US Sailing Announces 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials - Sailing Venue and Host

By: KATHERINE M. CLEMENTS

RHODE ISLAND — US Sailing and Miami Yacht Club have agreed to co-host the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Sailing. The 49er, Mixed 470, Men and Women’s IQ Foil, and Men’s and Women’s Formula Kite racing will be held Jan 6-13, 2024, while the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 classes will race Feb. 17-24, 2024. The racing will be held primarily on the Atlantic Ocean, with course options on Biscayne Bay.

Tom Duggan, Principal Race Officer (PRO) for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, will serve as PRO for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Sailing. The Notices of Race for these events will be issued by Aug. 1.

“We are honored to have the Miami sailing community and, in particular, Miami Yacht Club’s patriotism and enthusiasm for supporting America’s top sailing athletes and their journey to represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” said Paul Cayard, executive director of the US Sailing Team in a press release. “The U.S. Olympic Team Trials are a competition which will test boat speed, focus, mental strength, the ability to win races, and the ability to sail consistently over a series of races, all of which are required to succeed at the Olympic Games.”

The athlete selection procedures for the 2024 Olympic Games were drafted by US Sailing’s International Selection Committee, which includes nine U.S. Olympians and is chaired by Olympic silver and bronze medalist, JJ Fetter. The selection procedures were approved by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee and initially published in July 2022, with subsequent amendments to reflect this 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials announcement.

Late selection for the Women’s Skiff (49er FX) will be the combined results of the 2024 FX World Championships in Lanzarote, Spain, from February 27March 3rd and the 2024 Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma, Spain, from April 1-6.

Late selection for the Mixed Multihull (Nacra 17) will be the combined results of the 2024 Princess Sofia Regatta and the 2024 Nacra 17 Europeans in La GrandeMotte, France, from May 7-12.

Please note that if an athlete or team both wins the qualification series for selection to the Olympic Test Event in Marseille in July 2023 and achieves a podium finish at that event, that athlete or team will qualify for early selection and be nominated as the representative(s) for Paris 2024, precluding a late selection regatta or regattas for that class.

Emirates Team GBR grinder Matt Gotrel fell through the fairing of the foiling F50 catamaran as the team approached the finish line while traveling at speeds of 50 km/h. However, Gotrel remained attached to the F50 via his safety line and was quickly pulled back on board by his teammates with no injuries reported. The team finished sixth in the race and picked up a record of 6-6-2 across the first day.

The first fleet race began with Australia announcing it could not race due to technical issues before the gold and green

F50 dramatically crossed the start line. Despite problems, the team managed through messy maneuvers to finish the race in third overall.

Meanwhile, Peter Burling’s New Zealand, currently second in the Championship standings, was forced to retire from the first race due to technical issues and finished the day in sixth overall, one point behind Denmark in fifth.

Diego Botin’s second day behind the wheel of the Spanish F50 resulted in the team picking up an 8-5-9 racing record, with good moments throughout the race.

After racing at the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, a major weather event resulted in significant damage to the wing sails and at least one boat at the SailGP technical site.

As far as is known, no one was seriously injured during the incident. However, SailGP has had to cancel racing for the second day of the Sydney event due to the damage.