Rolex 2000 ISAF Womens World Match Racing Day 2
by Strategic Events 28 Nov 2000 08:17 GMT
Rolex 2000 ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championship
BJORLING AND SWETT SET THE PACE IN ST PETERSBURG
After getting a last-minute invitation to the Rolex 2000 ISAF Women's World
Match Racing Championship two weeks ago, Marie Bjorling more than justified
her place with five straight wins on the racecourse off St Petersburg
today.
"We have had a good season, so we knew we could sail well today," she said.
"It's good to show the other teams what we can do."
Hannah Swett and her American team also won all their heats in the fickle
Florida breeze, which gave the race organisers a headache today. America's
Cup sailor Dawn Riley, who trims for Swett, said they won three out of
their four starts. "We lost one of the starts, but our crew were reading
the wind real well today," she said.
Elsewhere, Amy Waring of New Zealand used all her cunning and skill to land
a penalty on Marie Klok of Denmark as she caught her out on the downwind
leg to the finish. Waring was still coming upwind, some way behind the
Danish and attacked when they least expected. The Danish chose to take
their penalty just before the finish, but they misjudged the strength of
the current and let the Kiwis come through from behind and pip them on the
line. Amy finished up the day with three wins.
Former World Sailor of the Year, Carolijn Brouwer of the Netherlands
surprised even herself with her performance today. With only five practice
weekends of match racing under her belt, this was her first day of
championship match racing in her career. "We came here with the goal of
winning just one race in the whole regatta," she said. So after winning
three races today, she was elated with her performance. "I'm just glad they
wound up the racing when they did because five races today was quite enough
for me. The wind was getting lighter and I don't think our boathandling
would have been too good in those conditions."
Malin Millbourn was a little disappointed with her result of two wins and
two losses. Kim Kulstad, the mainsail trimmer for the Swedish team,
admitted that a basic error saw them hand victory to Cristiana Monina of
Italy. "We were leading them up the beat, and when they tacked away we
thought we were safe to let them go," said Kulstad. "But they pulled past
us and won the race." The Swedish team, though, was happy with their
prestart work and believed they could qualify in tomorrow's crucial heats.
Karen Johnson of Canada is another skipper sitting on two wins and two
losses, so she is hoping to up her game and make it through to the next
round. There, she will face the top eight teams who have yet to take part,
as they get a bye through the first round robin.
Paula Lewin of Bermuda went out to watch the racing and size up the
competition, while others like Britain's Shirley Robertson chose to relax
and stay ashore, having already put in some quality training with a
chartered Sonar for the previous week.
The Championship concludes with the finals, being held on Saturday 2nd
December.
Results after Day One
Position Skipper Country Races Races Won
1= Marie Bjorling Sweden 5 5
2= Carolijn Brouwer Netherlands 5 3
2= Marie Klok Denmark 5 3
2= Katie Spithill Australia 5 3
2= Amy Waring New Zealand 5 3
6 Maria Coleman Ireland 5 2
7 Marie Castanedo Spain 5 1
8 Cristina Pereira Portugal 5 0
Round Robin 1B
1= Hannah Swett USA 4 4
2= Catharina Gylling Finland 4 3
2= Cristiana Monina Italy 4 3
4= Karen Johnson Canada 4 2
4= Malin Millbourn Sweden 4 2
6= Gwen Joulie France 4 1
6= Nadine Stegenwalner Germany 4 1
8 Catherine Ranke Norway 4 0
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(Top four only in each group to advance to Round 2)
Top eight seeded skippers yet to compete:
Seed Skipper Country
1 Dorte Jensen Denmark
2 Betsy Alison USA
3 Klaartje Zuiderbaan Netherlands
4 Cordelia Eglin Great Britain
5 Paula Lewin Bermuda
6 Shirley Robertson Great Britain
7 Christine Briand France
8 Dru Slattery USA
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