other teams who share the same ambition.

We can’t wait to see how they deal with THAT!!

Make sure you don’t miss a moment of the sailing action between July 28th and August 1st – on screen or in person at the event arena in Marseille.

To follow the event you can check the sailing schedule – look for ‘Women’s Skiff’ (race timings are being scheduled as we write) and then tune in to your national Olympic coverage broadcaster.§

Showcasing the world’s 10,000 most elite athletes across thirty-two sport disciplines, three and a half billion people will tune in to watch the greatest sporting even on Earth – the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Headline image © Sailing Energy.