First Abu Dhabi, ISAF Sailing World Cup medals decided

by ISAF on 29 Nov 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final Abu Dhabi 2014 - The first medals have been decided at the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

A testing breeze in the region of 8-12 knots greeted the Women’s RS:X, Laser, 49erFX, Women’s 470 and Finn racers for the morning session of Medal Races.

Racing on the inside course, just off of the Corniche, top honours went the way of Bryony Shaw (GBR), Tom Burton (AUS), Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL), Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar (AUT) and Slovenia’s Vasilij Zbogar.

Dominant Shaw seals the deal in the Women’s RS:X

Bryony Shaw (GBR) converted her outstanding week of racing into ISAF Sailing World Cup Final gold on the final day of racing in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The British racer has been flawless throughout the series and took a 16 point lead into the Medal Race. The Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze medallist put in an assured, astute performance coming through in second to claim the honours.

'I am really pleased that I’ve had such a convincing win here,' said Shaw with a beaming smile. 'It’s been a tough year in that I keep missing out on the podiums. I managed to win in Miami back in the beginning of the year. This being the end of the year it’s nice to be back on top of the podium and I hope I can take that momentum into next year.'

Charline Picon (FRA) had an outside chance of taking gold but knew she would have to force Shaw towards the back of the back and take a win. The pair went head to head as Shaw explained, 'There was some really shifty and puffy wind on the first beat and I was keeping my eye on the French girl and I matched her every move which was quite fun. The two of us managed to get the best pressure up the first beat and rounded in first and fourth. I was leading the race and then one of the Chinese girls was sailing a good race and overtook me. I then maintained second all the way round and kept the French girl behind me.

'I just went in with a clear strategy and had an eye on my main rival.'

Picon fought hard to catch Shaw but also had to keep an eye on Blanca Manchon (ESP) who was in third and within touching distance. 'I had a good battle with Bryony but I had to keep in front of Blanca to keep silver,' said Picon. 'I did a good job by doing that at the start and then I attacked Bryony. But she raced well finishing second with me third so she took gold and I took silver.'

The French racer claimed her first world title a few months ago and came into Abu Dhabi with a reduced training schedule. With minimal time on the water she was buoyed by her performance, 'Since the Worlds I only had six days of training. Coming here to discover a new country I did some good work at the start but I didn’t race well so silver is okay.'

Manchon completed the podium whilst the Medal Race victory went the way of Manjia Zheng (CHN) who finishes fourth.

Women's RS:X and Laser highlights

Burton delivers knockout blow to Laser fleet

Australia’s Tom Burton added ISAF Sailing World Cup Final gold to his 2014 medal haul that includes top honours at World Cup Mallorca and Hyeres.

Burton has been a class apart in the Laser throughout 2014 and delivered a knockout blow on the final day in Abu Dhabi. He grabbed the Medal Race lead from the start and never looked back storming to take the gun and with it, the title of ISAF Sailing World Cup Final Champion.

'It was good racing conditions with flat water and a nice breeze,' commented Burton after racing, 'No one got stuck and left behind but there were a lot of yellow flags flying around a bit across the three laps. I got a bit lucky, like you need to in these races and came away with the win.'

Burton had a nine point advantage over compatriot Matt Wearn coming into the Medal Race which gave him some breathing space, 'The point’s buffer made it a little bit easier. It’s always tricky in these races so a point’s buffer takes a little bit of pressure off. But you have to go out there and plan to race to win. That’s what I did and got a good shift up the first beat and lead all the way round.

'I came here with a plan to win. It was my sister’s wedding yesterday so it’s nice to win for her. I thought I sailed well here and it’s nice to finish the year with a win.'

An Aussie one two was on the cards heading into the day with the youngster Wearn occupying second overall. However his more experienced rivals Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) and Jean Baptiste Bernaz (FRA) drew upon their years of experience.

