BATTLE FOR SEMI FINALS AT CASA VELA CUP
San Francisco, USA (26 April 2023) – Day 2 of the Casa Vela Cup at the St. Francis Yacht Club finished with the ten competing all-women’s teams all vying for a valued spot in the semi-finals. Local sailor Nicole Breault and her Vela Racing team lead the qualifying round undefeated with 15 wins, with New Zealanders Megan Thomson at 11 wins, and Celia Willison at 10 wins.
The day started under a light breeze and cover of the famous San Francisco fog which slowly lifted around noon for a return of blue skies and a building breeze steadying to 12-15 knots. Once again, a strong flood encouraged teams to stay close to the shoreline as they sailed to the top mark, creating some tight tacking duels as NZL’s Celia Willison explained:
“Today was much better for us – we have a better handle on the boats, and we are surprised how quickly we can move them around. We had a great last match against our teammates from NZL [Megan Thomson] which has been our tightest race so far. The tide has certainly been interesting, today was different to yesterday and we got close to the shore, I think we gave a few swimmers on the beach a few frights.”
Lying in second place in the round robin behind Breault, NZL’s Megan Thomson is competing in her third consecutive week of match racing events after racing in the Ficker Cup and Congressional Cup in Long Beach, CA before coming to San Francisco;
“We’ve had a busy few weeks of match racing, but these boats are very different [to the Catalina 37’s in Long Beach] and it feels like we have almost had to learn again but that’s match racing. We are improving every day! Today was great fun with some very close matches, and we feel we are getting used to these boats.”
Tomorrow’s schedule will see the close of the round robin stage with the top four teams advancing to the semi-finals in a first-to-three points match.
Day Two Highlight video on YouTube
Standing results from Round Robin 1&2:
1 - Nicole Breault (USA) 15-0
2 - Megan Thomson (NZL) 11-4
3 - Celia Willison (NZL) 10-5
4 - Anna Ostling (SWE) 9-6
5 - Sophie Otter (GBR) 8-7
6 - Janel Zarkowsky (USA) 7-8
7 - Rebecca Coles (GBR) 6-9
8 - Ali Morrish (GBR) 5-10
9 - Brooke Wilson (AUS) 4-11
10 - Kristine Mauritzen (DEN) 0-15
Racing continues tomorrow with the first start scheduled for 1030 PST.
Follow live results at matchracingresults.com/2023/wwmrt-casa-vela-cup/
See the WWMRT website for more information:
https://womenswmrt.com/events/casa-vela-cup/
Teams Competing:
Anna Östling, Anna Holmdahl White, Linnea Wennergren, Annika Carlunger - SWE
Nicole Breault, Molly O’Bryan Vandemoer, Dana Riley Hayes, Maggie Bacon - USA
Celia Willison, Alison Kent, Charlotte Porter, Serena Woodall - NZL
Sophie Otter, Hebe Hemming, Amy Sparks, Hatty Ward - GBR
Ali Morrish, Sarah Jarman, Rosie Povall, Anna Carpenter - GBR
Megan Thomson, Anna Merchant, Lisa Dartnall, Maeve White - NZL
Janel Zarkowsky, Catherine Shanahan, Lexi Pline - USA
Kristine Mauritzen, Emilie Lauritzen, Christina Albers Andersen, Katrine Ejlev - DEN
Brooke Wilson, Gemma Burns, Tiana Wittey, Emily Keg - AUS
Rebecca Coles, Arianne Van de Loosdrecht, Bella Fellows, Rosie Rowell - GBR
About Women’s World Match Racing Tour
The Women’s World Match Racing Tour was launched in 2022 to continue the hugely successful legacy of the WIM Series (Women’s International Match Racing Series) providing a global match racing series for female sailors. The name of the WIM Series has been changed and re-launched as the Women’s World Match Racing Tour with it’s continued mission to expand and strengthen global match racing and promote opportunities for competitive women’s sailing at every level. The Women’s World Match Racing Tour is the world’s first and only professional sailing series for women providing a valuable pathway for aspiring female world champions in the sport of sailing. womenswmrt.com
