A1R Q1 Performance Report
Executive Summary
Q1 2024 was always destined to be very important for USA athletes. For the first time in 12 years, the USA held our Olympic Trials on home waters during the months of January and February. The trials were a great success on several fronts. We are certainly proud and excited for the Team that will represent the USA in Paris. Talent retention is important and many of our 2nd and 3rd place finishers are beginning their campaigns toward LA 2028 right now, which is very valuable to our future. Currently many of our athletes and coaches are in Heyers, France at the “Last Chance Regatta” working together to earn the USA Olympic berths in the Men’s iQ Foil and Formula Kite and ILCA7. In conjunction with US Sailing, A1R has paid for the completion of the “playbook” for Marseille with Meteorologist Chelsea Freas. Once complete, we will be providing this product to Team USA. This summer’s calendar of camps and clinics on page 9 show the breadth of sailing A1R supports.
There have been some misguided public distractions off the water during this quarter but A1R has not missed a beat on operations and support of our athletes.
Olympic Trials Report
The United States Olympic Trials Regatta, organized by US Sailing in conjunction with Miami Yacht Club was a huge success! In several of the classes, years of training for one goal, boiled down to the last race. This type of pressure is what our athletes need to experience in order to win on the world stage. The conception, blueprint, initial planning, coordination with host sites, recruitment of top organizers and race officials; all went extremely well, and delivered a total of 16 days racing (2 events) held in a wide range of suitable conditions. The competition was extremely close and clearly tested everyone’s skills in a complete fashion.
Hosting the Olympic Trials on US waters fostered a heightened work ethic and focus for a larger group of our country’s best sailors and coaches. The clear “deadline” helped them align very specific goal-setting and preparation that are rarely tested. Also, having the Olympic Trials on home waters was inspirational for our young athletes who will represent the USA in 2028, 2032 and beyond. See the letter from 17 year old Arabella Duer: https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2024/04/08/target-hit-for-us-olympic-program/.
Coaching was also ramped up, combining many personal and program coaches, fielding cooperative and highly efficient training months/regattas leading into the main event. (Read more here): https://www.americaoneracing.us/latest/backtothefuture.
The domestic Trials were shown to all to be a clearly more effective way to simulate the pressure of the Games and require a winning mentality to succeed. A few events were won by just 1 point, making the last race a pressure cooker. It also provided the winners a straightforward and focused path for their Games preparation. Equally important, it sets the US back on a path towards stronger connection between the young (and potential future) campaigners and the current full-time contenders and the transfer of knowledge that is so powerful amongst our competitor nations. Despite the skepticism about the wisdom of domestic trials over the past 18 months, everyone saw it, everyone understands it now, and everyone accepts it as the best path forward. That is something we should all feel very good about.
Results of Round 1 can be found here: 2024 US Olympic Team Trials - Sailing (Mixed Dinghy, Men's and Women's Windsurfing, Men's Kite, Men's Skiff)
Results of Round 2 can be found here: https://theclubspot.com/regatta/KFrevxlwxs/results?class_id=5SgnJbS4RZ
IQFoil Worlds, Lanzarote, Spain
© Sailing Energy / iQfoil Class
The 2024 IQ Foil worlds were held in Lanzarote, Spain and A1R athletes Dominique, Noah and Geronimo entered the event fresh off the Domestic Trails, but with less than optimal physical or mental recovery time.
Noah and Geronimo finished 20th and 23rd out of 118 athletes. The Class is extremely competitive, new to the Olympic Games, and one in which the USA was completely uncompetitive just two years ago. This group has exemplified the “squad mentality” in the USA. It is encouraging to see more and more strong individual race scores but also they are having solid complete days. As they continue building more skills and confidence they will continue their progression towards the top of the fleet.
USA was the 10th country at the worlds and was one of the 7 countries with more than one athlete in the top 25, after NED (2), ITA (2), FRA(5), POL (2), ESP (2), USA (2) and ahead of NZL (2).
Dominique had also her best to date result at a World Championship finishing 32nd out of 92. She is finding some consistency and speed with her new fitness program. Pedro Pascual (A1R) is transitioning from athlete to coaching Dominique. His experience as a two-time Olympic athlete is coming at the right time to help Dominique at her first Games!
https://2024iqworldslanzarote.sailti.com/en/default/races/race
49er and FX Worlds Lanzarote, Spain (Also first half of FX Trials)
© Sailing Energy / Lanzarote Sailing Center
The 2024 49erFX World Championships were held in Lanzarote, Spain March 4-10. This event was the first (of 2) events to determine the US Olympic Team Trials for the FX class. A1R’s FX team of Paris Henken/Anna Tobias did Lanzarote training sessions in both December and January, to prepare for the expected Lanzarote conditions. The focus included both practice racing (coached by Charlie Mckee), and then followed up with technique specific work (coached by Luther Carpenter).
