The 49er fleet enjoyed spectacular conditions for the opening day of racing at the Lanzarote International Regatta, which is taking place out of Marina Rubicón in the south of the Canary Island from 15 to 23 February.
After finishing close to the medals at last year's Olympic Regatta in Marseille, Poland's Dominik Buksak is back on the campaign trail for Los Angeles 2028 with new crew Adam Glogowski. With scores of 3,1,2,1 from today's four opening heats, the Poles are looking good at the top, ahead of the USA's Andrew Mollerus and Trevor Bornarth who are second but tied on points with third-placed Dutch crew, Robert Huisman and Jorn Swart.
The obvious winter option
Buksak was clear about why he had returned to Lanzarote. "We chose Lanzarote because it's sunny and windy, and you never lose a sailing day here," he said. "Today we started in 10 knots and finished in around 16 to 18 knots, so it was amazing conditions. It's great to do some racing after all the weeks of winter training we've done here over the past weeks. You get to spend your time really productively and the shoreside facilities make life very easy here in Marina Rubicón."
Only in its fifth year, Lanzarote International Regatta was born in the middle of a pandemic and has since managed to establish itself as the opening event on the calendar for Olympic athletes from all over the world. In 2025, four Olympic classes are taking part - 49er, 470 Mixed, ILCA 6 and ILCA 7. There will also be some non-Olympic competition towards the end of the regatta, with the Snipe doublehanded dinghy invited as a guest class.
The 49er class will be the first to complete its series, with races taking place from Saturday 15 February through to Tuesday 18 February.
From Thursday 20th to Sunday 23rd we will see the 470 Mixed, ILCA 6 and ILCA 7, on two separate race courses. All of them will compete in a maximum of 10 races plus the Medal Race, where only the 10 best crews will decide who makes it on to the podium. At the weekend, the Snipe will join in the racing.
Text by Andy Rice