Women’s Match Racing: Harbour swim for joyous Portuguese crew after gaining selection for London 2012

Stage two of Women’s Match Racing at the ISAF Worlds was charged with excitement and devastation in equal measures on Tuesday, December 13, as places in the quarterfinals and the London 2012 Olympic Games Sailing Competition were finalised.

It was a crucially important day for all teams in the repechage round robin, and perhaps a night of celebration for elated teams from Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and Portugal, who all secured a place for their country at the Olympic sailing competition at Weymouth and Portland next July.

Stephanie Hazard (NZL-1) and her crew got through early in the day after just two matches and were pleased with their performances despite being beaten by ESP-1. A close win against USA-2 in the last lap secured their spot.

Commenting on the pressure, crew member Jenna Hansen (NZL-1) said: “For us it is about concentrating on the match of the day. If we thought about the Olympics we would not do very well. Overall we are happy with our performance.’’

The Swedish team were backed by a small family fan club, who waved flags and cheered in Swedish from the grandstand. Their support paid off, as skipper Anna Kjellberg and her crew got their country an Olympic place after beating Portugal and Denmark (DEN-1).

On winning a spot in the Olympics, Kjellberg said: “The support we received means a lot to us. It feels great but we are still a bit nervous about going into the quarterfinals. The regatta was always about the Olympics for us, so of course we are really happy. It feels amazing.’’

It was a nail biting finish as the final place in the Olympics was decided in the very last match of the day. Screams of delight came from the stand when the Portuguese team realised they had succeeded, thanks Nicky Souter (AUS-1) beating Finland.

Before leaping into the harbour with her crew, Portuguese skipper Rita Goncalves, said : ‘’It was too much stress to watch. For five days we waited to find out. Now it is a dream come true. We are going for a gold medal in the Olympics.’’

Winds were up to 20 knots and shifty in a south easterly breeze for most of the day. It confused some of the skippers, with Nicky Souter making a mistake which cost her second place in the quarterfinals.

Souter (AUS-1) and Olivia Price (Aus-2) were neck-and-neck on points up to the second last match in the race for quarterfinal berths, until a mistake by Souter in her penultimate match against Great Britain.

She finished the match one lap too soon, putting Price ahead of her on points and in second place in the quarterfinals. Souter now faces world champion Anna Tunnacliffe (USA-1) in the quarters, while Price is up against Russia.

There was also confusion over the winner of the match between Germany (GER-1) and Netherlands (NED-2) when both teams followed the wrong course and then corrected their mistake without stopping.

A discussion by Race Committee umpires late in the afternoon found that the match still counted and awarded Silke Hahlbrock (GER) with the point as she had crossed the finish line in first place.

(From the Perth 2011 website: www.Perth2011.com)

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