Please select your home edition
Edition
Hyde Sails 2024 - One Design

ISAF Sailing World Championships - Match Racers qualify Australia

by ISAF on 14 Dec 2011
Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Lucinda Whitty match racing - Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships Richard Langdon /Perth 2011 http://www.perth2011.com
At the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships after 80 flights and 320 Women’s Match Races, it all boiled down to the last race of the Round Robins for the eighth and final spot.

With eight race wins Goncalves occupied the final nations place ahead of the final flight. Silja Lehtinen (FIN) was one point behind her and required a victory in her final race against Nicky Souter (AUS) to finish level with Goncalves. And after beating Goncalves earlier on in the regatta it would have been Lehtinen who took the final spot.

But in the last race Lehtinen was comprehensively defeated by Souter sparking celebrations in the Portuguese camp as the girls qualified their country. Holding back the tears after the news, a near speechless Goncalves said, 'My dream was to go to the Olympics and I think it came true.'

Rival Australian skippers Olivia Price and Nicky Souter both qualified Australia for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition as they finished second and third in the second Round Robin and advance to the Quarter Finals of the competition.

Price said, 'I can’t really describe it, we are so stoked with how things went today. Qualifying the nation is predominantly what we came here to do and tick, achieved. I guess it hasn’t really sunk in that much.'

Souter added, 'Not only did we qualify the country but we’ve made the Quarter Finals which was a big goal. We found out we qualified with two races to spare so it was a big relief.'

Stephanie Hazard qualified New Zealand and Anna Kjellberg made sure that a Swedish match race team will be on the start line at London 2012 after a steady day on the water. But the big celebrations will be within the Portuguese camp tonight.

The four nations today will join France, the Netherlands, Russia and the USA as teams who have qualified from Perth 2011.

As hosts Great Britain directly qualify for one quota in each event with the 2010 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship winning trio of Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Kate Macgregor already named as part of British squad for next year.

The Women's Match Racing International Country Olympic Qualifying Regatta at Key Biscayne Yacht Club (KBYC), Florida, USA from February 1-5 2012, will be the final chance for the final three Women's Match Racing teams to qualify their country for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships website

Boat Books Australia FOOTERMaritimo M600Zhik 2024 December

Related Articles

2025 29er Europeans at Lake Garda Day 1
Five teams tied at the top Ikke Huber / Liam Berger (Switzerland) lead the charge after sweeping all 3 races in the Green fleet — an impressive perfect score of 2 points. Lucas & Moritz Hamm, the dynamic twin duo from Germany, matched their Swiss rivals with consistency and pace.
Posted on 3 Jul
Onboard reporters in the Course des Caps
Enjoying the challenge of bringing the race to life In the Course des Caps - Boulogne sur Mer - Banque Populaire du Nord, the Onboard Reporters, or OBRs, are back doing a wonderful job of bringing IMOCA racing to life with pictures, videos, interviews and reports from the boats.
Posted on 3 Jul
Rolex TP52 Worlds in Cascais Day 2
Consistent American Magic Quantum Racing move clear ahead American Magic Quantum Racing stepped three points clear at the top of the 2025 Rolex TP52 World Championship leaderboard today in Cascais, Portugal on the strength of a first and third from two breezy races.
Posted on 3 Jul
505 UK Nationals at Weymouth
Michael Sims and Carl Gibbon hold back Howie Hamlin and Andy Zinn Apart from one 'stumble' in Race 7, the two leading boats were almost invisibly tied together to the point that after 8 races, they were tied on points.
Posted on 3 Jul
Unforgettable Transatlantic Race 2025 finish
First to arrive was Ocean Fifty Calamity, co-skippered by Timo Tavio and Kimo Nordström. It was rush hour in Cowes on Day 15 of the west-to-east Transatlantic Race 2025, as boats crossed the finish line in Cowes within minutes of each other after an epic 3,000-mile battle for top honors in IRC 1.
Posted on 3 Jul
iQFOiL World Championships set to open in Aarhus
Olympic medalists and world-class riders gather in Denmark for the biggest iQFOiL event of the year. The stage is set in Aarhus for a spectacular week of high-speed sailing as the iQFOiL World Championships 2025 kick off on 4 July, bringing together over 200 of the world's best windsurfers from more than 40 nations.
Posted on 3 Jul
The Ocean Race Europe to showcase new race tracker
Developed with PredictWind to revolutionise race coverage The Ocean Race, often described as the toughest test of a team in sport and widely recognised as a leader in impactful ocean health initiatives, and PredictWind, a global leader in marine weather forecasting, are collaborating on a new race tracker.
Posted on 3 Jul
Oliver Heer confirms 2028 Vendée Globe ambition
The Swiss skipper aims to return for the 2028 edition of the legendary solo race with a newer boat After completing the Vendée Globe 2024 on his first attempt, Oliver Heer, the Swiss-German skipper of Tut gut Sailing, has confirmed his intention to return for the 2028 edition of the legendary solo race.
Posted on 3 Jul
SailingFast to provide unrivalled event support
During the WASZP Games at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy SailingFast UK is set to land in Weymouth on the 8th of July and will be on-site until the 26th of July to provide the GOLD STANDARD in event support.
Posted on 3 Jul
2025 29er Europeans at Lake Garda Opening Ceremony
More than 500 sailors paraded through the Riva del Garda's beautiful streets The 2025 29er European Championship officially opened today in stunning Riva del Garda, hosted by Fraglia Vela Riva. More than 500 sailors paraded through the city's beautiful streets in a colorful, high-energy opening ceremony.
Posted on 2 Jul