Latest ISAF Rankings released

by ISAF on 8 Aug 2006 Great Britain remain the leading nation in the latest release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings with recent success in Europe helping them maintain all three of their top spots. There is just one change amongst the leaders and little surprise as new World and European Champions Monica AZON, Sandra AZON and Graciela PISONERO (ESP) take the Yngling top spot.

Spain remain their closest challengers and, thanks to a fantastic July for AZON, AZON and PISONERO, they join the Ukraine and the USA in holding two top spots. Italy and Denmark both hold on to their top spots, whilst Greece and Australia make an appearance amongst the nations holding crews in the top three Ranking positions.

DRAPER and HISCOCKS maintain the honour of the biggest points total across the eleven Olympic events, with a massive 5,524 points. Although the figure is slight skewed by the fact that the last two 49er World and European Champions have fallen within the last twelve months. Olga MASLIVETS’ (UKR) huge 514 point lead in the Women’s RS:X Rankings is also slightly misleading as the windsurfer Rankings are still in an early stage after the change in equipment at the start of this year. The 446 points separating George SZABO and Eric MONROE (USA) from their nearest challengers in the Star Rankings is however a very impressive lead indeed.

The Tornado Rankings are much tighter, but 2005 ISAF Rolex World Sailors of the Year Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ (ESP) hang on by a mere five points to maintain their position as the longest consecutive leaders of a class, holding the top spot since 29 June 2005, now eleven consecutive releases.

After the conclusion of the Laser Radial Worlds and the Star Europeans, the Olympic Classes head to China and the first of two test events in Qingdao. The ISAF Grade 2 Qingdao International Regatta has attracted a fleet in excess of 300 boats, with 42 nations currently registered to take part.

With China a relatively new destination on the sailing map, Qingdao still holds plenty of mystery as a venue and the opportunity to test the waters before the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition has drawn some of the biggest names in the sport.

Double Olympic gold medallist Ben AINSLIE (GBR) missed the Finn Gold Cup (after winning the previous four) due to America’s Cup commitments, but will be making his return to the Olympic Classes in Qingdao. There will be plenty of interest to see how AINSLIE fares after being out of the Finn fleet for so long, although his past record shows a near invincibility in the class having not finished outside of the top two in any ISAF Graded event since the 2002 SPA Regatta.


Another focus in Qingdao will be the performance of the host nation. China’s only sailors Ranked in the top 30 come in the Women’s RS:X, and they have no sailors at all on the Star, Tornado and 49er Rankings. However, the Chinese have been managing to string together some impressive results over the last year. Lijia XU (CHN) took the ISAF Youth Worlds silver medal in the Laser Radial last year and has medalled at both Sail Melbourne and Hyères in 2006. Most impressively of all she currently lies tied in second after six races at the Worlds in the USA. Qiubin CHEN (CHN) has fared even better on the RS:X, winning at Sail Melbourne before going on to beat a fleet that included MASLIVETS and RS:X European Champion Blanca MANCHON (ESP) to win the ISAF World Sailing Games.

Following on from Qingdao the focus of the Olympic Classes remains in Asia for the 470 Worlds in Rizhao, quickly followed by the Laser Worlds in Korea. In a busy September, the first ever RS:X World Championships will then take place in Torbole, Italy before the Rankings are next released on 4 October.

The 4 October release of the Rankings is significant in that it will see the results from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games fall outside the 24 month maximum for inclusion in sailors’ points totals. This looks set to cause a significant shake up in the Rankings and should favour the sailors who have been posting strong results so far this year and particularly the younger stars who did not compete in Athens.

With the test event just around the corner, the memories of Athens fading and the 2007 ISAF Worlds less than a year away, the battle for Beijing is well and truly on.

The ISAF World Sailing Rankings rate skippers based on their performances over the last two years. Skippers score points by competing in ISAF Graded events. The top finishers at all ISAF Graded events score Rankings points, with the highest points awarded to the event winner and then decreasing down relative to position. The most points are up for grabs at World Championship events, followed by ISAF Grade C1 events, Grade 1, Grade 2 etc. For more on how the Rankings work CLICK HERE.

The tables on the right hand side show the new events included in this Ranking release. The next Rankings release will be on 4 October, following the ISAF Grade W World Championships in the Laser Radial, 470, Laser and RS:X.

There is no change at the top for the men's windsurfer fleet as Maxim OBEREMKO (UKR) holds onto the top spot for the second consecutive Ranking release. With just two events added to sailors' points tallies, the ISAF Grade 2 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship and the ISAF Grade 3 Cascais International Sailing Week, there is little surprise that the top sailors remain as they were in June. At number two behind OBEREMKO is Ivan PASTOR (ESP) who claimed the bronze medal in Cascais but does not add the points from this Grade 3 event to his total.

Ahead of PASTOR were Olympic gold medallists Nikos KAKLAMANAKIS (GRE) and Gal FRIDMAN (ISR). For KAKLAMANAKIS this is only his second event in the RS:X to gain Ranking points and he moves up twelve places to number 18. It is a similar story for FRIDMAN who moves up 21 places to 105 having finished tenth at the ISAF Grade 2 Princess Sofia Trophy, compared to KAKLAMANAKIS' twelfth at the ISAF Grade C1 RS:X European Championships. Both these sailors were hugely successful in the Mistral class and can be expected to appear in the top ten of the RS:X Rankings before too long.

15 RS:X sailors who competed at the Youth Worlds in Weymouth claimed Ranking points from the event with four sailors joining the Men's RS:X ISAF World Sailing Rankings for the first time.

Gold medallist Lukas GRODZICKI continued the success of Polish windsurfers and is now just outside the top 20 with a climb of seven places up to number 21. Meanwhile silver medallist Fabien HEIDEGGER (ITA) climbs to the highest position, moving up four places to number 16 and now counts six of a possible seven events.

The highest new entry is Alejandro RIVERA (ESP) whose seventh place in Weymouth enters him at number 165 on the rankings. Next up is Ho Tsun LEUNG (HKG) who finished 13 to enter the Rankings at number 167, with Arthur LOPES DE CARVALHO (BRA) one place behind him at 168. Ake BOONSAWAD (THA) picked up the last slot to gain Ranking points and is also the first sailor from Thailand to join the RS:X rankings which he does at number 170.

There are now a total of 178 sailors on the RS:X rankings representing 43 nations.

As in the men's windsurfing, there are no changes to the top spots of the Women's RS:X Rankings. Olga MASLIVETS (UKR) continues to hold the top spot ahead of Marina ALABAU (ESP) and Bryony SHAW (GBR).

Sailors are counting points from the ISAF Grade 2 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship and the ISAF Grade 3 Cascais International Sailing Week. The only change in the top ten is the switch between Blanca MANCHON (ESP) and Wai Man CHAN (HKG). First place in Cascais gives MANCHON a total of six events and shifts her one place up to number six. Second behind MANCHON was Lee KORSITZ (ISR) and she climbs two places up to number 24 and now has four events on her scorecard.

Laura LINARES (ITA) claimed an emphatic victory at the Youth Worlds in Weym