Andy Rice takes a look at the Tokyo Olympic sailing line up and picks out who he thinks are the likely contenders for sailing medals this summerScott is hoping to relieve the moment he won gold at the Olympics in 2016. Photo: Richard LangdonThe Olympic Sailing Regatta in Tokyo will be a high-level experiment in who has spent the past 18 months of pandemic time the most effectively.
\nHow much will the lack of regatta time have affected the \u2018pecking order\u2019 in the 10 sailing events? Here\u2019s our take on who we think is going to be vying for the medals in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic sailing venue, Enoshima, which could bring a huge variety of conditions, from light and shifty offshore, to huge rolling surf and big breeze.
\nNew Zealand\u2019s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke on route to 49er gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio
\n49er Men
\nAmerica\u2019s Cup winners earlier this year, Pete Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) now turn their attention back to Olympic sailing in Tokyo as they try to defending their Rio 2016 gold. The current Olympic Champions remain the favourites to win 49er skiff gold for New Zealand.
\nBronze medallists from Rio 2016, Erik Heil and Tommy Ploessel (GER), always turn it on for the big occasion.
\nOther serious podium contenders are Diego Botin and Iago Marra (ESP), Great Britain\u2019s 2017 World Champions Dylan Fletcher and Stu Bithell, along with strong teams from Denmark, Croatia and Austria.
\nTokyo 2020 will be the second Olympic Games for the 49erFX, the female Olympic Skiff class
\n49erFX
\nThe 49erFX gold and silver medallists from Rio 2016 \u2013 respectively Brazil\u2019s Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze and New Zealand\u2019s Alex Maloney and Molly Meech \u2013 will be in contention for the Tokyo podium.
\nThey will face strong competition from Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barcelo (ESP, 2020 World Champions) the Dutch duo of Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED, 2018 World Champions) and 2020 European Champions Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke (GER).
\nCharlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey (GBR) have always been strong in the breeze, and one of the USA\u2019s few realistic medal hopes lies with Steph Roble and Maggie Shea (USA).
\nIntroduced for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, the Nacra 17 had been adapted to be fully foiling for the 202o Tokyo Olympics
\nNacra 17
\nMaybe it\u2019s no coincidence that a number of the leading medal contenders in the Nacra 17 foiling catamaran scraped through really tight national selection battles.
\nRuggero Tita and Caterina Banti (ITA) have set the pace for much of the past five years since the Nacra 17 went fully-foiling, winning the World Championships in 2018.
\nThe 2020 World Champions John Gimson and Anna Burnet (GBR) have been one of the strongest teams of the past two years.
\nAll three medal-winning crews from Rio 2016 \u2013 Argentina, Australia and Austria \u2013 are real contenders for a podium repeat. Just a few weeks short of his 60th birthday, can Santiago Lange (ARG), again crewed by Cecilia Carranza Saroli, repeat his gold medal winning heroics of Rio 2016?
\nAustralia 470 pairing Mat Belcher and Will Ryan. Photo: Sailing Energy\/World Sailing
\n470 Men
\nWith seven world titles to his name, Mat Belcher (AUS) is the most successful 470 sailor of all time. Belcher, with crew Will Ryan, are looking to improve on the silver medal from Rio 2016 and are many people\u2019s favourites for Tokyo gold.
\nJordi Xammar and Nico Rodriguez (ESP) have set a new standard in downwind dynamic movement in the 470 fleet, with the rest of the world working hard to match their work rate and mastery of working the waves.
\nThis year\u2019s World Champions, Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstr\u00f6m (SWE), could become Sweden\u2019s first ever 470 Olympic Champions. Others to watch are New Zealand, France and Great Britain.
\nHannah Mills secured gold alongside then crew, Saskia Clark in 2016. She will compete with new crew, Eilidh McIntyre at Tokyo 2020
\n470 Women
\nThe gold and bronze medal winning helms from Rio 2016 have teamed up with new crews for the Tokyo cycle, and the fight for the top of the podium in the women\u2019s 470 looks set to be a duel between Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) and Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz (FRA).
\nHowever, the Olympic Regatta is never quite so clear cut and the recently crowned World Champions, Silvia Mas and Patricia Cantero (ESP), look well placed to maintain a strong Spanish tradition in this classic doublehander.
\nLocal fans will be all eyes on 2018 World Champions Ai Kondo and Miho Yoshioka (JPN) to win a medal on home waters.
\nThis will be the last Olympiad for the Finn dinghy, in which Britain has been dominant since 2000\u00a0 Photo: Richard Langdon
\nFinn
\nThis will be the first Olympic Regatta for almost 20 years when GBR will not be clear favourite to win Finn gold.
\nDefending Olympic Champion Giles Scott (GBR) is still very much in the frame although the distractions of the British America\u2019s Cup campaign mean the four-time World Champion is no longer head and shoulders above the rest.
\nThird at the recent Worlds and 2019 World Champion Josh Junior (NZL) will be considered the marginal favourite with Hungary\u2019s 2018 World Champion Zsombor Berecz (HUN) not far behind.
\nOthers to watch include the consistent\u00a0Nicholas\u00a0Heiner (NED) and the youngest Finn competitor Joan Cardona (ESP).
\nCould Brazilian, Robert Scheidt claim an unprecedented sixth Olympic medal in the Laser at Tokyo 2020?
\nLaser (ILCA 7) Men
\nImpossible to choose a clear favourite in the ILCA 7 singlehander, formerly known as the Laser.
\nMatt Wearn (AUS) beat the reigning Olympic Champion Tom Burton to Australian selection.
\nLondon 2012 silver medallist and twice World Champion Pavlos Kontides (CYP) is out to prove that small nations like Cyprus can succeed against the athletes from bigger sailing powers like Elliot Hanson (GBR), Jean-Baptiste Bernaz (FRA) and Philipp Buhl (GER).
\nFive-time Olympic medallist and all-time greatest Laser sailor Robert Scheidt (BRA) might yet win a sixth medal for Brazil, even at the age of 48.
\nThe ILCA (a.k.a) Laser Radial
\nLaser Radial (ILCA 6) Women
\nWith silver and gold from the past two Games, Marit Bouwmeester (NED) looks well placed to score a hat trick of medals in the ILCA 6 singlehander, aka the Laser Radial.
\nThe Dutch sailor will be hard pushed to match gold from Rio 2016, however, with the Rio bronze medallist Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) looking powerful throughout the Tokyo cycle, winning the 2019 world title.
\n2018 World Champion Emma Plasschaert (BEL) is another serious medal contender. Poland, Greece and Japan are also pinning high hopes on their athletes reaching the ILCA 6 podium in Enoshima.
\nRS:X Windsurfing at the 2012 Olympic Games in Weymouth
\nWindsurfing RS:X Men and Women
\nIn the windsurfing fleets, the Netherlands is favourite to take gold in both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s divisions. Strong contenders in the men will come from France, Italy, Poland and China. All of those countries will be competitive in the women\u2019s division, with Israel and Great Britain also looking strong.<\/p>\n
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Andy Rice takes a look at the Tokyo Olympic sailing line up and picks out who he thinks are the likely contenders for sailing medals this summerScott is hoping to relieve the moment he won gold at the Olympics in … <\/p>\n