Sarah Douglas Wins Gold at World Sailing Hempel World Cup
Apr 13, 2022
Sailing Energy / Princesa Sofía Mallorca
Canada’s 2021 Olympic competitor, Sarah Douglas from Toronto’s Ashbridges Bay YC, won the gold medal in ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) at the World Sailing Hempel World Cup that was held at the 51st Princess Sofia Trophy in Mallorca, Spain, which ended last Friday. This is her first championship title – and podium finish – in a World Sailing event.
In the Medal Race, the last event of the week-long competition in ILCA 6, Sarah Douglas finished 6th to officially win the championship title. Following Friday’s races, Douglas, who finished 6th at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, was essentially sure to win as she had built a 25-point lead on the second-place sailor with one race to go.
A total of 89 ILCA 6 sailors from around the world competed at the World Sailing Hempel World Cup that was held as part of the 51st Princess Sofia Trophy, an event attended by over 1,000 participating athletes in 10 Olympic classes that was the first major Olympic multiclass competition to take place since Tokyo 2020.
Sailing Energy / Princesa Sofía Mallorca
At this competition that kicked off last Monday, Sarah Douglas won a remarkable six of the 11 scheduled races, and finished second twice. With 28 points, she came in front of Hannah Snellgrove of Great Britain with 59 points, and Vasileia Karachaliou from Greece (62 points). This latter sailor was one of the 18 competitors in action this week who also performed at Tokyo 2020 last summer.
“What a week!”, said Douglas, who came up with a podium finish at a World Sailing competition for the very first time. “I entered the regatta with no expectations and just focused on my process”, she added. “My team did a lot of preparations for my first big competition back and I simply had fun on the water. It was challenging conditions each day and I’m exhausted after my first international competition post Tokyo. It’s a great start to the new year and new journey to Paris 2024!”
More good finishes
Canada was represented by 30 athletes at this competition, including four teams in 49er and four in 49er FX, as well as four athletes in ILCA 6, 10 in ILCA 7 and one in Nacra 17.
Following are the final Canadian results at the World Sailing Hempel World Cup held at the 51st Princess Sofia Trophy. Full results are available at: www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall.
FULL CANADIAN RESULTS
ILCA 6
GOLD. Sarah Douglas (Toronto, ON, ABYC) – Canadian Sailing Team
41. Clara Gravely (Toronto, ON, ABYC) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
44. Maura Dewey – (Victoria, B.C., RVYC) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
47. Coralie Vittecoq – (Montréal, QC, Pointe-Claire YC/BLBC) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
ILCA 7
37. Tom Ramshaw (Toronto, ON – RCYC) – Canadian Sailing Team
44. Fillah Karim (Vancouver, BC, RVYC) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
47. Ben Flower (Tobermory, ON, Tobermory YC)
54. James Juhasz (Oakville, ON, BHYC)
57. Luke Ruitenberg (St. Margaret’s Bay, N.S., RNSYS) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
75. Ryan Anderson (Halifax, N.S., RNSYS) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
101. Forrest Wachholz (Innisfil, ON, Barrie YC)
119. Norman Struthers (Toronto, ON, RCYC)
126. Liam Bruce (Oakville, ON, Port Credit YC) – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
151. Ian Elliott (Victoria, B.C., RVYC/HKKK/MKS)
49er FX
24. Antonia & Georgia Lewin-LaFrance (Chester, N.S.) – RNSYS/CYC – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
29. Ali ten Hove (Kingston, ON) & Mariah Millen (Toronto, ON) – Kingston YC/RCYC – Canadian Sailing Team
48. Audrey Staples (Beaconsfield, QC) & Marion Lafrance-Berger (Montréal, QC) – RSLYC
49er
46. William Jones (Jerseyville, ON) & Evan DePaul (Burlington, ON) – RHYC – Canadian Sailing Team
49. Arie Moffat (Kingston, ON) & Samuel Bonin (Toronto, ON) – KYC/RCYC – Canadian Sailing Development Squad
62. Thomas & William Staples (Beaconsfield, QC) – RSLYC
Nacra 17
36. Zoé Roosen (Montréal/Beaconsfield, QC) & Nicolas Tosi (Gatineau, QC) – RSLYC/Kelowna YC/PCYC