Perth 2011 -Day 4 Women’s Match Racing Group B – Thunder and lightning

by Perth 2011 media on 6 Dec 2011 Thunder, lightning and sometimes heavy rain greeted crews in the first flight of group B Women’s Match Racing on Fremantle’s inner harbour Tuesday morning – Day 4 of the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships.

Easterlies gusting up to 17 knots were also on the menu for Day 4 of the ISAF Worlds. To add to the mix, the course was set across the widest part of the harbour in contrast to the courses further east, used for the first three days of competition.

Despite looming dark skies, racing kicked off at 10:00. The first match was one postponed from Sunday, a clash between the two Spanish crews.

It was a clear win for Tamara Echegoyen (ESP-1) and her crew, leaving Silvia Roca (ESP-2) lagging behind on the scoreboard at the start of the second day of racing for group B.

Mandy Mulder (NED-1) and her crew won by a very convincing 37 seconds in the second match against Peru.

There was an exciting finish for Olivia Price (AUS-2) when her team beat Genevieve Tulloch (USA-2) by just one second. The last match of the morning – between Sweden and Brazil – finished with another tight margin of seven seconds favouring the Brazilians.

Women’s Match Racing was called off at 11:20 local Perth time when the Race Committee became concerned about approaching lightning and its proximity to the competing Elliot 6m yachts.