LA28: A golden Olympic test in a dream venue – Schultheis and Rieger put in a brilliant performance

Following the medal-less Olympic regatta in Marseille, the national sailors are once again giving their fans hope of Olympic gold. At the first major test regatta in the future LA28 Olympic venue, they set Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger A golden exclamation mark. The 21-year-old helmsman from the North German Regatta Club and his 30-year-old bowman had already secured the top spot in the world-class field of 31 men’s pairs from 18 nations right at the start of the San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta. They did not relinquish the yellow jersey of the leaders thereafter.

The first victory at the Los Angeles Sailing Centre

On the contrary: following a consistent run of form, they stunned the competition once again on the penultimate day of the San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta with two race wins. Following another victory in the first of the two medal races, Schultheis and Rieger had already secured their resounding victory in the future LA28 Olympic venue ahead of schedule, even though the new points system had previously brought the top teams closer together in the final than they had been during the main round.

The new system is actually intended to prevent premature victories, but Schultheis/Rieger were so good…that they had already secured gold in the LA28 test event before the second and final race of the final. In the end, they finished an impressive 15 net points ahead of the runners-up, the British pair James Grummett and Rhos Hawes, and 22 points ahead of Hernán Umpierre and Fernando Diz from Uruguay. The New Zealanders Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn, With two days to go before the final, Schultheis and Rieger are still in the lead, came ninth.

“It’s fantastic to be sailing here in the Olympic venue. We’ve had brilliant conditions so far. On two different courses, we’ve experienced completely different styles of sailing,” enthused Richard Schultheis from the sailing venue for the LA28 Olympic Games. In San Pedro Bay, sailing takes place either inside the harbour wall or outside it. “It was great fun sailing out there in the waves and swell. We haven’t had much of that this year,” explained Schultheis. He added that sailing in the harbour in shifter conditions in shallow water is also a nice challenge.

"San Pedro Bay has provided glorious conditions so far." Richard Schultheis

At the same time, following his team’s gala celebration, Schultheis warned against too much euphoria: “There are still two years to go, during which a lot can happen. We must remain focused and ensure that we leave no stone unturned in the run-up to the Games. Everyone else will also be working hard to achieve their best. We benefited from our consistency across more than 15 races at this regatta. There was a new dynamic to this type of racing, where mistakes can happen quickly and prove costly in the standings. We were the best at minimising them this week.”

The sailing venue for LA28: a harbour full of possibilities

The Olympic sailors are in agreement: in two years’ time, the battle for medals in the six sailing disciplines – taking place on the alternating outer and inner courses in San Pedro Bay – will demand all-round talent. This week, Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger were the best in the 49er class. Fabian Rieger described the conditions, saying: “We’re coping very well with the conditions and had excellent boat speed. The improvement at the end came on the inner course. Richard found a good line across the course, whilst I fine-tuned the boat and kept it moving fast.”

"It’s a brilliant area where you can actually go sailing every day." Fabian Rieger

DSV head coach Dom Tidey said in Los Angeles: “Our team came here to learn. They’ve made a statement. I couldn’t be prouder of the performance the team has put in this week. Jakob and Andi also showed great speed throughout the week – two wins and three second places prove that the speed is there. With a bit more consistency, they too could have won in this fleet. Reaching the final is a solid result. There’s plenty to build on.”

“We came here with lots of questions and are leaving the future Olympic venue with answers. We wanted to learn, and we’ve made our mark.” Dom Tidey

In fact, Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger were remarkably fast. Two first-place finishes and three second-place finishes demonstrated the speed potential of the pair who finished eleventh at the Marseille Olympics. However, the crew from the Bavarian Yacht Club recorded a few too many double-digit results, which prevented them from making it onto the podium. Meggendorfer and Spranger rounded off Germany’s strong overall performance as the top nation in the 49er class with a seventh-place finish.

Click here for the results of the San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta.

Andreas Spranger attributes the GER team’s strong performance in this first test on the LA28 Olympic course partly to the excellent teamwork between the two crews under the guidance of coach Ryan Seaton, saying: “We’ve certainly got good speed; we know we’re fast. Richard and Fabi have also shown that they have very good speed. I think that’s also down to our very close collaboration. In the days leading up to the regatta, we spent a great deal of time fine-tuning things together here, sharing all the trim settings and trying to adapt to the conditions as best we could.”

The legal focus of the LA28 external courses

In this regard, bowman Andreas Spranger highlighted a distinctive feature of the LA28 sailing course, which impressed with its consistent conditions. Andi Spranger explained: “What’s very unusual here is that the course often veers to starboard. Especially on the two outer courses. Inside the marina, conditions are more balanced. That’s why, in some races, more than 80 per cent of the crews started on starboard tack, which is very, very unusual. When we got it right, we were able to make the most of our speed, winning races or at least finishing in the top five.”

But there was also a downside to that fast-paced, exciting race, as Spranger also explained: “You have to keep it simple and put in solid starts. And not – a bit like we did – have hit-and-miss starts. We made life a bit difficult for ourselves at times.” The bottom line is a realisation shared by almost everyone internationally: the LA28 course has everything Olympic sailors could wish for.

This was also confirmed by the 49erFX sailors. Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille from the Mühlenberger Sailing Club, who finished sixth at the Marseille Olympics, moved up to sixth place overall in the final sprint after finishing fifth and fourth in the medal races. They described their performance as “satisfactory overall”. They were just a little short on speed. the European champions compared to the podium-finishing teams. Marla Bergmann said: “The Swedish team had extremely good boat speed all week. We’re still lacking in crew weight, for example. We’ve already made significant progress over the last two years. Now it’s a case of keeping at it and working hard!”

"We firmly believe that we can be right up there with the best in two years’ time." Marla Bergmann

Sophie Steinlein and Cathy Bartelheimer (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Bayerischer Yacht-Club/Segelclub Inning am Ammersee) are pursuing the same goal as part of the strong German 49erFX squad, coached by Mark Asquith and Riccardo de Felice. The Olympic squad sailors narrowly missed out on a place in the top ten medal final at the San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta, finishing eleventh. The first major Olympic test at the Port of Los Angeles, featuring 18 women’s crews from 14 countries, was won by Olympic silver medallist Vilma Bobeck and Ebba Berntsson (Sweden), ahead of Paula Barcelo and Maria Cantero (Spain) and Freya Black and Saskia Tidey (Great Britain).