ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final - Aussies claim victory in Middlefart

by Craig Heydon on 12 Aug 2013 At the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final, Australia’s David Gilmour and crew have claimed victory following an impressive performance on the waters of Middelfart, Denmark. Gilmour and crew Ed Powys, Luke Payne, Pete Nicholas and Alistair Marchesi defeated the local Danish team three-nil in the final on Saturday.

The Australians were one of the teams to beat all regatta, and after a strong result in the round robin took on Japan in the semi-final.

At the end of the penultimate day of the event the two crews were locked at one-all, with the Australians coming out on top three wins to one to set up a final hit-out against the hometown crew.

The win was the first time that an Australian men’s team had won the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final.

'It’s an amazing feeling,' said Gilmour. 'On the last run I was really stressed out, but credit to the boys for keeping me calm and we just managed to hold on, it was a huge effort by the whole team.

'This event has been so good,' he said. 'It’s been so easy to come here as a sailor and I can’t believe the size of the crowd watching. Middelfart has really got behind the racing here.'

In the first men’s race, Nicolai Sehested, the Danish skipper, made a costly gybe on the first downwind leg and then lost further ground trying to attack with two extra tacks upwind. In the second race, Gilmour laid a penalty on Sehested in the pre-start and the Denmark skipper could not find the opportunity to work it off.

In the third race, after a split start, Gilmour led by an enormous seven lengths at the end of the first leg. Sehested showed great fight to close right up to within half a boat length for a nail-biting finish, but Australia just held on as they gybed to the line.

Australia was also represented at the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final by Ashlen Rooklyn, Torvar Mirsky, Sam Ellis, Jay Halligan and Jeronimo Harrison.

Rooklyn and crew topped the quarter-finals, after Gilmour won his way straight through to the semi-finals, but unfortunately were not able to join their fellow Australians, with just one team per country allowed in the finals.

Rooklyn, Mirsky, Ellis, Halligan and Harrison were classified fifth overall, an capping off an impressive event for Australia.

Open 1. Australia - David Gilmour, Ed Powys, Luke Payne, Pete Nicholas & Alistair Marchesi 2. Denmark - Nicolai Sehested, Peter Wibroe, Thomas Hedegaard, Jesper Blom and Søren Secher 3. Sweden - Viktor Ogeman, Erik Larsson, Patrik Sturesson, Herman Andersson and Oscar Jönsson 4. Japan - Wataru Sakamoto, Keisuke Kawabuchi, Nobuyuki Imai, Daichi Wada and Yasuhiro Okamoto 5. Australia - Ashlen Rooklyn, Torvar Mirsky, Sam Ellis, Jay Halligan and Jeronimo Harrison 6. Brazil - Henrique Haddad, Guilherme Hamelmann, Daniel Glomb, Bernardo Assis and Mario Trindade 7. Singapore- Maximilian Soh, Chris Lim, Andrew Chan, Justin Wong and Russell Kan 8. Denmark - Rasmus Viltoft, Alexander Hermann, Michael Hestbæk, Emil Wester 9. France - Arthur Herreman, Romaine Bethune, Pierre Laouenan, Antoine Corson and Julien Falxa 10. Canada - Peter Wickwire, Hamish Matthew, Alison Matthew, Peter Dixon and Drew Sutherland 10. Great Britain - Philip Bendon, Bruno van Dyke, Stephen Aiken, Chris Tiernan and Sam Mason 10. USA - Dustin Durant, Benjamin Wheatley, Shane Young, Alex Jacobs and Steven Natvig 13. Norway - Magnus Brun

Women 1. Brazil - Juliana Senfft, Marina Jardim, Luciana Kopschitz, Gabriela Nicolino and Larissa Juk 2. Denmark - Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, Henriette Koch, Lene Sommer, Helle Ørum, Josephine Nissen and Vivi Møller 3. Norway - Anne Marit Hansen, Catharina Frostad, Pia Glæserud, Tine Kjærgaard and Hanne Gulbrandsen 4. USA - Sandy Hayes, Marcy Lake, Amanda Callahan, Cynthia Olsen and Martha Parker

http://www.sailing.org/events/nationscup/past_results.php?utm_source=mdm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Australia+and+Brazil+Win+2013+ISAF+Nations+Cup" target="_blank">Click here for full results