One month before the start of the 2024 Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11), Jean-Baptiste Bernaz was full of confidence and hit hard. This Wednesday, the 36-year-old Varois, member of the France sailing pole, won the famous and centuries-old Kiel Week (northern Germany), on the shores of the Baltic Sea, Ilca 7 category.
2022 world champion, “Jibé” sought above all to “take a breath before getting back into home Olympics mode”. But, winner of the first three regattas, he took the lead and entered the Medal Race this Wednesday with the leader’s yellow bib and a total of ten points in advance. If the German Philipp Buhl put pressure on him by winning the final race, which has a double count, Bernaz managed at the last minute to keep enough points ahead to win the general classification of the 143rd edition of this German race.
“We were there to validate the work of the last few months and get back into regatta mode before the Games, with varied conditions and high-level competition, explains the experienced navigator. I had a very good regatta, even if I missed out on a day that was a little more random. That leaves us with something to explore for this last month of preparation. But the main thing was to win it and above all we saw some great things this week, so I’m happy with where we are, in the nailbits one month before the Games.”
Known under the name Laser, now renamed Ilca 7 for men (Ilca 6 for women), this small solitary dinghy (4.23 m) is one of the ten Olympic series which will be competing in the southern harbor of Marseille from August 28 to September 8. Jean-Baptiste Bernaz will play his fifth and final Olympics there.