Stipanovic came through in fourth to move up to second whilst a third for Bernaz was enough for him to take bronze. Wearn came through in eighth which saw him drop down to fifth overall but the experienced gained from the regatta will be invaluable looking ahead.

Kiwi smiles in the 49erFX

Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) rounded off a great week by claiming a Medal Race fourth and with it, 49erFX ISAF Sailing World Cup Final glory.

Consistency has been the name of the Kiwis game and only a tenth from the opening day scars a sublime scoreline of top four finishes.

After racing they were two happy sailors even though they didn’t perform how they would have liked, 'We’re pretty happy but today was quite a hard day. Not exactly what we planned to do but I’m glad we did exactly what we needed to do,' said Meech.

The Kiwis had a 15 point lead over Lisa Ericson and Hanna Klinga (SWE) coming into the day so they knew what was required of them to take victory. They remained fairly steady on the race track with the Swedes unable to pose a major threat. The Swedes picked up silver whilst a Medal Race second for Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich (ITA) handed them bronze.

Abu Dhabi has spoilt the competitors throughout the four racing days and the gold medallists were quick to praise the Emirati capital, 'It’s been pretty amazing sailing conditions here,' said Meech. 'A lot better than I expected and the venues been great. Quite a few of the top girls have been here and the racing’s been really nice.'

Maloney added, 'It was a really cool event and we’re happy to come away with the win. The competition’s been really good. Abu Dhabi’s been a beautiful place to sail, the water’s really clear and it’s been amazing.'

Maloney and Meech will look to qualify to return to next year’s edition through the ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas and the rankings system across the 2015 season. But for now, they’re looking forward to some time back in their native lands. Maloney concluded, 'We go home for December and have a good block in New Zealand and then we’ll take a nice break over Christmas and New Year and then we’ll be in Miami for the ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta there for the first time.'

Ups and downs in Women’s 470 but Austrians conquer

It was a game of snakes and ladders in the Women’s 470 Medal Race with game changers aplenty as the leader board was shaken up in a tough Medal Race.

Austria’s Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar (AUT) managed to hang on to take gold despite a final onslaught from Great Britain’s Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre.

In a light challenging breeze and flat water it was anyone’s game. The course was full of gusts and shifts that meant that gold was not decided until Vadlau and Ogar crossed the finish line as the helm explained, 'It was so tough, so shifty and so gusty. It was really tricky and even if you were last you were able to climb up. We were pretty good in the first two rounds. On the last downwind there was a gust so it was wide open again. Everyone caught up and we had to keep cool and my head was burning. Somehow we managed it.

'It was incredibly hard. Anything was possible but it’s nice to win. We had such an unbelievable season, the best one ever.'

Weguelin and McIntyre had only been back in the 470 together for a couple of days ahead of the World Cup Final after Weguelin picked up deep vein thrombosis. The pair, who picked up 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami gold, have enjoyed their time together once again and with a Medal Race bullet, they moved up from fifth to second.

'I felt quite fired up and excited this morning. It’s just so exciting to do a Medal Race especially with such a stunning backdrop,' said McIntyre. Weguelin added, 'We had a tight Medal Race today we went into it in fifth with USA, Japan and China all really close. Our focus was to just go out there and win the race, and that’s what we did.'

Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka (JPN) went into the day third overall and that’s where they remained with a confident third place. China’s Shasha Chen and Haiyan Gao suffered the consequences of a poor race. A sixth relegated them from the silver medal position to fifth overall.

49erFX and Women's 470 highlights


Zbogar reigns supreme in the Finn

Slovenia’s Vasilij Zbogar reigned supreme in the Finn class and claimed a deserved gold medal in Abu Dhabi.

Having laid down a marker on the opening day with a pair of race victories Zbogar, an Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic medallist, came through in second in the deciding Medal Race to claim the title ahead of Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO).

Gaspic claimed the Medal Race victory but it was not enough after the Slovenian watched him astutely around the race track. 'I knew it was going to be very difficult as Bambi [Kljakovic Gaspic] is very good in these conditions,' said Zbogar. 'But usually I am good as well. I had an eye on him at the start. I kept near him and matched him.

