Qualifying continues at WIM Series Lysekil

Lysekil, Sweden (August 8, 2018) – Day two of Lysekil Women’s Match commenced with the 11th flight of the round-robin, and the light and shifting conditions caused some delays for the second event of the Women’s International Match Racing Series. When the wind finally picked up, Danish Henriette Koch emerged as the strongest competitor out on the course to climb to the top of the leaderboard.

In the morning the wind went from non-existent to 20 knots in the matter of minutes. A team that took advantage of the changing conditions, especially in their match against Swiss skipper Alexa Bezel, was Women on Water/Team Kattnakken from Denmark, skippered by Henriette Koch.

“There were many dark clouds and it was difficult to read which of them would impact the conditions, but, we read it well and were able to trim our sails accordingly,” says trimmer Trine Bentzen. “We were extending on every leg of the course, allowing us to focus and sail conservatively to minimize mistakes.”

In their second match of the day against French Pauline Courtois, the Danes took the command directly leading from start to finish.

“It was definitely our most fun match so far in the competition. Pauline was at that point still undefeated and approached the match aggressively. Luckily, we were able to match her style and take a very important victory,” says skipper Henriette Koch.

The only Swedish team to sail before the winds subsided at lunch, delaying the racing, was Sanna Mattsson and her Swedish Women’s Match Racing Team. Her race against Finland’s Marinella Laaksonen had a dramatic start when Mattsson’s jib batten got stuck twisted around her forestay causing her boat to drift toward the cliffs of the famous spectator mountain Släggö. Both crew and boat remained unharmed, but forced Mattson to abandon the race, leaving Laaksonen to sail around the course in solitude.

Later in the afternoon when the racing resumed, the race committee was able to complete three further flights in rain and a strong southerly breeze – excellent conditions for match racing, giving Sanna Mattson a chance for redemption as she won her first match of the competition against British Octavia Owen.

After Koch secured two additional victories, they became the only team who has secured a spot in the quarter finals with their nine victories out of ten sailed matches. The remaining three direct qualifying spots are still up for grabs, as the other teams at the top have completed an uneven number of matches.

Going into tomorrow the wind prognosis looks more stable and the ambition is to complete the round-robin to find out which teams will join the Danish team into the quarter final.

Teams are racing the Fareast 28r from August 6 to 11.

Day Two Standings
1. Henriette Koch, Women On Water / Team Kattnakken, DEN, 9-1
2. Pauline Courtois, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 7-1
3. Anna Östling, Team Anna, SWE, 4-1
4. Johanna Bergqvist, Team Bergqvist Match Racing, SWE, 4-1
5. Claire Leroy, New Sweden Match Racing Team, FRA, 5-2
6. Marinella Laaksonen , L2 Match Racing Team, FIN, 5-3
7. Alexa Bezel, Swiss Women Match Racing Team, SUI, 4-4
8. Margot Vennin, Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 3-7
9. Ekaterina Kochkina, ProKaTeam Sailing Team, RUS, 2-5
10. Antonia Degerlund, Team Sköna Vibbisar, FIN, 1-4
11. Sanna Mattsson, Swedish Women’s Match Racing Team, SWE, 1-9
12. Octavia Owen, Athena Racing, GBR, 0-7

WIM Series – Event details – Facebook

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