ISAF Match Race Rankings - Leroy and Ainslie top

by ISAF on 3 Feb 2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup - Claire Leroy (FRA) has jumped ahead of Nicky Souter by two hundred and eight points in the ISAF world match race women's rankings.

Leroy won the gold medal in the Grade 1 women's match racing competition at US Sailing's Rolex Miami OCR, the second of seven stops of the ISAF Sailing World Cup.

In the open match racing rankings Ben Ainslie (GBR) maintains his position at the top with no change in the top eight. Brazil's Henrique Haddad is the biggest climber in the open rankings moving from number forty nine up to number twenty two after he won the Grade 3 Open Brazilian Match Race Nationals at Lago Paranoa, Brazil.

Women's Rankings

Before the Grade 1 Rolex Miami OCR, Claire Leroy trailed Nicky Souter (AUS) by three points in the women's match racing rankings. So whoever finished ahead of the other in Miami would lead February's edition of the women's match racing rankings.

And it was Leroy that went on to win the gold medal after she beat Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) three to one in the Finals Match to lead Souter by 11,392 points to 11,184 points.

Tunnicliffe remains at number four after the Rolex Miami OCR and trails Lucy Macgregor (GBR) by thirteen points who sits #3 after losing out to Sally Barkow (USA) in the Petit Finals. After winning the bronze medal in Miami, Barkow has moved up to eighth from tenth position.

Further back in the rankings Camilla Marino (ITA) is one of the biggest movers having won the Grade 4 Campionato Zonale Match Race in Napoli, Italy. Marino also finished third in the Grade 3 Christmas Match Races at Brindisi, Italy. She moves from #47 to a personal best of number thirty nine.

Jinnie Gordon (CAN) and Annemiek Bekkering (NED) enter the women's match racing rankings having both sailed in the Rolex Miami OCR. Gordon finished twenty third and Bekkering twenty second. The sailors sit three hundred and twenty one and three hundred and twenty two and are both on twenty points.

For Women's rankings, click here

Open Rankings

In the Open Rankings none of the top eight have competed since the last rankings were released on 8 December 2010.

Ben Ainslie (GBR) holds a seven hundred and sixty-six point lead over Adam Minoprio (NZL) and Mathieu Richard (FRA) trails the New Zealander by twenty seven points at number three.

Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Ian Williams (GBR), Bjorn Hansen (SWE), Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) and Francesco Bruni (ITA) all maintain their places in the top eight.

Eugeniy Neugodnikov (RUS) has moved up the rankings from #14 to #9 and sits just thirteen points behind Bruni. But the gap between Bruni, number eight, and Morvan, number seven, is four-hundred and fifty-seven points ahead so it will take some beating for either man to infiltrate the top seven.

Henrique Haddad (BRA) had a successful run of two wins and a second place finish in October, November and December which has seen him catapult up the rankings.

The Brazilian won two Grade 3 events, the most recent being the Open Brazilian Match Race Nationals in December and came second in the Grade 2 Mumbai International Match Race in October. Haddad is currently number twenty-nine, his highest place to date, on 7,595 points nestled in between Simone Ferrarese (ITA), 8,137 points, and Alexis Littoz-Baritel (FRA) on 7,496 points.

For Open Rankings click here

The next release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings will be 30 March 2011.

The rankings will include results from Marseille Y's Cup, France (Open Grade 2), Ficker Cup, USA (Open Grade 2), ISAF Nations Cup Regional Final - South America, Brazil (Open Grade 2 and Women's Grade 2) and Congressional Cup, USA (Open Grade 1).

ISAF website