French Match Racing Champion Anne-Claire Le Berre had a great Thursday on the Irish waters of Cork, winning all of her matches to finish the round-robin stage of the 2014 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship with a 10 – 2 record.
Like the French sailor, World #1 Camilla Ulrikkeholm (DEN) and compatriot Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen finished with a 10-2 record as they came out first and runner-up when the three-way-tie was broken.
“We had a lot better attention to details and communication in the boat today and together with good manoeuvres and boat speed that obviously paid off,” explained Le Berre on climbing up the scoreboard.
The racing conditions on the second day continued with shifty winds and strong current, but with a lighter wind than on the opening day of the first event of the 2014 Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series).
Ulrikkeholm celebrated the Danish National Day by beating her fellow club member from the Royal Danish Yacht Club, Meldgaard Pedersen, in a thrilling match, fully packed with exciting manoeuvres at extremely close distance between the two combatants.
The crowds at Camden Fort Meagher breathlessly followed the racing, shouting and cheering the fight. “It’s always nice to beat Lotte, she’s beaten us so many times,” admitted Ulrikkeholm with a big smile, seeming quite satisfied with the rest of her Thursday in Cork. “With two losses today we still have to shape up and get better. As an example I’d like to be a little bit more aggressive in the starting sequence, I really like to be in charge there.”
On the other hand, Meldgaard Pedersen wasn’t too disappointed on being beaten in the ‘Danish Derby’ by Ulrikkeholm. “Of course we would have liked to win but we’d rather lose to her now than later in the regatta” she commented with a big smile. On the outcome of the match Pedersen analysed, “We felt quite good, but our judgement in close situations wasn’t the best today. Maybe we’re a little bit rusty when it comes to timing.”
The eight best skippers (see below) after the round-robin stage advance to the quarterfinals that are set to be sailed on Friday 6 June. However the weather forecast for Friday predicts heavy rain and winds above 30 knots, which could cause some problems for the organisers at Royal Cork Yacht Club to continue racing as planned.
“If we’re racing at all, it’ll probably be more or less under survival conditions,” speculated Ulrikkeholm.
Results after the completed round-robin at the 2014 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship, the first event on the 2014 Women’s International Match Racing Series (skipper name, nationality, wins/losses). The first eight skippers advance to the quarter-finals:
1. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 10 – 2
2. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN, 10 – 2
3. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 10 – 2
4. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 9 – 3
5. Stephanie Roble, USA, 9 – 3
6. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 7 – 5
7. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 6 – 6
8. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 5 – 7
9. Annabel Vose, GBR, 4 – 8
10. Mary O’Loughlin, IRL, 3 – 9
11. Laura Dillon, IRL, 2 – 10
12. Lucie Scheiwiller, FRA, 2 – 10
13. Anne-Christianne Kentgens, NED, 1 – 11
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Links:
Results
http://www.matchracing.ie/results/
Event Website
http://www.matchracing.ie/
ISAF Event Microsite
http://www.sailing.org/Womens-Match-Worlds-2014.php
History
www.sailing.org/events/womensmatchworlds/18952.php
Past Results
www.sailing.org/events/womensmatchworlds/past_results.php
WIM Series Website
www.wimseries.com
The 2014 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship, June 3-8, is presented by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the Port of Cork, the Cork County Council and the Irish Examiner media partner. The ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship is an annual event that was first held in Genoa, Italy in 1999 after a successful event was held as part of the 1998 ISAF Sailing World Championship in Dubai, UAE. Skippers are invited to attend the Championship based on their ISAF World Match Racing Ranking position. Denmark’s Dorte O Jensen is the most successful sailor having amassed four World Championship titles.
Find out more on the history of the event here
www.sailing.org/events/womensmatchworlds/18952.php
Images/Video
High-resolution rights free images from the 2014 edition are available to download on the ISAF Flickr here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/isafmedialibrary/collections/72157644940860236/
or the WIM Series Media page here: www.wimseries.com/media
Daily VNRs will be available to download for the duration of the regatta. Please contact Event Press Officer Philomena Maguire Hahnel below for picture/video requests.
About WIM Series
The 2014 WIM Series is hosted by WIMRA for the world’s leading women match racing sailors, and contested in five venues: Cork, Ireland; Vannes, France; Lysekil, Sweden; Sheboygan, USA; and Busan, Korea. An overall prize purse of 50 000 USD will be distributed by the WIM Series at the final event in Busan, Korea, in addition to the prize money at each of the five events included in the WIM Series. Sebago is clothing partner. Official suppliers are Sailnet, 1080 Media, MILK, Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan, Adstream and Match Racing Results Service.
Contacts
Event Press Officer
Philomena Maguire Hahnel
Tel: +353 842 515 804
Email: philmaguire@eircom.net
ISAF Communications Department
Tel: + 44 2380 635 111
Email: marketing@isaf.com
WIM Series Press Officer
Joakim Hermansson
Tel: + 46 70 604 25 04
Email: media@wimseries.com
