September 14, 2022
Local favourites Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance from Chester, NS were the top Canadians at the 2022 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships which ended last Sunday in St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia, as they came up with a 14th-place finish.
Through the six days of competition and the 16 races held, the Lewin-LaFrance sisters finished five times in the top 10. The 49erFX event was won by Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz from the Netherlands, followed by Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler from Sweden and Támara Echegoyan and Paula Barceló from Spain.
“It’s no secret that we had a rough start to the event. Despite some bitter lessons, we pushed on and sailed some great races. We find 14th to be bittersweet, but we’re excited for the future,” said Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance.
Tokyo 2020 Canadian Olympians Ali ten Hove and Mariah Millen took the 19th spot.
“We are disappointed with our racing this championship,” said ten Hove and Millen. “We have made huge improvements this season and we did not sail to our potential this week. Performances vary and this one result does not define us as a team."
In 49er, Arie Moffat and Sam Bonin were the top-ranked team among the eight Canadian squads that registered for this event, finishing in 33rd place. Tokyo 2020 Canadian Olympians Will Jones and Evan DePaul took the 39th spot while Sail Canada Development Squad members Ryan and Andrew Wood finished 56th.
Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken from the Netherlands finished first, followed by Diego Botin and Florian Trittel Paul from Spain and Sime and Mihovil Fantela from Croatia.
In the Nacra 17 event, the Italian teams took the spotlight as Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti, as well as Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei, finished first and second, respectively. Sinem Kurtbay and Akseli Keskinen from Finland won the bronze medal. The top Canadians out of the three teams registered were Galen Richardson and Madeline Gillis with a 31st-place finish.
Full Canadian results at the 2022 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships
49erFX (/36)
14. Georgia & Antonia Lewin-LaFrance
19. Ali ten Hove & Mariah Millen
36. Tate Howell & Adrianna Baird
49er (/65)
33. Arie Moffat & Samuel Bonin
39. Will Jones & Evan DePaul
56. Ryan & Andrew Wood
57. Alexander Heinzemann & Edward Coleman
59. Thomas & William Staples
61. Dylan Jones & Jonathan Kelly
62. John Jack Gogan & Hunter Hoy
65. Ben Cripton & Rafael Pedro
Nacra 17 (/34)
31. Galen Richardson & Madeline Gillis
33. Zoe Roosen & Nicolas Tosi
34. Maya Heidenreich & Noah Adler