'I was very nervous this morning as I wanted to win badly. Winning all week, being the leader and then losing it on the last day would have been really bad. I kept my concentration high and pulled it off.'

Caleb Paine (USA) came through in third in the Medal Race, securing bronze.

RS:X - Women - Overall Results

Pos	Nation	Sail Number	Crew	Race										Points
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Net
1	GBR	GBR 94	Bryony Shaw	1	1	1	(12)	1	1	4	1	9	4	35.00	23.00
2	FRA	FRA 4	Charline Picon	2	(14)	4	6	7	2	2	4	8	6	55.00	41.00
3	ESP	ESP 1	Blanca Manchon	(15)	5	3	3	8	10	5	6	2	16	73.00	58.00
4	CHN	CHN 21	Manjia Zheng	(18)	4	10	10	15	9	8	3	1	2	80.00	62.00
5	HKG	HKG 5	Hei Man Hayley Victoria Chan	11	15	5	2	2	11	(16)	5	6	8	81.00	65.00
6	POL	POL 8	Zofia Noceti-Klepacka	10	(13)	13	1	5	3	7	7	13	10	82.00	69.00
7	CHN	CHN 3	Qiaoshan Weng	3	2	14	(18)	17	6	9	10	5	14	98.00	80.00
8	ITA	ITA 46	Flavia Tartaglini	9	6	(18)	5	16	14	3	11	7	12	101.00	83.00
9	ITA	ITA 11	Laura Linares	8	8	7	4	4	5	(17)	15	17	20	105.00	88.00
10	CHN	CHN 5	Jiahui Wu	14	11	2	15	11	(17)	6	8	4	18	106.00	89.00
11	FRA	FRA 22	Eugénie Ricard	(17)	10	11	11	3	8	12	16	3		91.00	74.00
12	POL	POL 104	Kamila Smektala	7	3	15	7	14	7	13	(17)	10		93.00	76.00
13	ESP	ESP 5	Marina Alabau	5	9	9	16	6	4	14	(18)	15		96.00	78.00
14	GBR	GBR 30	Isobel Hamilton	16	(17)	12	13	12	12	1	2	12		97.00	80.00
15	CHN	CHN 9	Jiali Sun	6	(16)	6	14	10	13	11	12	16		104.00	88.00
16	FIN	FIN 1	Tuuli Petäjä-Sirén	4	7	8	17	13	(18)	15	13	14		109.00	91.00
17	RUS	RUS-1	Olga Maslivets	13	(18)	17	9	9	16	10	9	11		112.00	94.00
18	POL	POL 21	Malgorzata Bialecka	12	12	16	8	(18)	15	18	14	18		131.00	113.00

Legend
( ) - Excluded Score	OCS - On the course side of the starting line and broke rule 29.1 or 30.1
ARB - Scoring penalty after arbitration	PTS - Scoring penalty for a yellow flag after the finish
BFD - Disqualification under rule 30.3	RAF - Retired after finishing
DGM - Disqualification under rule 69.1(b)(2) not excludable	RDG - Redress given
DNC - Did not come to the starting area	RET - Retired
DNE - Disqualification not excludable under rule 88.3(b)	SCP - Took a Scoring Penalty under rule 44.3(a)
DNF - Did not finish	STP - Standard Penalty SI Specific
DNS - Did not start	UFD - U flag penalty imposed
DPI - Discretionary penalty imposed	ZFP - 20% penalty under rule 30.2
DSQ - Disqualification

