Team Mac Victors at WIM Series Busan

Busan, Korea (November 18, 2017) – Another crazy weather day at the 2017 Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race, the penultimate event of the 2017 Women’s International Match Racing Series. The cold winds whipped around in all different directions as the finals were played out in the waters off Dongbaek Island.

The day started with a crazy race between Lucy Macgregor (GBR) and Pauline Courtois (FRA) as the wind completely switched directions and went from as much as 15 knots down to nothing all during one race! Macgregor was ahead by 10 boat lengths early in the race, but in the middle of the first downwind leg the breeze flipped 180 degrees and dropped to nearly nothing.

The French still had the land breeze and were able to catch the Brits. They arrived at the leeward mark with Macgregor ahead by only a half boat length and when she tacked at the mark there was a very strong current and she hit the mark and received a penalty. She managed to stay ahead and the wind continued to come from everywhere but she was able to stretch just enough to take her penalty and lead around the last mark before extending to a comfortable lead.

But, halfway along the last leg there was another 180 degree wind shift and Courtois closed quickly under spinnaker to within a few lengths before Macgregor was able to carry on ahead to the finish and earn a spot in the Finals.

In the Petit-Finals, the racing was very close. “It was very intense, close and full of action”, described Anna Östling, “We had very even starts. We thought we controlled the pre-starts, but Pauline was able to start even.”

In the first race Pauline Courtois (FRA) started just to windward of Anna Östling (SWE) and led around the first mark. “We able to pass downwind on the first run. We kept our eyes out of the boat and took advantage of a huge shift to pass”, Östling described.

The second race saw Courtois receive a penalty early in the first upwind leg for tacking too close in front of Östling, but Courtois stayed ahead. It all came down to whether or not the French team would be able to take their penalty in time to cross the finish line ahead of the Swedes. Despite a valiant attempt by the French, the Swedes prevailed and succeeded in winning the Petit-Final 2-0 to secure third place in the event. Going into the Finals, Team Kattnakken had not lost a race but she was soon to be challenged by Macgregor.

The Finals brought the spectators some exciting match racing with all of the classic moves – dial ups, dial downs, penalties, tacking duels and luffing matches – as the teams raced within meters of each other in every race.

Current Women’s Match Racing World Champion, Lucy Macgregor, showed her mettle by handing Trine Palludan her first loss of the event in the first race of the Final. Macgregor lead off the start and both teams engaged in a fierce tacking duel up the beat and Macgregor played the shifts well to lead wire to wire. “The goal of the first match was to break the Danish winning streak”, Macgregor confided.

With the first goal accomplished the Brits went on to win the second start by locking the Danes out at the start and comfortably advance to match point in the Final. But Team Kattnakken still had plenty of fight left going into the third match, but maybe not enough to turn the tide on the strong British team. “We definitely had good speed, but maybe focused too much on the small shifts and not enough on the boat positions in the big picture”, analyzed Palludan, after losing the match when Team Mac played the big shifts better, trying to turn the stinging defeat into a learning opportunity.

When Macgregor was asked about the keys to beating the Danes, she complimented her crew, “The crew all worked really hard today, especially the main was really hard work in the puffy conditions. Boat handling was really important. It was really gusty today and the shifts were super important as well. Credit to the team as that’s where we focused a lot of our effort today and won us the races.” Team Mac (Lucy Macgregor, Bethan Carden, Rosie Watkins, Imogen Stanley, Charlotte Lawrence) went on to win the Finals 3-0.

With this win, Macgregor becomes the first skipper to win three times in Busan.

With the support of the principal sponsor, the Metropolitan City of Busan, the Busan Cup has awarded nearly one million US dollars since its inception. For this year’s tenth anniversary edition, the Busan Sailing Federation presented 50,000 USD in prize money to the twelve teams with Team Mac taking home the top prize of 10,000 USD.

As the WIM Series moves on to the final event of the year – the 2017 International Bedanne’s Cup in Tourville-la-Rivière, France December 11-16 – the points at the top of the WIM Series leaderboard are very tight with the top three only separated by 3 points. Five teams are still in the running for the WIM Series podium positions in Normandy.