The A1R-supported 49er team of Ian Barrows/Hans Henken came to Lanzarote fresh off their big Olympic Trials win, but short on practice time and without ideal buildup (partly due to a late container). They had both A1R’s Charlie McKee and USST squad coach Mark Asquith coaching them together. Although the typical Lanzarote conditions (windy with long, sometimes difficult cross-swell) didn’t materialize, the 49er event was mostly raced in pretty good conditions (offshore, medium air, shifty).
Ian and Hans finished 16th at the Worlds. They had a first-day DSQ that put them on the back foot; otherwise they would have been battling right at the top-10/medal race cutoff, very similar to their performance at Hague Worlds 6 months previously (9th). The results masked some significant progress however, particularly upwind speed and on-board communications and decision making.
Paris and Anna had a poor qualifying series that proved extremely costly to their Trials prospects. Day 1 racing the 2 FX groups had wildly different conditions (steady 16-22 knots vs puffy shifty 8-12), and the crucial Day 2 FX races were sailed in 6-8 knots and big mixed-up waves, then when the wind filled in at 16-20 racing was canceled for the day. Bottom line was they had some real mis-fortune with the draw/conditions (they comfortably can score top 5’s in the groups when overpowered), they struggled in the very light air and waves scoring a 19, 21. In the end that left them 4 points shy of making the Gold fleet. Then the wind returned, they sailed well the last 2 days to control what they could, won Silver by a few points to end up 26th overall. They out-dueled some good boats in Silver, including Australia (3rd in 2023 Worlds), Norway (8th in 2023 Worlds) and Finland (11th in 2023 Worlds).
Results can be found here:
https://49er.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/49er_Overall-Results.pdf
https://49er.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/49erfx__overall_results__10-1.pdf
FX Trials Final (2nd) round in Palma for A1R athletes Paris and Anna
The 53 Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofia just concluded in the Palma de Mallorca Bay, which served as the 2nd and final round of the 49erFX Trials. A1R athletes Paris Henken and Anna Tobias delivered their best performance of this quad, finishing 9th overall in a very competitive fleet.
On the heels of round 1 of the trials at the Lanzarote Worlds, Paris/Anna knew they had to shoot for a top position in Palma to secure a chance at the Olympic berth in Marseilles, and the team prepared for it with that strategy in mind. For the 2nd regatta in a row, the wind conditions were windy and wavy in the lead up week, providing excellent training and speedy success in the coach racing. At the same time the fleet eyed changing conditions in the future for the regatta, anticipating the less frequent westerly conditions, and a transition into S-SW-SE lighter thermal breeze directions.
Day 1 looked promising, but winds of 18-28 knots combined with large seas kept the skiff fleets on shore. Day 2 delivered classic Palma 8-10 knot southerlies, with Paris/Anna scoring a 15-6, one keeper, and one compromised start which sent them to the wrong side of the course. Day 3 brought a four race day, with Paris/Anna delivering 3 solid starts/races, and one race with an early foul/penalty turn that ended in their throwout - 19th. Day 4 was Gold Fleet racing, bringing huge opportunities in a stacked fleet, and another 4 race day. Paris/Anna sailed a solid day, putting together 3 excellent races in the tight racing, but started the day with a 14th. In Gold Fleet a 14th isn’t a deal breaker, but the previous 15-19 still made it tough to vault up the leaderboard. Day 5 turned out to be the final day of racing, and was yet another 4 race day. Paris and Anna were primed and optimistic, and came out swinging with a first in Race 1. It was a textbook race with all the necessary components; best start, top speed up/down, and composed and astute tactics. However for the rest of the day the wind would be fickle, alternating trends, velocities, and winning strategies. They struggled to get it right, and scored a 17-12-15 to round out the day. The final race had a final dose of frustration, for going into the final run Paris/Anna were positioned to finish the day in 7th overall, but their side had less wind and several boats finished seconds ahead at the line.
Going into the Medal race opportunity lay ahead, but Palma skunked most of the fleets including the FXs, so the series ended as scored.
