2015 Sailing World Cup Final concludes in Abu Dhabi

by ISAF on 1 Nov 2015 Australia's Mat Belcher and Will Ryan led the gold rush as the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final reached its conclusion in Abu Dhabi today.

The defending champions underlined their dominance by winning the Medal Race to score a comprehensive second successive Men's 470 World Cup triumph at the Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club.

On this occasion, Belcher and Ryan got home by just a second from the young Spanish pairing of Jordi Xammar and Joan Herp to finish 11 points ahead of Sweden's Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström who finished second on the last day of the regatta, sponsored by ADS Securities and Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority

The result underlines the Aussies' position as firm favourites to strike gold at next year's Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro and adds to Belcher's haul of six world titles, three won in tandem with Ryan.

After racing Belcher commented, 'It's been a long week with difficult conditions to sail in, but it's been great to race in the morning. We have had some tough competition and there hasn't been much rest since the worlds. We knew everyone was in top form and highly motivated so we are happy to get the win.'

It also added to the reputation of their Ukrainian-born coach, Victor Kovalenko, known as 'The Medal Maker,' who has guided the winners of nine Olympic medals - six golds - and 18 world championships. Americans Stuart McNay and David Hughes, sixth on the day, took the 470 bronze.

Third position in the Women's 470 medal race was enough to leave Britain's Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark celebrating gold from last year's World Cup winners in Abu Dhabi, Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar.

The Austrians were second on the day in a race won by Akiyo Yamaguchi and Eri Hatayama, although it was another Japanese combination, that of Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka, who collected bronze medals.

There was consolation for Austria in the 49er as Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch won the Medal Race following back-to-back race victories the previous day to land the gold with six points to spare over Stefano Cherin and Andrea Tesei.

'It feels amazing to win,' Delle Karth exclaimed. 'It has been really tricky all week with the offshore morning breeze, which made the racing super close. We have had really good fun all week. There was a bit of pressure in the medal race and it was open for a number of people to win so it was great to go out and execute under pressure. It was a valuable experience.'

Finishing second on the day, just ahead of the Italian silver medallists, were Frenchmen Gabriel Skoczek and Yann Rocherieux who won bronze.

Croatia's Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic is the new World Cup champion in the Finn, clinching gold with a fourth place in the Medal Race. Turkey's Alican Kaynar finished third to claim silver, while victory on the day saw Spain's Pablo Guitian Sarria edge ahead of Britain's Edward Wright to take bronze.

With an offshore breeze of eight to 13 knots switching to a sea breeze later on, Australian Tom Burton was always in control in the Laser, taking third place in the Medal Race to comfortably secure gold ahead of Cypriot winner on the day, Pavlos Kontides.

A closing sixth place finish was enough to see another Australian, Matthew Wearn, squeeze past five-time Olympic medalist Robert Scheidt to take the bronze after the Brazilian closed with a disappointing ninth.

The battle for gold in the Laser Radial was one of the most intriguing of the World Cup final, and ultimately it went to Sweden's Josefin Olsson who had trailed Holland's Marit Bouwmeester by a single point overnight. 'This is my first World Cup win so it feels great,' said Olsson, 'It's always good to win the final. It means a lot to be up there and fight it out with the top girls and get a podium position in the end.'

While Olsson finished fourth on the day, Bouwmeester slipped to eighth in the Medal Race. Denmark's Anne-Marie Rindom, first to finish, subsequently collected a penalty but was still able to beat Belgium's defending champion Evi Van Acker to the bronze medal.

The Men's RS:X was another which brought a last-day turnaround, with Spain's Ivan Pastor Lafuente taking the RS:X medal race victory to snatch gold from Brazil's overnight leader, Ricardo Santos, who slumped to seventh on the day for silver. Great Britain's Tom Squires won the bronze medal.

Arguably the most impressive performer of the regatta was Britain's Bryony Shaw who successfully defended her World Cup crown in the RS:X women's class, winning the medal race for her seventh victory out of 10. Second place on the day gave Italy's Flavia Tartaglini the silver medal while Brazilian Patricia Freitas finished third to secure the bronze.

Attention now turns to the start of the 2016 ISAF Sailing World Cup series that commences in Melbourne, Australia in the middle of December later this year.