Morris Wins Silver in IQ Foil

Olympic debutant Grae Morris won Australia’s first sailing medal of the Paris Olympics when he took out Silver in the Men’s Windsurfing in Marseille today.

The NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete qualified directly for the three-person Grand Final by virtue of finishing the Qualifying Series in first, and it was Tom Reuveny (ISR) and Luc Van Opzeeland (NED) who emerged from the Semi Final as his opponents.

The 20-year-old from Woollahra Sailing Club sailed close to the perfect race in the Grand Final and was ecstatic at the realisation that he had become Australia’s first Windsurfing Olympic medallist since Lars Kleppich won Bronze in 1992.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said Morris. “I looked up to so many Australians leading up to this moment and to say I have a medal and to say it all paid off, I’m just ecstatic.”

Coach Arthur Brett had Morris perfectly primed for the race. The Aussie was first across the start line and the first top mark, but it was Reuveny who turned in third and split on his own to the left-hand side on the second upwind who nailed his lay-line and couldn’t be caught.

“I feel I did everything I could’ve done. I’m super happy and no regrets at all,” finished Morris.

Reigning ILCA 7 World and Olympic champion Matt Wearn relished the big winds delivered by the Mistral today. Much like he did in Tokyo three years ago, Wearn is dominating the middle stages of the regatta and his first and second in today’s two races have him set up beautifully in first overall with a 22-point lead over Brit Micky Beckett in second.

“It was a bit shifty with an up-and-down wind which made some good racing, but I made the most of it and had two good races,” said Wearn.

“Things are feeling pretty good at this point, another couple of days like that and I’ll be happy.”

The big breezes certainly suited the Aussies today with strong days from Nia Jerwood and Conor Nicholas (Mixed Dinghy) and Zoe Thomson (Women’s Dinghy) shooting them both up the leaderboard to sixth and thirteenth respectively.

“It was a super tough day,” said Thomson after racing. “It was very physical so I’m pretty tired, but I’ll go and recovery now and get into tomorrow.”

Tomorrow will see the continuation of qualifying races for the three dinghy classes and the Mixed Multihull. Australia’s Breiana Whitehead will also commence her campaign in the Women’s Kitesurfing, with the reigning overall winner of this year’s Palma regatta keen to get her maiden Olympic regatta underway in the predicted 10-18 knots of fading Mistral.

Article courtesy of Sailing Australia

Paris 2024 Olympic Regatta standings

Men’s Dinghy (43 entries)
1^st: Matt Wearn (AUS) 12, 2, 1, (18), 1, 2 – 18 points 

2^nd: Micky Beckett (GBR) (19), 9, 15, 8, 4, 4 – 40 points

3^rd: Pavlos Kontides (CYP) 17, 5, (27), 5, 10, 5 – 42 points

Men’s Windsurfer (24 entries) – Complete
1^st: Tom Reuveny (ISR) 1 GF

2^nd: Grae Morris (AUS) 2 GF – SILVER MEDAL
3^rd: Luc Van Opzeeland (NED) 3 GF

Mixed Dinghy (19 entries)
1^st: Keiju Okada & Miho Yoshioka (JPN) 1, 2, 2, (6) – 5 points

2^nd: Lara Vadlau & Lukas Maehr (AUT) (20 BFD), 5, 3, 1- 9 points

3^rd: Anton Dahlberg & Lovisa Karlsson (SWE) 7, (14), 1, 2- 10 points
6^th: Nia Jerwood & Conor Nicholas (AUS) 6, (20 UFD), 7, 7 – 20 points

Women’s Dinghy (43 entries)
1^st: Marit Bouwmeester (NED) (4), 1, 2, 4, 2, 3 – 12 points

2^nd: Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) 7, (26), 7, 2, 8, 4 – 28 points

3^rd: Hannah Snellgrove (GBR) 17, (20), 6, 1, 1, 14 – 39 points
13^th: Zoe Thomson (AUS) 12, (37), 22, 11, 16, 6 – 67 points

Mixed Multihull (19 entries)
1^st: Ruggero Tita & Caterina Banti (ARG) 1, 1 (2) – 2 points

2^nd: Mateo Majdalani & Eugenia Bosco (ARG) 2, 2, (5) – 4 points

3^rd: Sinem Kurtbay & Akseli Keskinen (FIN) 3, (7), 4 – 7 points
13^th: Brin Liddell & Rhiannan Brown (AUS) 11, 11, (13) – 22 points

Women’s Skiff (20 entries) – Complete
1^st: Odile Van Aanholt & Annette Duetz (NED) 5, 1, 1, 10, 8, 5, (19), 3, 2, 15, 4, 14, 6 MR – 74 points

2^nd: Vilma Bobeck & Rebecca Netzler (SWE) 14, 6, 15, 4, 15, 10, 2, 1, 5, 1, 1, (17), 2 MR – 76 pts
3^rd: Sarah Steyaert & Charline Picon (FRA) 2, 2, 2, 8, 2, 2, 12, 11, 10, (18), 6, 10, 12 MR – 79 pts

9^th: Olivia Price & Evie Haseldine (AUS) 6, 8, 16, 7, 11, 3, (20), 10, 9, 10, 10, 12, 18 MR – 120 pts

Men’s Skiff (20 entries) – Complete
1^st: Diego Botin Le Chever & Florian Trittel Paul (ESP) (16), 6, 4, 5, 11, 2, 3, 2, 2, 15, 12, 6, 2 MR – 70 pts

2^nd: Isaac Kale McHardie & William McKenzie (NZL) 1, 3, 8, 8, 1, 1, 11, (18), 17, 1, 10, 15, 6 MR – 82 pts
3^rd: Ian Barrows & Hans Henken (USA) 8, 7, (17), 9, 9, 5, 10, 7, 3, 2, 8, 12, MR 8 – 88 points

15^th: Jim Colley & Shaun Connor (AUS) 19, 17, 10, 14, 10, 9, 12, 3, 10, 3, 16, (20) – 123 pts