Cream rising at Women’s Match Racing World Championship

Ekaterinburg, Russia (August 15, 2018) – The second day at the 2018 Women’s Match Racing World Championship completed the qualifying round robin stage amid a change of conditions as the top four teams punched their tickets for the Quarter Finals.

After sailing the first day of the round robin on a mirror with very light and very shifty breeze, the second day dawned with the flags whipping in the strong breeze blowing across Verkh-Isetsky pond from the Ural mountains.

The morning flights were sailed in 8-12 knots of wind from the northwest. “The breeze was still shifty, but it was definitely more stable than yesterday,” said Swiss skipper Alexa Bezel during a midday break.

One of those happy sailors at the end of the day was Ekaterina Kochkina, skipper of the ProKaTeam Sailing Team from Ural, who had successful day two and qualified for the Quarter Finals.

“We sailed with a lot of confidence as we have perhaps more experience in these boats than some of the international teams. And maybe we also had some good luck,” laughed Kochkina. Their spot in the Quarter Finals was not decided until Bezel lost the last match of the round robin to Trine Palludan.

On top of the round robin was the defending World Champions, Team Mac, with skipper Lucy Macgregor for Great Britain. “We had a fun match with Trine Palludan’s team,” remarked Macgregor. “The pre-start was aggressive and we knew it would be important to get a penalty on them in the pre-start as they are such a strong team. We did just that as they tacked too close to us just before the start and we were able to lead off the start and stay ahead.”

An added bonus to the day for Macgregor is winning the World Sailing Nucci Novi Ceppellini Memorial Trophy, named after the World Sailing Vice-President from 1998-2008 who passed away in February 2008 after many years dedicated to the sport, with women’s match racing one of her particular passions. The trophy is presented to the first-place skipper following the first stage round robin. Macgregor also won this trophy last year on her way to winning the Championship in Helsinki, Finland.

Joining Macgregor and Kochkina in the quarter finals are French Pauline Courtois (Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team) and Danish Trine Palludan (Team Kattnakken) who ended the round robin stage in second and third, respectively.

With the first stage complete, the first four quarter-finalists are set. Tomorrow the bottom seven teams will sail the Repechage Round Robin stage and the top four will complete the Quarter Final pairings.

The 2018 edition of the World Championship celebrates the 20th anniversary of the event. As the third event of the WIM Series, racing is held in Ricochet-747 boats from August 14 to 18.

Day Two Results:
1. Lucy Macgregor, Team Mac, GBR, 10-0
2. Pauline Courtois, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 9-1
3. Trine Palludan, Team Kattnakken, DEN, 8-2
4. Ekaterina Kochkina, ProKaTeam Sailing Team, RUS, 6-4
5. Alexa Bezel, Swiss Women Match Racing Team, SUI, 5-5
6. Marinella Laaksonen, L2 Match Racing Team, FIN, 5-5
7. Milena Laverycheva, BERGAUF Sailing Team, RUS, 5-5
8. Alexandra Martynova, BornToSail, RUS, 3-7
9. Margot Riou, APCC Women Sailing Team , FRA, 2-8
10. Octavia Owen, Athena Racing, GBR, 1-9
11. Margot Vennin, Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 1-9

WIM Series – Event details – Facebook

Entry list:
• Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team – France
Pauline Courtois, Maëlenn Lemaître, Louise Acker, Nathalie Corson, Sophie Faguet
• L2 Match Racing Team – Finland
Marinella Laaksonen, Daniela Rönnberg, Marianna Kontulainen, Eva-Lotta
Hokkonen
• Team Kattnakken – Denmark
Trine Palludan, Anne Sofie Munk-Hansen, Louise Ulrikkeholm Bredvig, Joan Wester Hansen
• Swiss Women Match Racing Team – Switzerland
Alexa Bezel, Fiona Testuz, Manon Kivell, Nicole Bolliger
• Team Mac – Great Britain
Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush, Nicky Walsh, Kate Macgregor
• Athena Racing – Great Britain
Octavia Owen, Ruby Riggs, Amber Riggs, Hebe Hemming
• Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team – France
Margot Vennin, Marie Zugolaro, Juliette Dubreuil, Adèle Marévéry, Sophonie Affagard
• APCC Women Sailing Team – France
Margot Riou, Clémentine Hilaire, Caroline Vandame, Tiphaine Ragueneau
• ProKaTeam Sailing Team – Russia
Ekaterina Kochkina, Svetlana Sidorova, Anastasia Gladysheva, Antonina Tikhonova
• BERGAUF Sailing Team – Russia
Milena Laverycheva, Olga Ivanova, Ksenia Trushkina, Tatyana Razumova
• BornToSail – Russia
Alexandra Martynova, Liudmila Dmitrieva, Anastasia Shcheglova, Yana Stokolesova

Standings in WIM Series 2018 after two events (team, skipper, nationality, points):
1. Team Kattnakken / Women On Water, Trine Palludan / Henriette Koch – DEN, 47
2. Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, Pauline Courtois – FRA, 45
3. Team Bergqvist Match Racing, Johanna Bergqvist – SWE, 40
4. L2 Match Racing Team, Marinella Laaksonen – FIN, 32
5. Team Sköna Vibbisar, Antonia Degerlund – FIN, 24
6. Team Anna, Anna Östling – SWE, 20
7. New Sweden Match Racing Team, Caroline Sylvan / Claire Leroy – SWE / FRA, 16
8. Team BAAM!, Allie Blecher – USA, 16
9. Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team, Margot Vennin – FRA, 14
10. Swiss Women Match Racing Team, Alexa Bezel – SUI, 12
11. NZ Match, Celia Willison – NZL, 12
12. Stockholm Match Racing Team, Sanna Häger – SWE, 10
13. Swedish Women’s Match Racing Team, Sanna Mattsson – SWE, 10
14. ProKaTeam Sailing Team, Ekaterina Kochkina – RUS, 8
15. Team Skogman, Jassi Skogman – FIN, 8
16. APCC Women Sailing Team , Margot Riou – FRA, 6
17. Athena Racing, Octavia Owen – GBR, 5
18. Peregrine Racing, Hanna Ericksson – SWE, 5

Background:
The Women’s International Match Racing Association (WIMRA) was formed in 1996 and is an international association of women sailors whose mission is to expand and strengthen global match racing and promote opportunities for competitive women’s sailing at every level.

WIMRA created the first and only professional sailing series for women in 2013 – the Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series). The WIM Series delivers a global circuit of competition to test the world’s best sailors in a format of round robin and knock-out matches.

2018 WIM Series Schedule
June 25-29: Helsinki Women’s Match – Helsinki, Finland (J/80)
August 6-11: Lysekil Women’s Match – Lysekil, Sweden (Fareast 28r)
August 14-18: Women’s Match Racing World Championship – Ekaterinburg, Russia (Ricochet 747)
October 30-November 3: Swiss International Women’s Match – Ascona, Switzerland (J/70)
November 29-Decenber 2: Carlos Aguilar Match Race – St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (IC 24)

Source: WIM Series