Last Chance Regatta at Hyères, France - Day 4
by World Sailing 25 Apr 08:40 NZST
21-28 April 2024
Bainbridge grabs last chance Paris 2024 ticket for Team GB
Connor Bainbridge finally claimed a place in the men's kite at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for Great Britain, approximately eight months later than he expected, after a dominant display at the Last Chance Regatta in Hyères.
The 30-year-old secured qualification for Team GB in the Formula Kite ahead of tomorrow's medal series following a day in which he again dominated the rest of the fleet in the final qualification event for this summer's Olympics.
Bainbridge, who must now wait for the British Olympic Association selection process next week before knowing for sure if he will travel to Marseille, was tipped to earn a place at the Games at last summer's Sailing World Championships in The Hague.
After missing out there, he also underperformed at the European Championships on home waters in Portsmouth in the autumn.
Now after a week in which he won eight of 14 races contested as part of the Semaine Olympique Française, he secured a place in the final of the medal series, thereby guaranteeing that Olympic spot.
A relieved Bainbridge said: "It was obviously a pretty stressful regatta. When you name a regatta 'the Last Chance Regatta,' it really puts the emphasis on it.
"Obviously, I missed my opportunity last year at both the Worlds and the Europeans but my coach keeps telling it's made me stronger and it's going to give us a better hit at the Olympics.
"It's a little bit of relief and a little bit of happiness and I'm sure it'll sink in in a minute, but I can breathe a little bit now. I'm glad it's done and I'm looking forward to a beer with my coach."
Bainbridge found himself off the pace after day one of racing here but he has really found his form on the shores of the Mediterranean.
He added: "It was a tricky regatta, and I really didn't get it right on the first day but after that I tuned into it and got it done.
"It was never going to be easy - everyone was pushing so hard and so there were no easy races and we had to fight all the way to the last minute."
Poland will also have a kite in Marseille after Maks Zakowski claimed a place in the medal series final. Three more country places remain available and are set to be determined by the outcome of Thursday's medal series.
In the women's kite, Elena Lengwiler secured an Olympic place for Switzerland as she continues to look like one of Formula Kite's emerging talents.
Tipped by some as a potential medal contender after rapid improvement over the last year, Lengwiler recorded 10 bullets from 14 races this week to advance straight to the medal series final and secure a Paris 2024 spot for Switzerland.
She said: "I think my first thought was to myself: 'Ok, Elena now you did it, you're safe.'"
And there was further good news for Poland as Julia Damasiewicz finished second to also move into the medal series final and earn an Olympic place.
More Olympic tickets were claimed in the windsurfing, where seven men's places and eight women's places are available for Paris 2024.
In the men's competition, Noah Lyons of the United States, who knows he will be the US pick for the event, Lithuania's Rytis Jasiunas and Ching Yin Cheng of Hong Kong, China secured top three places which brought Olympic qualification by virtue of passage into the iQFOiL medal series here.
In the women's windsurfing, Katerina Svikova of Czechia, AIN athlete Anastasiya Valkevich and Turkey's Merve Vatan were the top three going into the medal series and so all three qualified Paris 2024 country places.
Polish sailors are having a good week in the south of France. They look all but certain to claim a place in the women's skiff as they occupy the top two places from an event which will produce five qualifiers.
Both pairs - Aleksandra Melzacka and Sandra Jankowiak, in first, and second-placed Gabriela Czapska and Hanna Rajchert - had another consistent day after four more 49er FX races this afternoon.
Meanwhile, in the men's skiff, Germany hold the top three places in an event for which they could qualify one of the four country places but not clear the hurdle of national team selection.
Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger now lead, ahead of compatriots Max Stingele and Linov Scheel, in second, and Fabian Rieger and Tom Heinrich in third.
Four Olympic places are available in the Nacra 17 mixed multihull and the Danish pair of Natacha Violet Saouma-Pedersen and Mathias Brun-Borreskov look increasingly likely to claim one of them as they continue to lead the standings.
Turkey's Alican Kaynar and Beste Kaynakci are in second with Japan's Shibuki Itsuka and Oura Nishida Capiglia in third.
In the women's dinghy ILCA 6s, from which four Olympic places are available, Sofia Naumenko of Ukraine scored a couple of bullets to move up to third behind Cyprus's Marilena Makri and Romania's Ebru Bolat.
And in the men's dinghy ILCA 7s, Jeemin Ha of South Korea pushed into first place after two bullets, moving ahead of Estonia's Karl-Martin Rammo and Malaysia's Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy who dropped from the lead to third.
In the mixed dinghy 470s, Italy continue to look strong with Giacomo Ferrari and Alessandra Dubbini in first and Elena Berta and Bruno Festo in second.
Full results from the Last Chance Regatta are available via the Semaine Olympique Française website.