Final Results
Lucy Macgregor, GBR defeats Trine Palludan, DEN 3-0

Petit-Final Results
Anna Östling, SWE defeats Pauline Courtois, FRA 2-0

Semi-Final Results
Trine Palludan, DEN defeats Anna Östling, SWE 2-0
Lucy Macgregor, GBR defeats Pauline Courtois, FRA 2-1

Final Standings (Team – Skipper & Crew – Nationality; Prize Money; WIM Series Points):
1- Team Mac –
Lucy Macgregor, Bethan Carden, Rosie Watkins, Imogen Stanley, Charlotte Lawrence – GBR; 10000; 25
2- Team Kattnakken –
Trine Palludan, Lea Richter Vogelius, Josefine Boel Rasmussen, Helle Jespersen, Joan Vestergaard Hansen – DEN; 7500; 22
3- Team Anna –
Anna Östling, Karin Knigge, Linnéa Wennergren, Marie Berg, Annie Wennergren – SWE; 6000; 20
4- Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team –
Pauline Courtois, Maelenn Lemaître, Sophie Faguet, Louise Acker, Sophonie Affagard – FRA; 5000; 18
5- New Sweden Match Racing Team –
Caroline Sylvan, Louise Kruuse af Verchou, Klara Ekdahl, Johanna Thiringer, Malin Holmberg – SWE; 4500; 16
6- Dutch Match Racing Team –
Renée Groeneveld, Afrodite Zegers, Lobke Berkhout, Sanne Akkerman, Mijke Lievens – NED; 4000; 14
7- L2 Match Racing Team –
Marinella Laaksonen, Marianna Kontulainen, Daniela Rönnberg, Camilla Cedercreutz, Eva-Lotta Hokkonen – FIN; 3500; 12
8- Team Parker –
Sarah Parker, Charlotte Porter, Jess Russell, Milly Bennett, Juliet Costanzo – AUS; 3000; 10
9- Team Costanzo –
Clare Costanzo, Jessica Angus, Ruby Scholten, Lauren Crossman, Hannah Lanz – AUS; 2500; 8
10- Swiss Women Match Racing Team –
Alexa Bezel, Fiona Testuz, Manon Kivell, Bérénice Charrez, Louise Thilo – SUI; 2000; 7
11- Peregrine Racing –
Linnéa Floser, Hanna Ericksson, Charlotte Eklund, Beata Törneman, Ann Johnson – SWE; 1000; 6
12- Team Ladies –
Eunjin Kim, Seunghyun Park, Yeonsoo Jo, Seongmin Kim, Jiseon Moon – KOR; 1000; 5

The Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race in Busan, South Korea, was held November 14-18, 2017.

 
WIM Series – Event details – Entry list – Results – Facebook

Background: The Women’s International Match Racing Series is in its fifth season, providing in 2017 a four-event professional sailing circuit organized by the Women’s International Match Racing Association for the world’s leading women match racing sailors.

2017 Women’s International Match Racing Series
June 16-21 – Women’s Match Racing World Championship – Helsinki, Finland
August 7-12 – Lysekil Women’s Match – Lysekil, Sweden
November 13-18 – Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race – Busan, South Korea
Nov 30-Dec 3 – Carlos Aguilar Match Race – St Thomas, US Virgin Islands – Cancelled
December 11-16 2017 International Bedanne’s Cup – Tourville-la-Rivière, France

WIM Series Standings (After 3 events)
1. Renée Groeneveld, Dutch Match Racing Team, NED, 61
2. Trine Palludan, Team Kattnakken, DEN, 60
3. Anna Östling, Team Anna, SWE, 58
4. Pauline Courtois, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 52
5. Lucy Macgregor, Team Mac, GBR, 50
6. Caroline Sylvan, New Sweden Match Racing Team, SWE, 42
7. Marinella Laaksonen, L2 Match Racing Team, FIN, 38
8. Alexa Bezel, Swiss Women Match Racing Team, SUI, 21
9. Johanna Bergqvist, Team Bergqvist Match Racing, SWE, 20
10. Mikaela Fors, Pen & Hammer Sailing Team, FIN, 14
11. Linnéa Floser, Peregrine Racing, SWE, 14
12. Antonia Degerlund, Team Sköna Vibbisar, FIN, 11
13. Sarah Parker, Team Parker, AUS, 10
14. Clare Costanzo, Team Costanzo, AUS, 8
15. Octavia Owen, Athena Racing, GBR, 7
16. Margot Riou, APCC Women’s Sailing Team , FRA, 7
17. Martina Karlemo, Team Karlemo, FIN, 6
18. Eunjin Kim, Team Ladies, KOR, 5
19. Sanna Häger, Stockholm Match Racing Team, SWE, 4
20. Ekaterina Kochkina, Team SailWay, RUS, 3

Source: WIM Series