Laser - Men - Overall Results

Pos	Nation	Sail Number	Crew	Race							Points
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Net
1	AUS	AUS 199012	Tom Burton	5	1	(21) UFD	1	1	3	2	34.00	13.00
2	CRO	CRO 204731	Tonci Stipanovic	4	2	5	5	4	(21) DSQ	8	49.00	28.00
3	FRA	FRA 203800	Jean Baptiste Bernaz	7	(12)	3	3	9	4	6	44.00	32.00
4	ITA	ITA 205243	Francesco Marrai	(18)	3	2	2	7	10	12	54.00	36.00
5	AUS	AUS 199015	Matthew Wearn	3	8	(9)	6	2	1	16	45.00	36.00
6	NZL	NZL 206426	Sam Meech	9	6	1	(16)	8	11	4	55.00	39.00
7	GBR	GBR 201402	Nick Thompson	2	7	8	7	(11)	6	14	55.00	44.00
8	SWE	SWE 199617	Jesper Stalheim	(10)	5	10	10	10	2	10	57.00	47.00
9	CYP	CYP 206765	Pavlos Kontides	1	11	7	11	(16)	5	18	69.00	53.00
10	USA	USA 206151	Charlie Buckingham	11	9	(18)	9	5	14	20	86.00	68.00
11	ITA	ITA 207955	Giovanni Coccoluto	12	(17)	17	4	3	16		69.00	52.00
12	NED	NED 206745	Rutger van Schaardenburg	8	13	15	8	(21) UFD	8		73.00	52.00
13	EST	EST 203724	Karl-Martin Rammo	13	4	6	14	17	(18)		72.00	54.00
14	POR	POR 207025	Gustavo Lima	16	16	4	(20)	6	13		75.00	55.00
15	SIN	SIN 197538	Colin Cheng	15	14	16	(17)	12	7		81.00	64.00
16	CRO	CRO 207268	Filip Jurišic	6	(19)	13	15	19	12		84.00	65.00
17	NZL	NZL 181961	Andy Maloney	14	(20)	12	13	13	17		89.00	69.00
18	CAN	CAN 197120	Lee Parkhill	(19)	10	19	12	14	15		89.00	70.00
19	BEL	BEL 202016	Wannes Van Laer	17	(18)	14	18	15	9		91.00	73.00
20	ITA	ITA 199697	Alessio Spadoni	(20)	15	11	19	18	19		102.00	82.00

Legend
( ) - Excluded Score	OCS - On the course side of the starting line and broke rule 29.1 or 30.1
ARB - Scoring penalty after arbitration	PTS - Scoring penalty for a yellow flag after the finish
BFD - Disqualification under rule 30.3	RAF - Retired after finishing
DGM - Disqualification under rule 69.1(b)(2) not excludable	RDG - Redress given
DNC - Did not come to the starting area	RET - Retired
DNE - Disqualification not excludable under rule 88.3(b)	SCP - Took a Scoring Penalty under rule 44.3(a)
DNF - Did not finish	STP - Standard Penalty SI Specific
DNS - Did not start	UFD - U flag penalty imposed
DPI - Discretionary penalty imposed	ZFP - 20% penalty under rule 30.2
DSQ - Disqualification

