Lysekil Women's Match - Ulrikkeholm still undefeated

by Joakim Hermansson on 9 Aug 2013 The reigning Lysekil Women's Match champion Camilla Ulrikkeholm of Denmark excelled in Thursday's tricky conditions on the Swedish west coast waters why she is the ISAF world-ranking number one. By winning both her two matches in the quarterfinal round-robin, she is now alone at the top of the score board so far: 'We are very pleased to get two victories today. We sailed two really tight quarterfinal matches where we had to constantly keep looking for the puffs, and take care of the shifts,' the Royal Danish Yacht Club member Ulrikkeholm explains.

In one of the Dane's matches she met local sailor Caroline Sylvan, who entered the starting box too late and was penalized for that mistake: 'Caroline stayed on our back for most of the race, giving us a hard time. When approaching the finishing line we were really grateful that she had to make a penalty turn' said Ulrikkeholm, hoping for more stable conditions during the Friday races. 'Well, to be honest it was kind of a lottery today, with racing close to shore and a lot of unpredictable puffs coming down the cliffs.'

Anne-Claire Le Berre is sharing the runner-up position so far with Lucy Macgregor of Great Britain, both on two victories and one loss. The French skipper also sighed a little over the weather conditions, including a rare portion of pouring rain, but was more disappointed with her own starts: 'We missed two out of three, and that's certainly not good enough in such a competitive field' she analysed. 'Only my crew's ability to find the shifts and to do perfect manoeuvres saved us today,' she admitted.

Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club sailor Anna Kjellberg is doing best among the three local skippers, sharing fourth position with French Claire Leroy on one victory and one loss each. 'That result is OK but not more' said Marie Björling Duell, ISAF former world ranking number one for several years, but now tactician in the Kjellberg crew. 'Defeating Lucy Macgregor can prove important later, since she is a highly ranked sailor. In that match we saw several lead shifts, and it wasn't until the last downwind we were capable of getting a gap and stretching it,' explained Björling Duell.

The quarterfinal round-robin of Lysekil Women's Match is to be concluded Friday morning. Semi finals will then be sailed Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon will see the grand finale.

Standings in the Lysekil Women's Match 2013 quarterfinals. Skipper, nationality, won/lost matches: 1. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 2 - 0 2. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 2 - 1 2. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 2 - 1 4. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 1 - 1 4. Claire Leroy, FRA, 1 - 1 4. Ekaterina Skudina, RUS, 1 - 1 7. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 0 - 2 7. Johanna Larsson, SWE, 0 - 2

Round-robin results. Skipper, nationality, won/lost matches: 1. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 8 - 2 2. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 7 - 3 3. Claire Leroy, FRA, 7 - 3 4. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 6 - 4 5. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 6 - 4 6. Ekaterina Skudina, RUS, 5 - 5 7. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 5 - 5 8. Johanna Larsson, SWE, 5 - 5 9. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 3 - 7 10. Alexa Bezel, SUI, 3 - 7 11. Anna Kjellgren, SWE, 0 - 10

Standings in the 2013 Women's International Match Racing Series after four events, in France, Korea, Denmark and USA (skipper/nationality/WIMRS points): 1. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 66 2. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 61 3. Stephanie Roble, USA, 47 4. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN, 44 4. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 44 6. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 26 7. Tamara Echegoyen, ESP, 25 7. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 25 7. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 25 10. Julie Bossard, FRA, 22 11. Katie Spithill, AUS, 19 12. Alexa Bezel, SUI, 17 13. Merel Witteveen, NED, 15 13. Ekaterina Skudina, RUS, 15 15. Nicole Breault, USA, 10 16. Susannah Pyatt, NZL, 9 17. Milly Bennett, AUS, 8 18. Anna Kjellgren, SWE, 7 19. Madeline Gill, USA, 6 20. Anne Marit Hansen, NOR, 4 20. Sung-Eun Choi, KOR, 4 20. Morgane Dréau, FRA, WIMRS
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