(Submitted by Zoe Hawkins, RNZYS - www.rnzys.org.nz)

Lehtinen (FIN) and Souter (AUS) tie for lead as Round Robin continues

With 14 out of 19 Flights raced on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour the team from Finland skippered by Silja Lehtinen is tied with Australian Nicky Souter for top place after Day Two of the BSPORT ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championships.

Lehtinen and Souter both have nine wins and only two losses to their credit and are closely tailed by defending champion and world number one Claire Leroy of France.

Boat speed is the main reason for her early success, says Lehtinen, who is greatly enjoying having a keen edge over her rivals.

“Tactics are easier when you have boat speed,” she says.

Lehtinen is also enjoying her mastery of the fresh and gusty conditions. Like her home ground in Finland, the geography is confined and the breeze is shifty. But unlike her home ground, the tide and currents are strong, and so was the breeze today: after a long delay due to lack of wind this morning, racing started at lunchtime in a 16-22 knot northerly that made for great spectator viewing and very close finishes, such as her last race against Katie Spithill.

“We were both very close upwind and we both had bad bottom roundings but we managed to go a little faster downwind and finish a few boat lengths ahead of her,” she recounts.

If that victory was a highlight of the day’s racing, a disappointment was losing to American Liz Baylis after sailing around the wrong mark – a mistake Lehtinen is philosophical about. “It was our own fault,” she says.

Souter’s day was also a steady stream of five wins, punctuated by one loss against Lotte Meldgaard-Pederson of Denmark after misjudging a layline to hit a mark. She judges that time spent on the boats and experience racing in Auckland are both valuable assets to have in this regatta, benefiting the New Zealand and Australian entrants in particular. “We’ve done a lot more sailing in these boats than some of the other girls,” she says.

Flights 15 to 19 in the Round Robin will be sailed tomorrow, with the top six teams qualifying for the Quarter Finals, and the remaining eight skippers sailing a Repecharge round, of which the best two will go through.

The points tally remains very close amongst the top skippers and while there are three days of racing still to go, this Round Robin is not without its surprises. Currently sitting out of contention for automatic qualification to the Quarter Finals are three of the top four ranked sailors: world number two Lotte Meldgaard of Denmark is in seventh place, world number three Katie Spithill holds eighth, and world number four Christelle Philippe of France sits in twelfth. The three top skippers will be looking for big improvements in the final Flights, or the Repecharge will be their last hope.

The BSPORT ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championships are hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and sponsored by BSPORT, Giltrap City Toyota and Auckland City Council.

Racing starts at approximately 10am each day on the inner Waitemata Harbour, concluding on Sunday 6 April. Ongoing reports will be available on the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s website, www.rnzys.org.nz

Total Points (after flight 14)

Silja Lehtinen FIN - 9 wins / 2 loss / 11 races
Nicky Souter AUS - 9 / 2 / 11
Claire Leroy FRA - 7 / 2 / 9
Silka Hahlbrock GER - 7 / 4 / 11
Liz Baylis USA - 6 / 4 / 10
Jessica Smyth NZL - 5 / 4 / 9
Lotte Meldgaard DEN - 6 / 5 / 11
Katie Spithill AUS - 6 / 6 / 12
Josie Gibson GBR - 4 / 4 / 8
Gemma Farrell GBR - 3 / 6 / 9
Sabrina Gurioli ITA - 2 / 7 / 9
Christelle Philippe FRA - 3 / 7 / 10
Jan Dawson NZL - 2 / 7 / 9
Camilla Ulrikkeholm DEN - 1 / 10 / 11

Round Robin results day 2

Summary of today’s races
Leroy 3 / 3
Souter 5 / 6
Hahlbrock 4 / 5
Lehtinen 4 / 5
Meldgaard 4 / 6

Flight 9
Souter beat Farrell by 21s
Meldgaard beat Baylis by 4s
Leroy beat Lehtinen by 7s
Spithill beat Philippe by 1s
Hahlbrock beat Gibson by 27s

Flight 10
Leroy beat Spithill by 6s
Meldgaard beat Philippe by 3s
Souter beat Dawson by 44s
Lehtinen beat Farrell by 22s
Baylis beat ulrikkeholm by 1m4s

Flight 11
Meldgaard beat Souter by 27s
Baylis beat Hahlbrock by 13s
Spithill beat Farrell by 1m1s
Ulrikkeholm beat Gibson by 17s
Dawson beat Philippe by 25s

Flight 12
Hahlbrock beat Gurioli by 29s
Farrell beat Heldgaard by 37s
Spithill beat Ulrikkeholm by 19s
Lehtinen beat Smyth by 1m37s
Souter beat Baylis by 16s

Flight 13
Hahlbrock beat Meldgaard by 40s
Leroy beat Baylis by 23s
Souter beat Spithill by 5s
Lehtinen beat ulrikkeholm by 9s
Smyth beat Gurioli by 20s

Flight 14
Lehtinen beat Philippe by 33s
Hahlbrock beat Spithill by 11s
Souter beat Gurioli by 1m1s
Meldgaard beat Ulrikkeholm by 6s
Dawson beat Smyth by 8s

Find out more on the ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship at www.sailing.org/wmatchworlds or the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron at New Zealand Women’s Match Racing Championship - www.rnzys.org.nz.