Perfect
Day For Meldgaard And Le Berre At ISAF Women's Match Race Worlds
Local hopeful Lotte Meldgaard and French France's Anne-Claire Le Berre are the
only undefeated skippers after the opening day of the 2015 ISAF Women's
Match Racing World Championship in Middelfart, Denmark.
Meldgaard and Le Berre both scored 8 - 0 to lead the way, and after an
action-packed day Meldgaard said, "Even with one reef in the main and
a smaller jib replacing the genoa, the Match 28's we're racing here are
quite overpowered. We lost control a couple of times, but excellent crew
work got us back on track again."
Just a few weeks after summer solstice, the light Scandinavian evenings
allowed organizers, Match Racing Denmark, to get 14 flights of four matches
in to a long day to kick off the 2015 ISAF Women's Match Racing World
Championship, the first event on the 2015 Women's International Match
Racing Series (WIM Series). The opening day offered truly challenging
conditions for the competitors as well as the race management team. Gusts
approaching 30 knots swept down the course, leaving broaching boats, freely
flying kites and wet and exhausted sailors behind.
"It's been a tough day at the office, no doubt about that," event
manager Sören Laugesen smiles, revealing that a couple of spinnakers had to
be sent to the sailmaker, one of which with a hole bigger than Sören
himself.
World #4
Anne-Claire Le Berre from Brest, France, managed the tough conditions
excellently winning all her eight matches on the day. At 21:00 local time,
in the 14th and final flight, Le Berre completed her perfect day with a
victory over Australian Katie Spithill. Spithall said, "We left home
because it was so cold, but this is certainly not better." Spithall
finished the day a little bit disappointed with her 5 - 3 score and eighth
place overall in the round robin so far.
Reigning World Champion and World #1 Sweden's Anna Östling didn't lose a
match until the very last fight against Australia's Milly Bennett, but
experienced tight racing with a lot of lead changes throughout the day.
Östling said, "We haven't gone through the day without mistakes, but I
don't think we've done as many as our opponents. It was good for us to get
several tight matches today, since we'll need to shape up before meeting
the higher ranked sailors at the end of the round-robin."
The racing in Middelfart continues with the round-robin on Thursday and
Friday, while the weekend will see the exciting knock-out rounds to crown
the World Champions.
Standings after one day of round-robin in the 2015 ISAF Women's Match
Racing World Championship in Middelfart, Denmark, the first event on the
2015 WIM Series (skipper, country, wins - losses):
1. Lotte Meldgaard, DEN, 8 - 0
1. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 8 - 0
3. Anna Östling, SWE, 7 - 1
4. Camilla Ulrikeholm, DEN, 5 - 1
4. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 5 - 1
6. Stephanie Roble, USA, 4 - 2
6. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 4 - 2
8. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 5 - 3
8. Katie Spithill, AUS, 5 - 3
10. Milly Bennett, AUS, 3 - 5
11. Louise Christensen, DEN, 2 - 6
12. Johanna Larsson, SWE, 0 - 6
12. Nina Ramm-Schmidt, FIN, 0 - 6
12. Rikst Dijkstra, NED, 0 - 6
12. Diana Kissane, IRL, 0 - 6
16. Sanna Häger, SWE, 0 - 8
Results
http://www.worlds15.dk/results-new
Event Website
http://www.worlds15.dk/
History
www.sailing.org/events/womensmatchworlds/18952.php
ISAF Event Microsite
https://www.sailing.org/events/womensmatchworlds/index.php
Past Results
www.sailing.org/events/womensmatchworlds/past_results.php
WIM Series Website
www.wimseries.com
July 8 - 12, 2015, the 2015 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship is
taking place in Middelfart, Denmark, hosted by Match Racing Denmark on
behalf of the sailing clubs in Middelfart, Vejle, Fredericia, Horsens and
Kolding. The championship is launched in cooperation with the Danish
Sailing Association, ISAF (the International Sailing Federation), WIM
Series (Women's International Match Racing Series) and not least Middelfart
Municipality, Developing Fyn, Sport Event Denmark, The Triangle Region and
Destination Little Belt.
The ISAF 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 ISAF World Match
Racing Ranking position. Denmark's Dorte Jensen is the most successful
sailor having amassed four World Championship titles.
Find out more on the history of the event here
www.sailing.org/events/womensmatchworlds/18952.php
About WIM Series
The 2015 WIM Series is hosted by WIMRA for the world's leading women match
racing sailors, and contested in four venues: Middelfart, Denmark; Lysekil,
Sweden; Sheboygan, USA and Busan, Korea. An overall prize purse of 40 000
USD will be distributed by the WIM Series at the final event in Busan,
Korea, in addition to the prize money at each of the four events included
in the WIM Series. Official suppliers are Sailnet, 1080 Media, MILK,
Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan, Adstream and Match Racing
Results Service.