Kingston, May 16, 2026 – Canadian sailors Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance have qualified for the Final Series to be held Sunday at the 2026 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships in Saint-Pierre-Quiberon, France.
Ranked in 14th place ahead of the final day of the Qualification Series, the sisters from Chester, N.S., recorded the 5th and 7th positions in two of the three races that were held on Saturday to climb up five spots and therefore move into 9th place, allowing them to qualify amongst the top 10 boats for Sunday’s Final Series.
Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance started the week in 15th position, then slipped to 20th place following the two-day Preliminary Series, which gave them a spot in the top 25 and therefore qualified them for the Gold Fleet, earning them a shot at a podium finish. They then moved up in 14th position, and subsequently in 9th place, following the two-day Elimination Series.
“The pressure was on for our team today to try and make it into the top 10 after a pretty slow start to the week,” said Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance. “The conditions were all over the place and we’re happy to just have done two consistent races in the first two of the three. We managed to scrape into the top 10, so we’ll be racing in the Final Series tomorrow and that will be a great practice for us.”
“On Sunday, the points are going to be really condensed. It will be anyone’s game given the week we’ve had. It will be really up to us to just focus on our own boat but, obviously, it would be sweet to do some climbing.”
On Sunday, the top 10 boats will start the Final Series with their current cumulative score divided by 2.25. To this score, two single-point races will be added to create the Final score.
The sisters will start the Final Series with 46 points, eight points away from the podium.
Sunday’s Final Series will be live streamed starting at 7:15am (Kingston time) through the 49er Sailing Class Association YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS7KntoIQ8v86IEhWQqHvBQ.
About Sail Canada
Established in 1931, Sail Canada is the national governing body for the sport of sailing in the country. Sail Canada is a leading international sailing nation, proud of its world class athletes, lifelong participants and inclusive culture. The organization and its members are committed to excellence by developing and training its leaders, athletes, sailors, instructors, coaches and officials. With the valued support from our partners, the Provincial Sailing Associations and our member clubs, schools, organizations and stakeholders, sailing is promoted in all its forms. By setting standards and delivering programs from home pond to podium for Canadians of all ages and abilities, from dinghies to keelboats, cruising to navigation, windsurfing to powerboating and accessible sailing, Sail Canada sets sail for all, sail to win and sail for life.
A sport in the Olympic program since the first Games in 1896, except in 1904, the pursuit of success in these Games is what fuels the focus of Sail Canada as Canadian athletes have so far achieved nine Olympic and five Paralympic medals.
