Day 2 ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championship

by Talbot Wilson/Sail-World on 17 Oct 2005 The flat waters and light breeze out on Hamilton Harbour today provided a challenging battleground for the 12 international women sailing teams competing on the second day of The Virtual Spectators' ISAF Women's Match Race World Championship.

Marje Bjorling and her Swedish crew ended the day as clear leaders with a 9-2 score line followed by Betsy Alison (USA) in second place and Nina Braestrup from Denmark in third.

Bjorling, who races with her team of Annika Carlunger, Elisabeth Nilsson, and Anna Holmdahl, said, 'We sailed with a lot of discipline and great crew work and today it was very tactical sailing. The upwind work was critical and on the downwind we had to be fast and we were.'

While Bjorling has enjoyed a stellar two days of racing, Sally Barkow, the defending American world champion climbed back from a mid–fleet position in the heavier winds experienced on Saturday to take fourth place.

'We are pretty happy about our racing and we are going to go at them hard in the next round on Monday,' Barkow said. 'We are finally getting used to the J24s class yachts which of course are the beauty of match racing as you have to jump into different boats and get used to them quickly.'

American sailing veteran Betsy Alison, who won all 6 of her races on Saturday, struggled in the lighter conditions yesterday but is still well placed to make the cut today.

'We lost three matches today because of my poor starts. In this kind of racing it comes down to staying ahead of the competition,' said Alison who is racing with Nancy Haberland, Chafee Emory and Sandy Hayes.'We now have to go out and fight hard.'

Bermudian sailor Paula Lewin, the local favorite, completed Sunday's round robin in eighth place after finishing on the wrong side of a four-way tie.

'The game really changed today and we many of the women really hit their stride,' Lewin said. 'It is a huge disappointment for us but this event has really helped develop match racing for women and put Bermuda on the map. It has been a great opportunity for all of us to race at this level and then have a shot against the seeded men for the Gold Cup later this week.'

One to enjoy a great comeback has been French sailor Claire Leroy to end up in fifth place. She credits her crew work for their performance.

'We mastered the boat today and it was very good for us to be in the top six,' said Leroy. 'Our crew work was fantastic and I think that is what really did it.'

Danish sailor Nina Braestrup, now in third place, has sailed a brilliant regatta over the first two days.

The only southern hemisphere entrants, the young Australian team skippered by Nicky Souter, with Katie Spithill, Angela Farrell and Rayshele Martin
as her crew are pleased with their sixth place, with more opportunities to advance in the remaining races. The final race win against Borling on day two sealed their position.

Sunday October 16

Updated at 6:45 PM local time, racing has finished for the day. Advancing are Bjorling, Alison, Braestrup, Barkow, Leroy, Souter. Not advancing are Pedersen, Lewin, Zuiderbaan, Axhede, Rahm, Philippe.

1 = Win
0 = Loss

Standings

Bjorling 9-2
Alison 7-4
Braestrup 7-4
Barkow 7-4
Leroy 7-4
Souter 6-5
Pedersen 6-5
Lewin 6-5
Zuiderbaan 4-7
Axhede 4-7
Rahm 2-9
Philippe 1-10


Win/Loss Name vs Name Win/Loss
0 Rahm vs Leroy 1
0 Pedersen vs Bjorling 1
0 Philippe vs Braestrup 1
0 Alison vs Zuiderbaan 1
1 Souter vs Axhede 0
1 Lewin vs Barkow 0


Win/Loss Name vs Name Win/Loss
1 Leroy vs Pedersen 0
0 Braetsrup vs Rahm 1
1 Bjorling vs Philippe 0
1 Axhede vs Alison 0
0 Zuiderbaan vs Lewin 1
1 Barkow vs Souter 0


Win/Loss Name vs Name Win/Loss
0 Rahm vs Axhede 1
0 Philippe vs Zuiderbaan 1
0 Pedersen vs Barkow 1
0 Alison vs Bjorling 1
0 Lewin vs Leroy 1
0 Souter vs Braestrup 1


Win/Loss Name vs Name Win/Loss
1 Axhede vs Philippe 0
1 Barkow vs Rahm 0
0 Zuiderbaan vs Pedersen 1
1 Bjorling vs Lewin 0
1 Leroy vs Souter 0
0 Braestrup vs Alison 1


Win/Loss Name vs Name Win/Loss
0 Philippe vs Barkow 1
1 Pedersen vs Axhede 0
1 Rahm vs Zuiderbaan 0
1 Lewin vs Braestrup 0
1 Souter vs Bjorling 0
0 Alison vs Leroy 1



Along with the women's championship, a continuous battle amongst 11 men and one woman rages as they compete in the 'open,' unseeded qualifying event for the King Edward VII Gold Cup and a shot at racing against the seeded challengers and a portion of the $100,000 prize money.

he unseeded sailors are some of the world's best and include teams members challenging for the 32nd America's Cup such as South African sailor Ian Ainslie of Team Shosholoza, New Zealander Cameron Appleton of the French K-Challenge Team and Poland's Karol Jablonski who steers the Spanish Desafio Espanol challenge. He won all his races on Sunday.

Seeded skippers entering the competition on Thursday include Eight top match race sailors (with ISAF Open Ranking): Ed Baird, #2 (USA), Russell Coutts, #3 (New Zealand), Mathieu Richard, #4 (France), James Spithill, #5 (Australia), Ian Williams, #7 (Great Britain), Staffan Lindberg, #10 (Finland), Gavin Brady, #37 (New Zealand), and Chris Dickson, #45 (New Zealand).

They will meet the top six finishers in the Grade 3 Qualifying event plus the Virtual Spectator ISAF Women's Match Racing World Champion and runner-up.
About The Virtual Spectator ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship:
www.vssailing.com