Rolex 2000 ISAF Womens World Match Racing - Overall

Dorte Jensen of Denmark retained her crown after a lack of wind forced the cancellation of the finals of the Rolex 2000 ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championship today in St Petersburg, Florida.

The four semi-finalists cast off in their Sonar keelboats at dawn to capture the best of the morning breeze, but the wind never climbed higher than 4 knots. Jensen dominated her third heat against Britain's Shirley Robertson after getting the better of the start, so that was the defending champion safely through.

Then it was Sweden's Marie Bjorling turn to win the pre-start and lead America's Betsy Alison off the line by some way, and stretch to an unassailable lead by the final run downwind.

So the stage was set for an all-Scandinavian final, with the defending champion pitted against the underdogs who just three weeks ago were handed a last-minute entry to the event after the No.1 Swedish team pulled out with crew injuries.

But the wind, which has been light and fickle all week, again refused to co-operate and the race committee sent the fleet ashore to wait until 4pm in the hope of picking up some late afternoon breeze. When that failed to materialise, the championship was handed to Jensen because she had won the quarter-final round robin ahead of Bjorling in second. Jensen and her team celebrated with the traditional champagne celebration. They threw their arms around each other in joy and relief and the two finalist teams congratulated each other.

Jensen admitted she had been waiting tensely all afternoon for the final decision. "It would have been better to settle the championship on the water," she said, "but this afternoon was a very nervous time for me. Now that I've won it feels fantastic, just as good as when we won last year."

Despite Bjorling's underdog status, she felt she had the skills to go all the way to the top, and was disappointed not to be able to prove her point. "We had great teamwork and good speed this week, and I had a few tricks up my sleeve for the pre-start if the wind had been a bit stronger," she commented. "So I am disappointed but I am also really pleased with our result this week."

Shirley Robertson also was sad not to be able to fight it out with Betsy Alison in the petit-final for third place overall. "Considering our lack of match racing this year, we sailed really well and I think we could have beaten Betsy if we had been given the chance."

Robertson's bid to attack Jensen downwind in the last semi-final heat was ruined when the head of the spinnaker parted company from the snapshackle. It lost them valuable time, and when they turned downwind for the final run, it meant bowman Sam Davies had to drop the jib and re-attach the spinnaker head to the jib halyard. It was done slickly enough, but Jensen punished the smallest of errors, let alone a bigger mishap like this one.

But Robertson and her team were the first to laugh about their misfortune, feeling they had sailed as well as they could and happy to see a sailor of Jensen's calibre progress to the final.

Betsy Alison nearly planted a penalty on Bjorling in their concluding semi-final heat, and it took the umpires some time before they raised the green flag that let Bjorling off the hook. That was the last opportunity Alison had to take the fight to the Swedes, who sailed off to an easy victory.

In the play-offs for 5th and 6th overall, Klaartje Zuiderbaan of the Netherlands beat the USA's Hannah Swett, and Katie Spithill of Australia defeated Paula Lewin of Bermuda in the race for 7th and 8th. This is a game of experience, so the fact that Spithill has progressed so far at just 18 years old suggests she could be a major star of the future.

In the evening, Bill Sandberg of Rolex Watch USA presented Jensen with a Stainless Steel Lady Datejust Rolex timepiece for winning the world title, and she has promised to return next year in a bid to complete a hatrick of world championships.

Results after Day Seven:

Semi-finals (best of three)

Skipper, Country (ranking from quarter-final)

Dorte Jensen, Denmark (1) v. Shirley Robertson, Great Britain (4): 2-1
Marie Bjorling, Sweden (2) v. Betsy Alison, USA (3): 2-1

Final positions overall

   Skipper             Country
 1 Dorte Jensen        Denmark
 2 Marie Bjorling      Sweden
 3 Betsy Alison        USA
 4 Shirley Robertson   Great Britain
 5 Klaartje Zuiderbaan Netherlands
 6 Hannah Swett        USA
 7 Katie Spithill      Australia
 8 Paula Lewin         Bermuda
 9 Christine Briand    France
10, Cristiana Monina   Italy
11, Cordelia Eglin     Great Britain
12, Malin Millbourn    Sweden
13, Carolijn Brouwer   Netherlands
14, Amy Waring         New Zealand
15, Dru Slattery       USA
16, Gwen Joulie        France

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