Top four advance at Women’s Match Racing World Championship

Helsinki, Finland (June 20, 2017) – Before thunderstorms abruptly ended the racing, there were some exciting matches in the Quarter-Finals of the 2017 Women’s Match Racing World Championship. The results went “according to form” as the top four from the round robin stage came out on top in each of their pairs.

Renée Groeneveld (NED) and her Dutch Match Racing Team met local sailor Marinella Laaksonen (FIN) and her L2 Match Racing Team in the first Quarter-Final match. “We had really good speed and crew work today,” said Groeneveld, who won 3-0. “With the puffy breeze this morning it was really important to be in the strong winds and we did a really good job with that.”

Defending Champion, Anna Östling (SWE), had a good feeling about today’s races against the second Finnish team in the Quarter-Finals, Mikaela Fors (FIN) and her Pen & Hammer Sailing Team, which Team Anna won 3-0: “We are very happy with our day,” said Östling. “We had some fun, tight races. We misjudged the timing on the first start and the light and choppy conditions gave Mikaela an opportunity to pass, but it was a fun race. After that, we were very happy with our starts.”

In the third pair of the Quarter-Finals, Trine Palludan (DEN) and her Team Experience used some of their years of experience to fight off a very competitive Pauline Courtois (FRA) and her Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, winning 3 – 1. The starts were very exciting with lots of cat and mouse activity as the teams fought for the favoured right hand side of the race course.

“We had very good speed and our spinnaker handling was very good, so we could extend on all of the downwind legs,” noted Palludan. “We were able to come from behind with our better speed and extend enough to get rid of our penalty and still lead.”

When the final pair hit the water for their matches, the weather had changed and the sun shown brightly and the breeze increased to a steady fifteen knots. Round robin winner, Lucy Macgregor (GBR), earned the right to choose her opponent and chose Caroline Sylvan (SWE) who finished eighth in the round robin. Macgregor praised her team: “The girls are doing a great job and we’ve had really good starts which allow us to get ahead and stay ahead.”

After the Quarter-Finals were completed, the four Semi-Final skippers came ashore to do the draw for the next stage. Macgregor again earned the right to choose her opponent and selected Östling to the surprise of some. When asked about Macgregor’s choice, Östling responded: “I didn’t see it coming. Being chosen definitely lights something inside of us. Super focused. Look forward to a good semi. We didn’t perform our best in the round robin against Lucy, so looking forward to tomorrow. We know we can do better. We’re super focused.”

The teams went to their boats and joined the race committee on the water to begin the Semi-Final matches. However, before they could start, the weather took an abrupt turn and thunderstorms developed in the surrounding area prompting the organizers to call an end to the day and send everyone ashore.

The racing concludes tomorrow with the semi-finals and final.

Quarter-Final Results
Lucy Macgregor, GBR – Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 3 – 0
Trine Palludan, DEN – Pauline Courtois, FRA, 3 – 1
Anna Östling, SWE – Mikaela Fors, FIN, 3 – 0
Renée Groeneveld, NED – Marinella Laaksonen, FIN, 3 – 0

Round Robin Results
1. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 13 – 0, 100%
2. Trine Palludan, DEN, 10 – 3, 77%
3. Anna Östling, SWE, 9 – 4, 69%
4. Renée Groeneveld, NED, 9 – 4, 69%
5. Marinella Laaksonen, FIN, 8 – 5, 62%
6. Mikaela Fors, FIN, 7 – 6, 54%
7. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 7 – 6, 54%
8. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 7 – 6, 54%
—————-
9. Johanna Bergqvist, SWE, 6 – 7, 46%
10. Margot Riou, FRA, 5 – 8, 38%
11. Martina Karlemo, FIN, 4 – 9, 31%
12. Antonia Degerlund, FIN, 4 – 9, 31%
13. Sanna Häger, SWE, 2 – 11, 15%
14. Ekaterina Kochkina, RUS, 0 – 13, 0%

Event details – Results – Facebook

Format: The racing begins June 17 with the round-robin stage on the waters off Hernesaari (Ärtholmen) in Helsinki Harbour, to be followed by quarterfinals, semi finals and then the conclusion with the final on the longest day of the year, Wednesday June 21.

Teams Competing in the 2017 Women’s Match Racing World Championship
(Team name, Skipper, Crew – World Sailing Ranking – Nationality):

Team Anna – Anna Östling, Karin Almquist, Marie Berg, Linnea Wennergren, Annika Carlunger – 1 – SWE
Dutch Match Racing Team – Renée Groeneveld, Marcelien Bos-De Koning, Lobke Berkhout, Sanne Akkerman, Mijke Lievens – 4 – NED
New Sweden Match Racing Team – Caroline Sylvan, Louise Kruuse af Verchou, Klara Ekdahl, Frida Langenius, Malin Holmberg – 5 – SWE
Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team – Pauline Courtois, Maëlenn LeMaître, Camille Hautefaye, Louise Acker, Sophonie Affagard – 7 – FRA
L2 Match Racing Team – Marinella Laaksonen, Marianna Kontulainen, Daniela Rönnberg, Anna Savisaari, Eva-Lotta Hokkonen – 8 – FIN
Stockholm Match Racing Team – Sanna Häger, Karin Bäckström, Sara Edholm, Klara Häger, Karin Flinkenberg – 12 – SWE
Team Sköna Vibbisar – Antonia Degerlund, Carla Westersund, Janina Hallberg, Disa Långström, Lisa Gerkman – 15 – FIN
Team Bergqvist Match Racing – Johanna Bergqvist, Isabelle Bergqvist, Johanna Thiringer, Ellinor Hansson, Fanny Edgren – 16 – SWE
Team Experience – Trine Palludan, Lea Richter Vogelius, Vivi Lund Møller, Anne Sofie Munk-Hansen, Joan Vestergård Hansen – 17 – DEN
Team Karlemo – Martina Karlemo, Susanna Kukkonen, Kirsi Mikkonen, Erica Bäckström, Natasha Rubanin-Hilde’n – 27 – FIN
Team Mac – Lucy Macgregor, Silja Frost, Rosie Watkins, Imogen Stanley, Charlotte Lawrence – 30 – GBR
SailWay Match Racing Team – Ekaterina Kochkina, Olga Shoykhet, Anastasia Rodomakina, Daria Sutiagina, Antonina Tikhonova – 39 – RUS
Pen & Hammer Sailing Team – Mikaela Fors, Livia Väresmaa, Anette Eriksson, Minna Barner-Rasmussen, Crie Therman-Londén – 75 – FIN
APCC Women’s Sailing Team – Margot Riou, Clémentine Hilaire, Laura Simon, Alizée Desbordes, Tiphaine Ragueneau – 95 – FRA

Source: WIM Series Media