Changing of the Guard in 49er – A Tough Bet to Place

For 49erFX go HERE

As an initial form guide the favorites are Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell (GBR) who narrowly won the 2017 European Championship just 4 weeks ago, in their first major championship win. They are a new team together, but both were near the top of the 49er Class through to the Rio Olympics with other team mates.  They have combined well and have trained hard all winter long to move into the favorites slot. Dylan has been campaigning for many years, first with long time crew, Alain Sign. Initially the duo sailed 29ers before a decade together in the 49er Class. Stu, a 470 Silver medalist from the London Olympics, made the transition to the 49er in 2013. He began crewing for Nic Asher, then with John Pink, and now with Dylan. He brings a fantastic sailing mind and balanced approach to racing, and so far this new partnership has been at the front of the fleet. While they are ready, this will be the toughest test they’ve faced together to date.

Returning to action, after a well deserved rest, are 2016 Olympic Bronze medalists, Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel (GER). Erik has been doing some pro sailing this winter while Thomas finished his undergrad degree. They have done little in the 49er this year, they may not yet be at their best and they represent a bit of an unknown as they did not attend the Europeans. Nevertheless, this team represents a real challenge based on their years of prior experience.

Winning the ‘coaches’ regatta last week here in Porto in a very talented fleet were Lukasz Przbytek and Pawel Kolodzinski (POL). They have long been at the top but have yet to win a major championship. The coaches regatta result shows they are sailing well, but will they be able to repeat their performance when the pressure is on at the World Championship?

The forecast for the week is uncharacteristically light. In training there has been limited big breeze and waves unlike the action we saw when we last had an event here in 2015. So far there has been a thick layer of morning fog that first burns off before the sea breeze builds later in the day. These unusual weather characteristics mean that the results this week could be even more unpredictable than normal, and the odds of a long shot coming in to win are even higher!

Stay tuned!

** Betting is with a legitimate online broker, www.vBet.com.  We only support legal betting from jurisdictions that allow sports betting.