49erFX - Women - Overall Results

Pos	Nation	Sail Number	Crew	Race										Points
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Net
1	NZL	NZL 1	Alexandra Maloney Molly Meech	1	(10)	1	2	1	1	2	4	3	8	33.00	23.00
2	SWE	SWE 381	Lisa Ericson Hanna Klinga	7	6	3	3	3	2	(18) UFD	2	4	16	64.00	46.00
3	ITA	ITA 4	Giulia Conti Francesca Clapcich	2	1	2	13	(14)	7	7	6	9	4	65.00	51.00
4	DEN	DEN 136	Jena Hansen Katja Salskov-Iversen	8	5	6	1	(18) UFD	8	9	5	13	2	75.00	57.00
5	NED	NED 15	Nina Keijzer Claire Blom	4	8	11	5	7	(14)	1	10	5	14	79.00	65.00
6	SWE	SWE 25	Julia Gross Cecilia Jonsson	5	(16)	10	7	10	4	4	8	12	10	86.00	70.00
7	FIN	FIN 17	Sinem Kurtbay Silja Kanerva	11	(12)	12	6	2	10	3	7	7	12	82.00	70.00
8	FRA	FRA 13	Sarah Steyaert Johann BOUIC	9	9	14	9	8	(16)	12	1	6	6	90.00	74.00
9	ESP	ESP 23	Tamara Echegoyen Berta Betanzos	3	11	7	4	(15)	9	15	3	1	22 UFD	90.00	75.00
10	FIN	FIN 101	Noora Ruskola Camilla Cedercreutz	10	(14)	9	10	13	3	10	12	2	18	101.00	87.00
11	ARG	ARG 19	Victoria Travascio Maria Sol Branz	12	2	13	8	4	12	11	(14)	8		84.00	70.00
12	SIN	SIN 33	Griselda Khng Sara Li Ching Tan	14	4	5	(15)	9	5	5	15	14		86.00	71.00
13	AUS	AUS 11	Tess Lloyd Caitlin Elks	6	7	8	12	5	15	6	(18) DNF	18 DSQ		95.00	77.00
14	AUT	AUT 911	Laura Schöfegger Elsa Lovrek	15	3	15	(16)	12	6	13	9	10		99.00	83.00
15	GBR	GBR 99	Kate Macgregor Kirstie Urwin	13	13	(16)	11	11	11	8	11	11		105.00	89.00
16	GER	GER 777	Leonie Meyer Elena Christine Stoffers	16	15	4	(17)	6	13	14	13	15		113.00	96.00
17	IND	IND 171	Varsha Gautham Aishwarya Chezhiyan	17	17	17	14	16	17	(18) DNF	18 DNS	18 DNC		152.00	134.00

Legend
( ) - Excluded Score	OCS - On the course side of the starting line and broke rule 29.1 or 30.1
ARB - Scoring penalty after arbitration	PTS - Scoring penalty for a yellow flag after the finish
BFD - Disqualification under rule 30.3	RAF - Retired after finishing
DGM - Disqualification under rule 69.1(b)(2) not excludable	RDG - Redress given
DNC - Did not come to the starting area	RET - Retired
DNE - Disqualification not excludable under rule 88.3(b)	SCP - Took a Scoring Penalty under rule 44.3(a)
DNF - Did not finish	STP - Standard Penalty SI Specific
DNS - Did not start	UFD - U flag penalty imposed
DPI - Discretionary penalty imposed	ZFP - 20% penalty under rule 30.2
DSQ - Disqualification

470 - Women - Overall Results

Pos	Nation	Sail Number	Crew	Race							Points
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Net
1	AUT	AUT 431	Lara Vadlau Jolanta Ogar	1	2	3	1	(12) RET	2	8	29.00	17.00
2	GBR	GBR 321	Sophie Weguelin Eilidh McIntyre	(9)	3	7	2	1	5	2	29.00	20.00
3	JPN	JPN 1	Ai Kondo Yoshida Miho Yoshioka	4	(9)	2	7	3	1	6	32.00	23.00
4	USA	USA 1712	Anne Haeger Briana Provancha	(6)	4	5	3	2	3	10	33.00	27.00
5	CHN	CHN 619	Shasha Chen Haiyan Gao	2	1	1	(8)	4	7	12	35.00	27.00
6	SLO	SLO 64	Tina Mrak Veronika Macarol	7	(8)	6	4	5	6	4	40.00	32.00
7	ESP	ESP 133	Marina Gallego Fatima Reyes	5	5	8	(10)	9	4	14	55.00	45.00
8	ITA	ITA 52	Francesca Komatar Sveva Carraro	(10)	6	4	5	10	9	16	60.00	50.00
9	ITA	ITA 06	Elena Berta Giulia Paolillo	8	7	(10)	6	6	10	18	65.00	55.00
10	SUI	SUI 5	Linda Fahrni Maja Siegenthaler	3	10	9	9	8	(11)	20	70.00	59.00
11	ITA	ITA 16	Roberta Caputo Alice Sinno	(11)	11	11	11	7	8		59.00	48.00

