10 Canadian sailors to compete at the second Sailing Grand Slam Series regatta of the season
The 2026 edition of French Olympic Week will be held April 20-25 in Hyères, France
A total of 10 Canadian sailors will take part in the second Sailing Grand Slam regatta of the season, the 2026 edition of French Olympic Week, set to be held April 20-25 in Hyères, France.
French Olympic Week is the second of five major Olympic classes regattas that are set to take place in 2026 as part of the Grand Slam Series.
Eight members of the Canadian Sailing Team will be in action at that competition: Ryan Anderson (Halifax, N.S.) and James Juhasz (Oakville, ON) in ILCA 7, Valentino Blewett (Whistler, B.C.) in men’s iQFoil, Emily Bugeja (Vancouver, B.C.) in Women’s Formula Kite, Clara Gravely and Annie Balasubramanian (both from Toronto, ON) in ILCA 6, as well as the team comprised of Galen Richardson (Toronto, ON) and Madeline Gillis (Halifax, N.S.) in Nacra 17.
Canadian sailors Caspar Lenz Anderson (Calgary, AB) and Grace Poole (Victoria, B.C.) will also team up in Nacra 17.
“Overall, I’m happy with my week at the first Grand Slam Series regatta, the Princess Sofia Trophy regatta a couple of weeks ago, where I finished 40th out of 200 sailors,” said Ryan Anderson, who recorded his best-ever performance in a Grand Slam Series event. “However, I look forward to fixing some racing errors I made then when I race at the French Olympic Week competition.”
“This year’s Princess Sofia Trophy regatta was its usual exciting start to the season, but with especially challenging conditions and long days,” said Clara Gravely, the top Canadian in ILCA 6 in Palma with a 56th-place finish overall. “I didn’t put up the results I was hoping for on the scoreboard, but I’m happy to have sharpened some racing skills, and I’m looking forward to getting right back to it at the French Olympic Week.”
The 49erFX Canadian Team of Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance, which won gold at the 2026 Princess Sofia Trophy Regatta, as well as the 49er team of Thomas and William Staples will not take part in French Olympic Week as they are currently training for the 2026 49er and 49erFX World Championships to be held May 12-17 in Quiberon, France.
More than 600 sailors will be in action at the French Olympic Week event, including 66% of the medalists from last year’s various World Championships and 43% of the medalists from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the 10 Olympic classes that are scheduled.
The next three regattas that will be part of this year’s Grand Slam Series are Dutch Water Week (May 30-June 7), Kiel Week (June 20-28) as well as the Long Beach and San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta (OCR) (July 13-August 8).
A new competition format
The French Olympic Week regatta will feature a new competition format this year, similar to what was presented at the Princess Sofia Trophy Regatta earlier this month, including the Qualifying and Final Series.
In the Qualifying Series, athletes will first compete in preliminary races and aim to avoid the cut in order to qualify for the Gold Fleet in the elimination races—the only way to end up on the podium. The others will compete in the silver or bronze fleets depending on their ranking.
Except in the iQFoil and Formula Kite classes, athletes will then begin the Elimination Series with a point total corresponding to their ranking following the preliminary races. The top 10 athletes following the Qualification Series, which will include both the preliminary and elimination races, will qualify for the Final Series day, which will feature two races, as part of what was previously called the Medal Race. Also, if among the 10 boats that qualify for the Final Series, the point differential between any two boats exceeds nine points, the points will be adjusted so that the differential will not exceed nine points; similarly, the points between third and tenth place will be adjusted so that the differential will not exceed 18 points.
The final ranking will be determined by the total net points accumulated during the Qualification Series, to which the points from the two final series will be added.
By Sail Canada
