Great Britain, France, Denmark and Switzerland in the Semi Finals
Ekaterinburg’s famous Verkh-Isetsky pond keeps presenting the sailors with great challenges and the penultimate day of the 2018 Women’s Match Racing World Championship saw the trend continue as the field was reduced to four teams in a strong northwesterly wind.
Defending World Champion Lucy Macgregor’s Team Mac from Great Britain had the night to decide their opponent in the Quarter Finals. “It wasn’t an easy decision at all. All of the teams have been sailing well and the teams who sailed the Repechage yesterday had more practice in the boats and looked to be sailing well.” And with that thought they went with the “safe” pick of the team that finished in the last qualifying spot of the Repechage round, the Finnish L2 Match Racing Team skippered by Marinella Laaksonen.
Although Team Mac defeated L2 Match Racing Team 3 – 0, the races were close and “it was really quite tough because the wind is very hard to read with the cloud cover, so you had to cover and sometimes you would lose on the shifts” explained Macgregor. “Fortunately we were often able to extend before the windward mark which made the runs a little easier.”
Pauline Courtois’ French Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team also finished their quarter final 3 – 0 over the local Russian BERGAUF Sailing Team skippered by Milena Laverycheva in the blustery conditions.
Alexa Bezel’s Swiss Women’s Match Racing Team had a lively match with Russian skipper Ekaterina Kochkina’s ProKaTeam Sailing Team in their third match and received a double penalty at the leeward mark as they forced themselves inside at the mark when they had no rights. “Ah, I should have listened to my crew as they said ‘go behind, don’t go in there’” laughed Bezel when ashore after re-grouping and winning the next match to take the quarter final 3 – 1 and advance.
The Danish Team Kattnakken skippered by Trine Palludan found themselves up against the wall as the Russian BornToSail team skippered by Alexandra Martynova took an early 2 – 0 lead in their quarter finals. But the experienced Danish team fought back. “We focused on sailing our boat well and tacking a lot!” Palludan revealed. “It was difficult to see the wind on the water, so we forced them to tack a lot and we covered them.” The strategy proved successful as they came from a 2 -0 deficit to win 3 – 2 and move on to the next stage.
Team Mac again had the choice of opponents and chose the Swiss Women’s Match Racing Team as their semi final opponent leaving Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team to face Team Kattnakken.
Each of the Semi Final matches went 2 – 0 before the racing was called for the day with the British and French in command of the matches.
The event will conclude on Saturday with the remainder of the Semi Finals followed by the Petit Finals and Finals before the Closing Ceremonies at 17:00 at Gubernskiy Yacht Club – Komatek.
2018 Women’s Match Racing World Championship Results (after day four):
Semi-Final Results (in progress):
Pauline Courtois, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, FRA leads Trine Palludan, Team Kattnakken, DEN 2 – 0
Lucy Macgregor, Team Mac, GBR leads Alexa Bezel, Swiss Women Match Racing Team, SUI 2 – 0
Quarter-Final Results:
Alexa Bezel, Swiss Women Match Racing Team, SUI defeated Ekaterina Kochkina, ProKaTeam Sailing Team, RUS 3 – 1
Trine Palludan, Team Kattnakken, DEN defeated Alexandra Martynova, BornToSail, RUS 3 – 2
Pauline Courtois, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, FRA defeated Milena Laverycheva, BERGAUF Sailing Team, RUS 3 – 0
Lucy Macgregor, Team Mac, GBR defeated Marinella Laaksonen, L2 Match Racing Team, FIN 3 – 0
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The Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) is the first and only professional sailing series for women, hosted by the Women¹s International Match Racing Association and joined by the world¹s leading women match racing sailors. Match racing is sailed in two identical boats around a short course, providing fast action close to the crowds on shore. The intense racing is just as exciting for the spectators as it is strategically, tactically and physically challenging for the competing crews.
WIM Series 2018 calendar
(Name of event, Venue, Country: dates (boat type))
Helsinki Women’s Match, Helsinki, Finland : 25 - 29 June (J/80)
Lysekil Women’s Match, Lysekil, Sweden : 6 - 11 August (Fareast 28r)
Women’s Match Racing World Championship, Ekaterinburg, Russia : 14 - 18 August (Ricochet 747)
Swiss International Women’s Match, Ascona, Switzerland : 30 October - 3 November (J/70)
Carlos Aguilar Match Race 2018, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands : 29 November - 2 December (IC 24)
The WIM Series is hosted by WIMRA. Official suppliers are Sailnet, Fredag, MILK, Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan, Adstream, Fredag and Match Racing Results Service.
Images: A number of hi-res images are available for download on www.wimseries.com/media/
Video: All videos are available on www.wimseries.com/videos/
More information about the Women’s International Match Racing Series:
Press Officer Fabian Bengtsson, media@wimseries.com
Race Director Anna Holmdahl White, anna@wimseries.com
Race Manager Liz Baylis, Liz@wimseries.com
www.wimseries.com
www.facebook.com/WIMSeries
www.twitter.com/WIMSeries
www.youtube.com/WIMRSeries
www.instagram.com/WIMSeries
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The 2018 Women’s Match Racing World Championship is taking place in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Ekaterinburg is the third largest Russian city, the capital of Ural, the candidate to hold the EXPO-2025. The city is developing rapidly. «Gubernskiy yacht-club “Komatek”» is a shining example of positive changes in the city’s infrastructure. The opening of the brand new building of the club is held in conjunction with Women’s Match Racing World Championship and with city’s 295 anniversary.
The event partners are: Turkish Airlines, Building materials company «Bergauf», New Radio 90,8 fm, the President of the Sverdlovsk Fund of the RCSaD, Alexander Serebrennikov, with support of Ministry of Physical Culture & Sport of the Sverdlovsk region, Center of the Sporting Events – GAUSO “CSM”, Regional Social Organization «Olympic Union of Sverdlovsk Region» and the City of Ekaterinburg.
More information about the 2018 Women’s Match Racing World Championship:
Local Press Officer Yana Maltseva, maltseva75@mail.ru, +7 (912) 286-58-46
2018wmrwc.komatek-club.ru/
www.facebook.com/gubernskiy.yacht.club.komatek
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The World Sailing 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 World Sailing Match Racing Ranking position. Denmark’s Dorte Jensen is the most successful sailor, having amassed four World Championship titles.
More information about World Sailing and the Women’s Match Racing World Championship:
World Sailing Communications Department, marketing@sailing.org, + 44 2380 635 111
www.sailing.org/events/womensmatchworlds/index.php
