Sarah Douglas finishes 5th, six points away from the podium, at French Olympic Week in Hyères

Sarah Douglas at French Olympic Week © Sailing Energy

Canadian sailor Sarah Douglas from Toronto, ON, took fifth place overall at the French Olympic Week competition that kicked off last Monday in Hyères, France, finishing only six points away from a bronze medal.

Qualified in fourth place for the Medal Race following the 10 preliminary races, Douglas, who won a gold medal in ILCA 6 at the World Sailing Hempel World Cup in Spain earlier this year, took the fifth spot in Saturday's Medal Race, the final event of the week where points were doubled, which allowed her to add 10 more points to her total and close the competition in fifth place overall.

With a total of 119 points accumulated throughout the week of races, Sarah Douglas finished only six points behind the bronze medalist, Louise Cervera of France. Agata Barwinska from Poland won gold, followed by Marie Barrue of France. Emma Plasschaert from Belgium, who was fourth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, also finished fourth on Saturday, one spot ahead of Sarah Douglas. Hannah Snellgrove from Great Britain, the silver medalist at the World Sailing World Cup, finished just behind Douglas in sixth place.

"I'm happy with the fifth-place finish after a challenging week including 65 boats competing, sometimes a smaller race course that we are used as well as challenging conditions. I made a number of mistakes but I'm happy to have learnt from them and I worked hard to reduce the damage of some races", said Sarah Douglas who went through highs and lows during the week, collecting three wins and also fourth, fifth, 12th, 16th, 29th, 40th and 47th place results over her 11 races.

"I knew I would be fatigued at the end of a long European block but I'm proud of how my coach Vaughn Harrison and I handled it, our communication and how we worked together as a team. I am honoured to work with a great coach. Overall I'm happy with a good start to the European season", added Douglas who will now get prepared for the next World Sailing World Cup in Holland, June 1-5.

Ten Hove and Millen finish one point away from the Medal Race

In 49erFX, Ali ten Hove (Kingston, ON) and Mariah Millen (Toronto, ON) missed the top 10 and qualifying for the Medal Race by only one point to finish the competition in 11th spot.

"It was five days of great racing against the top teams in the world," said the two teammates who, through their 15 races this week, came up with eight top-10 results, including two third-place and two fourth-place finishes. "We missed the Medal Race by just one point, but we are really happy with the progress we are making as a team. We are focused on the little things and we are improving our skills each race. We are leaving this event happy and hungry for more."

In ILCA 7, Fillah Karim from Vancouver, B.C., was the best of the 10 Canadians in action with a 28th-place result overall.

"I'm happy to end this European stint on a positive note with my personal best result at an event of this caliber," said Fillah Karim. "There have been a lot of changes recently with Andrew Lewis being brought in as the ILCA 7 Canadian team coach and the formation of a strong group of Canadian Laser sailors now working together. It is great to see that these collaborations are bringing us in the right direction as we look towards the upcoming World Championship in Mexico."

Full results are available at sof.ffvoile.fr.

Canadian results at the French Olympic Week competition in Hyères, FRA

ILCA 6 (/65)
5. Sarah Douglas (Toronto, ON, ABYC)
39. Clara Gravely (Toronto, ON, ABYC)
46. Maura Dewey - (Victoria, B.C., RVYC)
50. Coralie Vittecoq - (Montréal, QC, Pointe-Claire YC/BLBC)

49erFX (/38)
11. Ali ten Hove (Kingston, ON) & Mariah Millen (Toronto, ON) - Kingston YC/RCYC

ILCA 7 (/129)
28. Fillah Karim (Vancouver, B.C., RVYC)
46. Luke Ruitenberg (St. Margaret's Bay, N.S., RNSYS)
62. Ryan Anderson (Halifax, N.S., RNSYS)
66. James Juhasz (Oakville, ON, BHYC)
82. Forrest Wachholz (Innisfil, ON, Barrie YC)
106. Liam Bruce (Oakville, ON, Port Credit YC)
109. Ben Flower (Tobermory, ON, Tobermory YC)
118. Ian Elliott (Victoria, B.C. RVYC/HKKK/MKS)
121. Francis Charland (Île Cadieux, QC, CVDM)
126. Kofi Dinel (Montréal, QC, BLBC)

More details are available on Sail Canada website à www.sailing.ca.