EVENT RECAP
LANZAROTE, CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN (March 26, 2021) – Racing wrapped on Friday, March 26 with the completion of the final gold fleet race and medal race for both the 49er and 49erFX classes. All five American skiffs qualified for the gold fleet after three days of opening series racing that placed them in the top 25. The location, opportunity and importance of the event attracted a deep fleet of Olympic class talent.
Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) finished the gold fleet in the top 10, which promoted them to the final medal race. After finishing fifth in the medal race, the FX team ended the event with an eighth-place finish overall.
49erFX – 46 boats
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- Stephanie Roble, Maggie Shea – 8th
49er – 44 boats
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- Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont, NY), Ian MacDiarmid (Delray Beach, Fla.) – 13th
- Nevin Snow (San Diego, Calif.), Dane Wilson (Ojai, Calif.) – 19th
- Ian Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI), Hans Henken (Coronado, Calif.) – 21st
- Harry Melges (Fontana, Wis.), Finn Rowe (Fontana, Wis.) – 23rd
“Overall, it was a very well–run regatta,” said Mollerus. “Most of our racing has been in an informal setting over the last year, so it was a lot of fun to finally have a real event where everyone showed up and gave it their all.”
“We raced on two different racecourses throughout the regatta,” said Snow. “One course was further offshore where we experienced bigger waves and more stable wind. The other course was under a large headland and dormant volcano. This course was much shiftier and unpredictable and challenged us to keep our heads out of the boat.”
In recent months, Lanzarote, Spain has become a training hub for Olympians and Olympic hopefuls from all over the world. Multiple classes from the US Sailing Team traveled to the Canary Islands for training, joined by numerous athletes from European countries.
“Lanzarote is one of the main Canary Islands off the coast of North Africa in the Atlantic Ocean,” explained Hans Henken. “Training started here because of the great sailing, but more so because of how remote it is from the rest of the world, so it has its own natural protection from Covid-19. Testing is strict to get on the island and, therefore, Covid cases are low, which has allowed for sailing to take place in more of a ‘normal’ behavior.”
“Lanzarote is great, and the locals are very welcoming to all of the sailors in the town of Playa Blanca,” added Nevin Snow.
Luther Carpenter gave some insight on the value the island has brought to the team: “Lanzarote has served us extremely well. It’s been a paradise off on its own in the middle of Covid. The island has delivered Japan-esque conditions, been a safe place to set up shop, and has proved to be a great place for the community of Olympians and elite athletes to convene and push each other. It’s quenched the competitive thirst of our sailors who have done an excellent job domestically throughout the pandemic and provided us with a check-in with the rest of the international field. We’re pleased and enthusiastic about the progress we’ve made and it’s putting us in a good place for the final five months to the Games as well as the beginning of preparations for the 2024 cycle.”
The week’s conditions presented several unique challenges for racers and forced them to stay on their toes and keep their heads out of the boat.
Henken agreed the racing was tricky: “We sailed on the leeward shore of the island (southwestern point) which is behind a large volcano. The wind fills from the north and must bend to the west or the east to make its way around. It rarely ‘settles in’ on a dominant direction throughout the day, which results in a broad range and variance in the wind direction. This, coupled with a tricky sea state ranging from flat to swell to very confused washing machine chop, made for exciting racing!”
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Event News and Coverage:
- Final Results – https://www.lanzarotewinterseries.com/international/resultados.php
- Lanzarote International Regatta Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/lanzaroteinternationalregatta
- Event Website – https://www.lanzarotewinterseries.com/international/
- Event Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lanzaroteinternationalregatta/
Follow the US Sailing Team for updates at the following links:
US Sailing Team Press Contact:
Allison Chenard
US Sailing Team Media & Communications Coordinator
allisonchenard@ussailing.org
+1 (704) 657-2822
EVENT PREVIEW
LANZAROTE, CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN (March 19, 2021) – Five American skiffs are scheduled to compete in the Lanzarote Winter Series event with racing starting on Sunday, March 21. US Sailing team members and Team USA Tokyo Athletes, Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) will race in the 49erFX class, and the four USST men’s teams will compete in the 49er division: Nevin Snow (San Diego, Calif.) and Dane Wilson (Ojai, Calif.), Ian Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI) and Hans Henken (Coronado, Calif.), Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont, NY) and Ian MacDiarmid (Delray Beach, Fla.), and Harry Melges (Fontana, Wis.) and Finn Rowe (Fontana, Wis.).
In the past few months, the US skiff group took various approaches to training. Mollerus and MacDiarmid almost exclusively trained in Europe, Roble and Shea split their time between Europe and the states, and the remaining three men’s teams trained together in Florida and California. For Snow, Wilson, Barrows, Henken, Melges, and Rowe, this will be their first time back in international competition in well over a year.
Although Roble, Shea, Mollerus, and MacDiarmid have been training in Europe for months, large events with the international fleet are few and far between. Only a few opportunities remain for the fleets to gather prior to the 2020 Tokyo Games taking place this summer.
“It’s been 7 months since we last raced [in Kiel, Germany], and we’ve been sailing ‘full steam ahead’ since then,” said Roble. “We are super grateful to have the opportunity to race again with the fleet. We have been over here since the end of January and have made a lot of progress on our goals. We don’t know how much racing we will have before the Olympics, so we are excited to work our process and learn more in this final push to the Games!”
“This is the first big regatta of the season with a very competitive fleet,” said MacDiarmid. “We would love to keep it easy and be able to mix it up with the top boats when gold fleet starts.”
“Harry and I are very excited to get back to racing in a big fleet,” said Rowe. “It’s been over a year since our last international regatta [in Kiel, Germany]. Our biggest goal for this event is to focus on starting.”
With athletes both preparing for the upcoming Games in Tokyo and embarking on their campaigns for Paris 2024, all are excited to reconnect with the international fleet to check in on their progress.
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Keep up with the racing via social media and check out the event website below:
Results – https://www.lanzarotewinterseries.com/international/resultados.php
Lanzarote International Regatta Facebook –https://www.facebook.com/lanzaroteinternationalregatta
Event Website – https://www.lanzarotewinterseries.com/international/
Event Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lanzaroteinternationalregatta/
Schedule of Events
- Friday 19 March – Registration / Inspection
- Saturday 20 March – Registration / Inspection
- Practice Races
- Competitors Briefing
- Opening Ceremony
- Sunday 21 March – Qualifying Series Race
- Monday 22 March – Qualifying Series Race
- Tuesday 23 March – Qualifying Series Race
- Wednesday 24 March – Final Series Race
- Thursday 25 March – Final Series Race
- Friday 26 March – Final Series Race
- Medal Races
- Awards
Follow the US Sailing Team for updates at the following links:
US Sailing Team Press Contact:
Allison Chenard
US Sailing Team Media & Communications Coordinator
allisonchenard@ussailing.org
+1 (704) 657-2822