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

Less Wind and More Match Racing - Another Tough Day in Kiel

Kieler Woche 2009 - Kiel, Germany

Another day of light winds has upset the schedule of the 127th Kieler Woche, the sixth and penultimate event of the 2008-2009 ISAF Sailing World Cup, and only three fleets were able to complete races today.

Once again, it was only the Women’s Match Racing event which was able to start this morning and the race committee worked hard to complete their program before the quarter-finals on Tuesday. The 49er and the 2.4 mR with two and three races were the only other Classes which could sail today. All other sailors had to enjoy the sun on the dock and wait. “The wind did not increase in the way we hoped it would this morning, but we look forward to a better weather forecast tomorrow. It is very sad, especially for the Star and the Finn, which have only sailed one race so far”, said Jobst Richter, Chairman of the Kieler Woche Race Committee.

Quarter-Final line up decided

The action continued for the women’s match racers and the second stage round robin repercharge was completed to decide the final two teams in the quarter-final. The fifteen teams who did not qualify from the first round robin were split into two groups with the winner of each group taking the last two places in the quarter-final tomorrow.

It was another day of light wind sailing for the Elliott 6m and another long day on the water for the race committee, on-water umpires and sailors alike. Group D, with seven boats, was the first to finish and for many it was over to the rule book to confirm which of the teams would qualify! Julie BOSSARD (FRA), Lucinda WHITTY (AUS) and Silvia ROCA (ESP) all finished their day with four wins from their six races but it was Bossard who claimed the place in the quarter-final. Working back through the results of the round robin to break the tie it was eventually the results against Anne-Claire LE BERRE which decided the final order. Of the three teams, Bossard was the only one to beat Le Berre so the quarter-final place is hers. Roca takes second place in the round robin as she was victorious in her match against Whitty.

The final place in the quarter-final was again decided from a tie. The eight teams in Group E each team sailed seven races and the Australian team helmed by Katie SPITHILL finished with six wins, tied with Ekaterina SKUDINA’s Russian team. After an early blip, losing her first match to home favourite Ulrike SCHUEMANN, Spithill, the 2007 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship silver medallist, posted a clean sweep of victories for the rest of the day, including therefore the match against Skudina. Spithill takes the final place in the quarter-final joining the six other teams who qualified yesterday. The skippers line up is: Lucy MACGREGOR, (GBR), Nicole SOUTER (AUS), Paula LEWIN (BER), Renee GROENEVELD (DEN), Silke HAHLBROCK (GER), Genevieve TULLOCH (USA), Julie BOSSARD (FRA) and Katie SPITHILL (AUS).

Find out more about the ISAF Sailing World Cup, including more on the seven events, the latest World Cup Standings, the scoring system and the Notice of Series at www.sailing.org/isafsailingworldcup.