Kiwis lying second after Day 1 of Yngling Worlds

by Jodie Bakewell-White on 11 Feb 2008 Sharon Ferris and her crew kicked off day one of the 2008 Yngling World Championship with a 9th and a win to sit in second place overall at the start of the six day series.

The World Championship carries vital qualification places for the 2008 Olympics, however New Zealand qualified off the first round at the 2007 Worlds in Cascais.

Being sailed on Miami’s Biscayne Bay conditions on day one were sunny and warm with winds of 14 to 16 knots. Sounds like champagne sailing however difficult wind shifts challenged the 28-strong fleet, particularly in the first race of the day.

Sharon Ferris and her crew of Raynor Smeal and Olivia Powrie crossed in 9th place in race one which was won by the British crew of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson.

The kiwi team performed better in race two coming home with a race win crossing the line just a boat length ahead of the 2007 European Champions Ekaterina Skudina, Diana Krutskikh and Natalia Ivanova of Russia.

Ayton, Webb and Wilson of Britain were third and claim the top spot on the leader board at the conclusion of racing on day one with four points in total. The kiwis have second place overall six points adrift of the leaders and on equal points with the Australian crew lead by Krystal Weir in third place.

Racing continues in Miami tomorrow with another two races scheduled to start at 1300 hours local time. The regatta concludes in Miami on Friday.

Yngling World Championship 2008

Standings after day one

1 GBR Ayton, Sarah/Webb, Sarah/Wilson, Pippa 1 3 4
2 NZL Ferris, Sharon/Smeal, Raynor/Powrie, Olivia 9 1 10
3 AUS Weir, Krystal/Gojnich, Karyn/Farrell, Angela 4 6 10
4 FIN Lehtinen, Silja/Klemetz, Maria/Varesmaa, Livia 3 10 13
5 NOR Sundby, Siren/Fredriksen, Lise Birgitte/Koefoed, Alexandra 8 5 13
6 GER Schuemann, Ulrike/Bleck, Julia/Hoepfner, Ute 6 7 13
7 RUS Skudina, Ekaterina/Krutskikh, Diana/Ivanova, Natalia 13 2 15
8 USA Barkow, Sally/Howe, carrie/Capozzi, Debbie 2 14 16
9 GRE Bekatorou, Sofia/Papadopoulou, Sofia/Charamountani, Christina 7 12 19
10 FRA Le Helley, Anne/Catherine, Lepesant/Julie, Gerecht 12 8 20
11 ITA Calligaris, Chiara/Scognamillo, Francesca/Pignolo, Giulia 5 17 22
12 NED Groeneveld, Renee/Bes, Annemieke/Kampen, Marge 10 13 23
13 NED Mulder, Mandy/Faber, Mary/Witteveen, Merel 23 4 27
14 CHN Xia Qun, Song/XIAO NI, LI/YAN LI, YU 16 11 27
15 FRA LE BERRE, Anne-Claire/DEPLANQUE, Marion/PONSAR, Alice 20 9 29
16 ESP Azon, Monica/Azon, Sandra/Pisonero, Graciela 15 15 30
17 RSA Provoyeur, Dominique/Alison, Penny/Rew, Kim 11 20 31
18 JPN Shige, Yumiko/Horiuchi, Mayumi/Onizuka, Minami 14 18 32
19 RUS Basalkina, Anna/Ukraintseva, Vladislava/Maximova, Ekaterina 17 16 33
20 UKR Dolynska, Mariia/Matevusheva, Svetlana/Kalinina, Ganna 18 23 41
21 NED Thies, Annelies/Wierenga, Lieske/Heerema, Caroline 22 19 41
22 CHN Jie, Li/ru, wang/yang, gao 19 24 43
23 CAN Moberg-Parker, Tine/Marshall, Sarah/Robson, Cressida 21 25 46
24 CAN Provan, Jennifer/Henderson, Martha/Abbott, Katie 29/DNS 21 50
25 GBR Robertson, Shirley/Lush, Annie/Macgregor, Lucy 29/OCS 22 51
26 DEN Palludan, Trine/Hartvig, Ida/Boidin, Susanne 24 29/DSQ 53
27 NED Hin, Janneke/V.D. Werf, Brechtje/Hendriksen, Floortje 25 29/RAF 54
28 GRE Danezi, Altani/karabatsou, zoe/vlachou, evagelia 26 29/DNS