Please select your home edition
Edition
Rooster 2025

ISAF Sailing Worlds- Tears of joy at Womens Olympic Match Racing news

by ISAF on 14 Dec 2011
Goncalves wins a crucial race against Tamara Echegoyen - ISAF Sailing World Championships Perth 2011 Alastair Hyde-Tetley/Perth 2011
Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships - Portugal’s Women's Match Racers, Rita Goncalves, Mariana Lobato and Diana Neves, have secured a place for their country at the Olympic sailing competition at Weymouth and Portland next July.

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.'

Goncalves’ crew of Lobato and Neves watched nervously from the grandstand and jumped for joy when Souter crossed the line ahead of Lehtinen. The Skipper said, 'I don’t like to depend on the others but I didn’t see the race because of too much stress.

'After five days we were stressed and it all came down to today. Now it’s a dream come true that we will be sailing at London 2012.'

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.

The Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships website will bring you results, tracking, live updates and all the latest news both on and off the ISAF website

Zhik 2024 DecemberMcDYachts_Pyewacket-for-Sale_1456x180 BOTTOMSwitch One Design

Related Articles

The Winner-Takes-All Race
Event format at the 49er, 49erFX & Nacra 17 Worlds could be the best option for the Olympics The 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships just held in Cagliari, Italy, could well be the most important held in the class. Not just that, it may influence how sailing happens at the Olympics.
Posted today at 7:00 pm
Vaikobi's top-rated polarized shades
VIZE+ Polarized Ocean Eyewear - lenses made for the ocean environment With lenses made for the ocean environment, Vaikobi's VIZE+ Polarized Ocean Eyewear is too good to look away. But don't just take their word for it... all their polarized sunglasses have been tested and reviewed by ocean frothers all over the world!
Posted today at 5:30 pm
Thomas Ruyant aims for a three-peat in IMOCA Class
There will be 18 two-handed IMOCAs on the Transat Café L'OR startline The Transat Café L'OR from Le Havre to Martinique, which forms the finale of the 2025 IMOCA season, is now just 12 days away and it's a classic course that has attracted a stellar field.
Posted today at 3:10 pm
All change in the Endeavour Trophy
A dramatic twist in the results after a request for redress was reopened by the Protest Committee The 64th Endeavour Trophy has seen a dramatic twist in the results after a request for redress was reopened by the Protest Committee when they realised that a significant error may have been made at the initial hearing.
Posted today at 2:37 pm
Manly 16s Club Championship Heat 3
Crazy doesn't begin to explain the finish Crazy doesn't begin to explain the finish to third heat of Manly's club championship on Saturday.
Posted today at 1:45 pm
Macif renews its commitment to ocean racing
A new IMOCA program 2027-2030 with Sam Goodchild as skipper Macif announces the continuation of its commitment to ocean racing with an ambitious project that will begin in 2027 and end in 2030. The IMOCA MACIF will be on the starting line of the Vendée Globe 2028-2029.
Posted today at 11:01 am
Belgium Ocean Racing breaks Class40 24hr record
452.22 nautical miles at an average speed of 18.84 knots At an average speed of 18.84 knots, a superb performance by the Jonas Gerckens Belgian team competing in the 2nd edition of the GLOBE40 with Benoit Hantzperg and Renaud Dehareng on board for this leg 2, covering 452.22 nautical miles in 24 hours.
Posted today at 5:37 am
America's Cupdate: October 10, 2025
Sailing Illustrated's Tom Ehman and Sail-World's Richard Gladwell dissect the America's Cup. Sailing Illustrated's Tom Ehman and Sail-World's NZ Editor, Richard Gladwell discussed the latest developments in the America's Cup, last Friday/Saturday (depending on your time zone) on sailing's only regular live video podcast.
Posted today at 5:23 am
Sydney - Auckland Ocean Race: Lucky wins
The USA registered pocket maxi Lucky, formerly Rambler 88, has taken line honours in the Sydney Auck The USA registered pocket maxi Lucky, formerly Rambler 88, has taken line honours in the Sydney Auckland Ocean Race - crossing the Tasman in in just 68hrs. Four yachts are still racing.
Posted today at 2:12 am
Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race Day 4
Lucky claims line honours but race still on Bryon Ehrhart's Lucky has claimed line honours and broken the race record in the Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race (S2A) earlier this morning, crossing the finish line at 9.20.27.26am AEDT finishing the race in 2d 20h 27 minutes 7 seconds.
Posted today at 1:28 am