It was refreshing for Paris/Anna to sail at the top of the fleet in the Palma event, truly racing toe-to-toe with the best every race, and delivering the starts, the speed, the communication, and the teamwork that is required in this tough class.
https://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall
49er training in Marseille
Ian and Hans skipped the Trofeo Princesa Sofia to focus on their “to do list” of skills to improve before the Games. They are training at the Olympic venue in Marseille with the current world champions and other top teams. We are getting excellent feedback from Ian and Hans about the progress made at this camp. Klaus Lange joined the camp to enhance the training with his vast experience specifically in finding that little extra speed. The next couple months are all about incremental and consistent performance gains. They have an excellent plan and they are executing it with great discipline.
More details on their next camps are coming up. A1R training partners will join the training sessions...
Preparation for the “last chance event” in Hyeres, FRA.
The USA still needs to qualify for the Olympic spot in the ILCA 7, IQFoil Men and Formula Kite Men classes. This qualifying event will be held in Hyeres, FRA on April 21-26 with two events hosted simultaneously. All countries that did not earn the Olympic berth yet will race each other on their own event.
Ford, Marshall and Leo just finished a week-long ILCA 7 training camp early April in Miami Beach under the coaching of Steve Mitchell paid for by A1R. We are proud to see them working together and maximize the chances for the US to earn that spot for Ford, who earned the right to represent the USA at theGames,pendingqualification. Thereareonly3remainingspotsfortheILCA7Class.
Geronimo Nores will join Noah for training and racing the Last chance event in Hyeres to increase the chances of qualifying the USA in the IQ Foil Men. There are 5 spots for the IQFoil Men.
Quantum Racing will enhance the preparation by supporting the effort by adding legend Robert Scheidt to the Team in Hyeres.
Leandro will also attend the event to support all athletes and coaches so they can have extra support to get the job done. All “hands on deck” to support our athletes!
Regatta website: https://sof.regatta.ffvoile.fr/
Athlete support - grants
Our athletes are focused, they have good performance plans and also extra support, mainly in the form of coaching (246 days in Q1) and also available A1R training partners to help them push hard at this crucial time. Quantum Racing is enhancing these levels of support with access to expert coaching focused on helping qualify the country and then the fine-tuning and last push leading into the Games. Grants in the amount of $113,500 have been deployed to help execute their plans.
Domestic platform update: America One Racing is taking off!
We continue supporting the foiling pathway to align our efforts with partners American Magic’s long-term vision. We are really excited to meet new young talented athletes. We recently held another foiling camp in Kaneohe Yacht Club, Oahu Hawaii working together with the WASZP Class and the local community. We invited top athletes from other countries to join us at our A1R camp leading into two back-to-back regattas, the US Nationals and the Americas Championship, plus a day of Slalom racing. We created this “mini worlds” event to check where the performance bar is in order to draft a good development plan for our sailors. We aim to become very competitive in time for the 2025 Worlds in Weymouth, England.
We will continue working with these athletes this summer and inviting more to join this pathway. Stay tuned for more reports from coaches and athletes.
National’s Results HERE
America’s Results HERE
Slalom Result HERE
Summer Outlook
We are looking at a very exciting summer with tons of A1R-supported athletes training and racing at the highest level possible, including at the Olympic Games in Marseille!
IQ Youth: Makani with training partners preparing for the Youth Worlds with camps in Hawaii before heading to Garda for the peak event.
Wingfoil: developing the domestic platform for this exciting new discipline that attracts new talent into the foiling pathways. Training camps scheduled in Hawaii, Gorge and San Francisco culminating with the US Nationals hosted by the St Francis YC in August.
WASZP: Continue developing these young athletes with domestic training and travel teams to check in with the international fleet in Norway at the Class Worlds.
Long Beach OCR: As we ramp up training at the future Olympic venue, the Long Beach OCR is a must stop each summer. We will host an A1R annual camp before the Regatta.
Triple Crown: We are endorsing and supporting partners from Oakcliff and Windmark Foundation with their renewed Triple crown five Events in NY from June to August. These events provide great support in the form of prize money to athletes in Olympic classes.
Olympic Games: A1R supported athletes are focused on their plans to sail their best event of the quad at their first Olympic Games in Marseille (Dominique, Daniela, Ian, Hans, Noah and Ford are racing at the Olympics for the first time!) . A very important milestone on their way to excellence and aiming for Gold at the home Games in 2028.
Talent retention: We care about our athletes and we are working hard for the non-trials winners to continue on their path to the top. For some of our athletes Los Angeles 2028 is already in their sights, and we are drafting the next steps to continue their rise. For others, continuing competing at the highest level possible is their goal.