By Nancy Noyes

Racing began yesterday morning in unseasonably cool but suitably breezy conditions for the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup international women’s match racing championship. In this exciting annual event, sailed on the Chesapeake Bay out of host Eastport Yacht Club, 10 top female match-racing teams participate in a four-day battle in J/22s through a double round-robin series before the top four emerge to sail the finals and petit-finals, scheduled for Saturday.

With seven flights completed in the first round-robin yesterday, defending Santa Maria Cup champion Sally Barkow held a narrow lead over veteran Liz Baylis, with several other highly competitive teams not far behind.

San Franciscan Baylis, who has sailed in this event for a decade or more and won the title in 2003, was 2002 Women’s World Match Racing Champion and also serves as Executive Director of the new Women’s International Match Racing Association, beat everyone but Barkow and Carapiet, an Olympic hopeful in the 470 class. Her teammates include Karina Shelton, Pease Glaser, and Suzy Leech.

“It was a beautiful day,” Baylis said. “We had good wind all day, even though it faded in the afternoon. We made a couple of unforced errors, and there were a couple of photo finishes that were good for keeping my heart rate up.”

Stepping back to consider the event from her WIMRA point of view promoting women’s match racing internationally and at an Olympic level, Baylis said, “There are a lot of really good people out here, including some teams coming off the [Women’s Match Racing] Worlds and some Olympic preparation, including a lot of new people, which makes it fun. It’s neat to see some of the college-age and recently out of college sailors out here.”

The international fleet includes France’s Christelle Philippe, ranked number four in the world in women’s match racing; Italian Lorenza Mariani, ranked at 25; and Caroline Martins de Castro Bejar of Brazil, 39th in the world, and Anne-Claire Le Berre, a Frenchwoman ranked at 64.

In addition to Baylis and American Olympian Sally Barkow, who earned her second Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year award last year, along with the 2004 and 2007 Santa Maria Cup titles, American skippers SMC veteran Katy Lovell (#17) and Arnold resident Jo Ann Fisher (#54), plus Olympic hopefuls Molly Carapiet, who earned her berth by winning this year’s Sundance Cup, and Derby Anderson, a rising local standout.
The action concludes with an awards party with live music, food and drink on Saturday evening, May 31. The party is open to the public; tickets are $20 at the door.

More information about the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup regatta, including important tips on how to get close enough to the action for a great view without getting in the way, is available online at www.santamariacup.org.

BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup Regatta
Preliminary Results, Round Robin 1 (7 of 9 flights complete)
Sally Barkow (USA, #5), 6-1
2. Liz Baylis (USA, #11), 5-2
3. Christelle Philippe (FRA, #4), 4-3
3. Lorenza Mariani (ITA, #25), 4-3
3. Anne-Claire LeBerre (FRA, #64), 4-3
3. Molly Carapiet (USA, NR), 4-3
7. Caroline Martins de Castro Bejar (BRA, #39), 3-4
8. Katy Lovell (USA, #17), 2-5
9. Derby Anderson (USA, NR), 2-5
10. Jo Ann Fisher (USA, NR) 1-6