Legend
( ) - Excluded Score	OCS - On the course side of the starting line and broke rule 29.1 or 30.1
ARB - Scoring penalty after arbitration	PTS - Scoring penalty for a yellow flag after the finish
BFD - Disqualification under rule 30.3	RAF - Retired after finishing
DGM - Disqualification under rule 69.1(b)(2) not excludable	RDG - Redress given
DNC - Did not come to the starting area	RET - Retired
DNE - Disqualification not excludable under rule 88.3(b)	SCP - Took a Scoring Penalty under rule 44.3(a)
DNF - Did not finish	STP - Standard Penalty SI Specific
DNS - Did not start	UFD - U flag penalty imposed
DPI - Discretionary penalty imposed	ZFP - 20% penalty under rule 30.2
DSQ - Disqualification

Finn - Men - Overall Results

Pos	Nation	Sail Number	Crew	Race							Points
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Net
1	SLO	SLO 573	Vasilij Zbogar	1	1	(7)	2	2	3	4	20.00	13.00
2	CRO	CRO 524	Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic	(5)	3	1	4	3.3 RDG	3.3 RDG	2	21.60	16.60
3	USA	USA 6	Caleb Paine	3	(14)	6	1	5	9	6	44.00	30.00
4	EST	EST 2	Deniss Karpak	15	(18)	3	7	1	4	8	56.00	38.00
5	AUS	AUS 41	Jake Lilley	2	5	(13)	11	3	8	20	62.00	49.00
6	NED	NED 842	Pieter-Jan Postma	9	2	4	(20) UFD	6	14	18	73.00	53.00
7	GBR	GBR 11	Edward Wright	8	12	12	10	(20) DNF	2	10	74.00	54.00
8	ITA	ITA 146	Michele Paoletti	12	8	2	(14)	9	11	12	68.00	54.00
9	NZL	NZL 24	Josh Junior	4	13	(16)	8	7	7	16	71.00	55.00
10	ITA	ITA 123	Filippo Baldassari	6	(15)	15	5	11	6	14	72.00	57.00
11	GRE	GRE 77	Ioannis Mitakis	7	4	14	6	(16)	13		60.00	44.00
12	POL	POL 17	Piotr Kula	11	7	9	(17)	14	5		63.00	46.00
13	NOR	NOR 1	Anders Pedersen	(19)	6	18	9	13	1		66.00	47.00
14	SWE	SWE 6	Björn Allansson	(13)	11	8	12	4	12		60.00	47.00
15	AUS	AUS 261	Oliver Tweddell	16	10	(17)	3	10	10		66.00	49.00
16	ITA	ITA 117	Giorgio Poggi	10	9	11	(20) UFD	15	16		81.00	61.00
17	EST	EST 11	Lauri Väinsalu	(18)	16	5	13	12	17		81.00	63.00
18	RUS	RUS 1	Alexey Selivanov	14	17	10	15	8	(18)		82.00	64.00
19	ITA	ITA 66	Enrico Voltolini	17	(20) DNF	20 DNE	16	17	15		105.00	85.00

Legend
( ) - Excluded Score	OCS - On the course side of the starting line and broke rule 29.1 or 30.1
ARB - Scoring penalty after arbitration	PTS - Scoring penalty for a yellow flag after the finish
BFD - Disqualification under rule 30.3	RAF - Retired after finishing
DGM - Disqualification under rule 69.1(b)(2) not excludable	RDG - Redress given
DNC - Did not come to the starting area	RET - Retired
DNE - Disqualification not excludable under rule 88.3(b)	SCP - Took a Scoring Penalty under rule 44.3(a)
DNF - Did not finish	STP - Standard Penalty SI Specific
DNS - Did not start	UFD - U flag penalty imposed
DPI - Discretionary penalty imposed	ZFP - 20% penalty under rule 30.2
DSQ - Disqualification

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