Rolex 2000 ISAF Womens World Match Racing - Day 5

Reigning world champion Dorte Jensen from Denmark and Marie Bjorling from Sweden are yet to drop a match in the quarter-final round robin of the Rolex 2000 ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championship in St Petersburg, Florida.

Bjorling's progress through the rounds is particularly remarkable because two weeks ago she did not even know she was coming to the event. "Another Swedish team pulled out with crew injuries, so we have been hurrying to get ourselves mentally prepared," she said.

Five-times Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, Betsy Alison of the USA, lies in third place, with three wins to her name. Behind her, the other five remaining teams all sit on either one or two race wins, so there is everything to play for when the last heats are raced tomorrow morning. Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson has two wins and remains confident about her chances of moving through to the semi-finals. Also on two wins is Hannah Swett of the USA, crewed by current Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Dawn Riley.

Biggest shock is Klaartje Zuiderbaan's apparent loss of form. The No. 3 seed from the Netherlands scored just one win from five, but the scoreline belies the closeness of the racing. Twice she found herself in a tight gybing duel down to the finish, first with Katie Spithill of Australia and later with Marie Bjorling. Both times she lost by less than two seconds.

The European match race champion was very frank about her narrow losses. "We just weren't good enough," she smiled. "We have some improvements to make to our downwind tactics."

But no one is out of this contest yet. As long as all eight have a mathematical chance of victory, they will continue to grasp every opportunity to the end. The quarter-finals and semi-finals should be decided by the end of tomorrow, with the finals taking place on Saturday, 2nd December.

In the consolation quarter-final to decide overall positions from 9th to 16th, Cristiana Monina of Italy and Christine Briand of France are joint leaders with five wins out of six heats.

Results after Day Five

Round Robin 4A - Quarter-finals

Skipper             Country    Races won
Dorte Jensen        Denmark       5
Marie Bjorling      Sweden        5
Betsy Alison        USA           3
Shirley Robertson   Great Britain 2
Hannah Swett        USA           2
Paula Lewin         Bermuda       1
Katie Spithill      Australia     1
Klaartje Zuiderbaan Netherlands   1


Round Robin 4B - Quarter-finals

Skipper             Country    Races won
Christine Briand    France        5
Cristiana Monina    Italy         5
Cordelia Eglin      Great Britain 4
Malin Milbourn      Sweden        4
Amy Waring          New Zealand   3
Dru Slattery        USA           2
Carolijn Brouwer    Netherlands   1
Gwen Joulie         France        0

More Information:

• St Petersburg Yacht Club Website