EUROSAF Qualifier (Women): Audi HSS Match Race Center, Helsinki

Katie Spithill (AUS), Wang Ru (CHN) and Rita Goncalves (POR) qualified to EUROSAF

Women´s Match Race EC-qualifier HSS FIN 2011 from MAXsport.tv on Vimeo

by Outi Merilä

Day One

The Open European Championships Qualification Event in Women’s Match Race started in sunny and windy conditions in Helsinki today. Six races had been sailed when the race committee was forced to postpone the racing due to the strong breeze blowing from 28 up to 34 knots.

Team China and Audi Match Race Team Silja Lehtinen (FIN) had a good start for the event by winning both of their races today.

The race will continue tomorrow. Strong breeze has been estimated also for tomorrow, but according to the forecast racing may continue latest during the afternoon.

The participants of this qualifier come from eight different countries: Silja Lehtinen (Finland), Katie Spithill (Australia), Stephanie Hazard (New Zealand), Vesna Dekleva Paoli (Slovenia), Rita Goncalves (Portugal), Ru Wang (China), Irina Lotsmanova (Russia) and Piret Pomerants (Estonia).

Three best non-qualified participants of this event will get an entry for the Open European Championships that will be sailed 29 June – 3 July 2011 in Helsinki.

Day Two

Another breezy day kept the crews on the shore most of the day in The Open European Championships Qualification Event in Women’s Match Race in Helsinki, Finland. Wind was blowing 28-32 knots until the late afternoon. Teams got out first at 4 p.m. Audi Match Race Team Silja Lehtinen had to give up racing for the rest of the weekend as the whole team has been suffering from a flu.

Team China continued their impressive performance today by winning all of their matches. The most exciting moments were experienced on the finishing line as Ru Wang and Katie Spithill crossed the line side by side, Ru winning against the 7th best-ranked female MR skipper in the world.

Three best non-qualified participants of this event will get an entry for the Open European Championships that will be sailed 29 June – 3 July 2011 in Helsinki. Silja Lehtinen (FIN) and Ekaterina Skudina (RUS) have already qualified.

Round Robin Results to date:

Wang Ru (CHN) 7-0
Katie Spithill (AUS) 4-1
Steph Hazard (NZL) 3-2
Irina Lotsmanova (RUS) 3-3
Silja Lehtinen (FIN) 2-5
Vesna Dekleva Paoli (SLO) 2-4
Piret Pomerants (EST) 1-3
Rita Goncalves (POR) 0-6

Day Three

On Sunday the wind had decreased and a full day of racing was scheduled. Team Skudina from Russia with replacement helm Irina Lotsmanova had to pull out because of a leg injury.

Australian Team Spithill took first place in the event by winning all the matches in the second round robin in medium winds and qualified for the Europeans.

Team China did not do as well as in the really strong winds the previous days. They had won all their previous races. The last day they easily secured their place in the European Championship.

Portuguese team with Rita Goncalves made a perfect come back. After two days the team did only have one point from a walk over match. The last day they won 8 matches out of 9. They won over fourth placed Stephanie Hazard from New Zealand on a tie breaker. This secured them the third and last qualifying place for the Europeans.

Note from SailRaceWin: Steph Hazard's KoruMatch (NZL) team did not intend to compete at the Europeans in 2011 in any case.

Results

1 Katie Spithill 13 p Qualified to EC
2 Wang Ru 11 p Qualified to EC
3 Rita Goncalves 8 p Qualified to EC
4 Stephanie Hazard 8 p
5 Vesna Dekleva Paoli 7 p
6 Piret Pomerants 3 p
7 Irina Lotsmanova 3 p
8 Silja Lehtinen 2 p

The Entries for the EUROSAF Match Racing – Women’s European Championships 2011 June 30th – July 3rd will be:

RUS Ekaterina Skudina
FIN Silja Lehtinen
AUS Katie Spithill
POR Rita Goncalves
CHN Wang Ru
FRA Not informed yet
GBR Not informed yet
NED Not informed yet
DEN Not informed yet
GER Not informed yet
ESP Not informed yet
ITA Not informed yet

Audi HSS Match Race Center