ISAF World Match Race Rankings

by ISAF on 25 Jul 2003 With only a sixteen day gap since the previous issue of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings on 8 July 2003, it is not surprising that changes in positions are few and far between.

Karol JABLONSKI (POL) continues to top the leaderboard, a position he has held since November 2002. Behind Jablonski, a small upset in the Danish camp as there is a swap in positions, with Jes GRAM-HANSEN overtaking Jesper RADICH, as a result of his bullet at the ISAF Grade 1 Trofeo Challenge Roberto Trombini.

Aside from the ISAF Grade 1 event, only two other sets of results have been brought in since the previous rankings, both from ISAF Grade 3 events, being the Seven Feet Cup in Russia and the St Moritz Match Race in Switzerland.

A totally Russian affair, the Seven Feet Cup was won by Garik STEPANYAN, a result which has seen him move up the rankings a significant 59 places, and make his mark in the world’s top 100 at number 83, his highest ever placing.

Meanwhile at the St Moritz Cup, whilst not a high ranking event, it pulled in some well-known sailors from the match racing scene and more recently the America’s Cup. With Murray JONES, a kiwi by berth but sailing under Swiss nationality, Thierry PEPONNET (FRA), Jesper BANK (DEN), Luc PILLOT (FRA) and Francesco BRUNI (ITA) amongst the skippers doing battle at the Segel Club in St Moritz.

However, no home turf win for this event, with Mark MENDELBLATT (USA) from the Oneworld syndicate making his way to the final rounds via a repechage, before going onto defeat favourites BANK and JONES.

This result scored a significant hit on his world ranking, with MENDELBLATT making his first entry onto the rankings, straight in at number 277. However, MENDELBLATT is no stranger to top international competition and also holds an ISAF World Ranking of 34 in the Laser class.

Elsewhere, with the usual rotation of events, from year 1 to year 2 and some results dropping out of skippers’ ranking calculation altogether, there are some moves but nothing significant.

The same top 20 skippers lead the world rankings, despite a few minor position changes, and looking into the top 40, there is only one new entry with Denmark’s Henrik CHRISTENSEN moving to 40 from 41.

Top Ten

Position Skipper Nation Events Previous Points

1 Karol JABLONSKI POL 8 1 11237

2 Jes GRAM-HANSEN DEN 8 3 10725

3 Jesper RADICH DEN 8 2 10625

4 Ed BAIRD USA 8 4 10069

5 James SPITHILL USA 7 5 9837

6 Bjorn HANSEN SWE 8 7 8963

7 Mathieu RICHARD FRA 8 8 8958

8 Magnus HOLMBERG SWE 8 6 8947

9 Staffan LINDBERG FIN 8 9 8902

10 Mikael LINDQVIST SWE 8 10 8852