NEWSROUND
Laurie Jury in action during the ISAF Nations Cup 2011 on Lake Michigan. Photo: Chris Gribble
ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final 2011 New Zealand and France took the Open and Women’s Divisions of the 2011 ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final in mid-September. It was Claire Leroy’s third title win in succession in the Women’s Division, while for Kiwi Laurie Jury it was his first Grade One victory. The event was held in some testing conditions of big waves and breeze at the Sheboygan venue on Lake Michigan – to the surprise of Claire Leroy. “We expected the lake to be light air, not like an ocean,” she said. “We learned a lot about sailing the boat in heavy weather.” Sailed in Elliot 6m, it should have provided some good practice for the potential conditions in Weymouth Bay at next year’s Olympics.
Chicago Match Cup Lake Michigan was home to another Grade One event in September; the Chicago Match Cup at the Chicago Match Race Center. It attracted some of the world’s top and up and coming match racers, including New Zealand’s WMRT Card Holder, Phil Robertson and his fellow Kiwi, Reuben Corbett, currently holding a top ten ISAF ranking; while Pierre- Antoine Morvan, who is ranked 6th in the world, attended from France. Sailing legend Dave Perry was also competing, as was Ian Williams’ WMRT tactician and current Etchells World Champion, Bill Hardesty. But it was Australia’s Keith Swinton who prevailed, winning 3-1 in a final against Morvan. Phil Robertson took third in the Petite Final with a 2-0 victory over Portugal’s Alvaro Marinho.
Tim Bishop from Peter Wickwire’s regatta winning crew eyeballs the gap between the race committee. Photo: RCYC
Canadian Match Racing Championships The Canadian Match Racing Championships concluded in Toronto in sunshine and great, breezy conditions – and with a clean sweep of the top three for the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. It was a great endorsement for their grass roots training programme, with Peter Wickwire taking the win, and two women’s teams, led by Jen Provan and Sharon Ferris- Choat, rounding out the podium in second and third respectively.
MATCH RACING 360° | NOVEMBER 2011
RYA National Match Racing Championships Qualifier The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) held their first qualifier for the 2011 RYA National Match Racing Championships over the weekend of the 22-23rd October. It was Sam Pearson and TeamWightMatch that departed victorious from the Queen Mary Sailing Club, and with a place booked in the grand final in late-November. The event opened on the Saturday with a perfect, steady eight knots, before increasing to a more challenging 16 to 18 knots for the following day. Mason Woodworth (USA) is a former RYA National Match Racing Championship finalist but he finished in second, with Pearson’s defeated semi- final opponent, Ali Hall (GBR) third. Afterwards, Pearson said, “Our goal was to reach the finals and to use the weekend as a chance to regroup and train as TeamWightMatch following our bowman Dan’s absence from the Bermuda (Argo Group) Gold Cup. It’s great to win but our main aim was getting into the finals so we are looking ahead to that now.”
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