ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyéres - Women's Match Racing preview

by WIMRA on 20 Apr 2012 Semaine Olympique Francaise de Voile, the ISAF Sailing World Cup second European stop, is being held in Hyéres, France from 22nd April to 27th April 2012.

As was the case in Palma, there will be no shortage of talent in this week's field: Seventeen teams from eleven countries. All of the countries who have qualified for the Olympics in women's match racing will be in Hyeres with the notable exception of the Dutch who have elected to train in Weymouth ahead of their selection trials there early in May.

The Americans will also be holding their winner take all selections in Weymouth in early May, but unlike the Dutch, all four American teams are competing in Hyeres. The top ranked women's match racing team, Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandemoer, Debbie Capozzi - USA, is coming off a solid win in Palma earlier this month and hopes to build on that victory as they head to their trials.

With seven of the world's top ten women's match racing teams competing, the title will be up for grabs. As has been the case in previous year's of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, no team has won more than one event in the year. Last year's winners in Hyeres - Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush, Kate Macgregor - GBR, would like to see that trend broken as they won the 2012 Rolex Miami OCR and would be happy to repeat in Hyeres.

Competitors:
1 - Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandemoer, Debbie Capozzi - USA [ISAF Ranking = 1]
2 - Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush, Kate Macgregor - GBR [2]
3 - Claire Leroy, Elodie Bertrand, Marie Riou - FRA [3]
4 - Sally Barkow, Elizabeth Kratzig-Burnham, Alana O'Reilly - USA [4]
5 - Ekaterina Skudina, Elena Siuzeva, Elena Oblova - RUS [5]
6 - Silja Lehtinen, Silja Kanerva, Mikaela Wulff - FIN [6]
7 - Tamara Echegoyen, Angela Pumariega, Sofía Toro - ESP [7]
8 - Silvia Roca, Eva Gonzalez, Lara Cacabelos - ESP [11]
9 - Genny Tulloch, Jennifer Chamberlin, Alice Leonard - USA [12]
10 - Olivia Price, Nina Curtis, Lucinda Whitty - AUS [13]
11 - Julie Bossard, Pauline Chalaux, Pauline Courtois - FRA [15]
12 - Rita Gonçalves, Mariana Lobato, Diana Neves - POR [18]
13 - Silke Hahlbrock, Vera Dubina, Irina Lotsmanova - GER [19]
14 - Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen, Susannah Pyatt - NZL [20]
15 - Lotte Meldgaard, Susanne Boidin, Tina Gramkov - DEN [22]
16 - Anna Kjellberg, Malin Källström, Lotta Harrysson - SWE [27]
17 - Stephanie Roble, Maggie Shea, Darby Smith - USA [29]

The teams will compete in equally matched event-provided Elliott 6m keelboats - the same boats that will be used in the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition in Weymouth, WIMRA website Semaine Olympique Francaise website