(From the ISAF web site: www.sailing.org)

ISAF Nations Cup 2009 - Mumbai, India

India is the latest country to earned their place in the Grand Final of the ISAF Nations Cup after a convincing win in the Regional Final for Asia.

Racing for the ISAF Nations Cup Regional Final for Asia was held in Mumbai, India from 14-19 October. Five open and two women’s teams competed for the Regional Final titles and a place in the Grand Final of the ISAF Nations Cup, to be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil from 23-28 March 2009.

Mahesh RAMCHANDRAN, Aashim MONGIA, Farokh TARAPORE and Nitin MONGIA skippered the Indian open teams, with Neil SEMPLE leading the challenge from Thailand. The two skippers of the women’s team were Ayesha Katherine LOBO (IND) and Pallavi NAIK (IND).

The completion took place over four days. With no other country represented in the women’s event, India was already guaranteed its slot in Porto Alegre, joining Brazil, France, Australia, Great Britain and Italy on the Women’s entry list.

The major focus in Mumbai was the battle in the open event, where RAMCHANDRAN took on SEMPLE in India versus Thailand battle. RAMCHANDRAN is India’s top-placed sailor in the ISAF World Match Race Rankings at #60, whilst SEMPLE is Ranked outside the top 1,000 skippers. The disparity in World Rankings was clearly borne out in the results with India sweeping to victory by an emphatic 3-0 margin to join Brazil, France, Portugal and New Zealand in the Open event at the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final.

Find out more about the Match Racing Association of India: www.mrai.in)

Racing is already underway at the next stage of the ISAF Nations Cup, the Regional Final for Europe II, held in Kinsale, Ireland.

ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final – Qualified Nations

Open

Brazil - host
France - defending champion
Portugal
New Zealand
India

Women

Brazil - host
France - defending champion
Australia
Great Britain
Italy
India

Find out more about the fifth edition of the ISAF Nations Cup and learn more on the history of the event and past winners at the ISAF Nations Cup microsite www.sailing.org/nationscup.