2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships

[mpowlison]

November 28, 2011

In just five days' time the sailing world will converge upon Perth, Australia for the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships.

Over 1,100 sailors from 78 nations will compete in the ten Olympic events as they look to claim World Championship glory and qualify their nations for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The Women's Match Racing competition will kick the competition off on 3 December before the Men's RS:X, Laser, Women's 470 and 49er round off the competition on 18 December.

During the 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup no Women's Match Race crew stamped their authority on the opposition as six separate winners came out of the six World Cup regattas that featured Women's Match Racing. Nonetheless, ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) took the overall title after finishing on the podium at four World Cup regattas. In fact the American has finished on the podium at 11 of 13 regattas sailed in during 2011 and will be one of the front runners in Perth.

Tunnicliffe said, "We would love to come away with the gold medal. Our goal is to be on the podium in Perth. But what's cool about match racing is that anybody who is sailing well that day can come out on top. Even if you're top in the world and have a bad day you're not going to make. We are looking forward to the intensity of the event and sailing against all the competitors.

"I've sailed Lasers in Perth and absolutely love it. I love the wind, the temperature and they're going to do a fantastic job."

View an interview with the American Match Racer here.

Finland's Silja Lehtinen will be one to watch out for in Perth and proved she has what it takes to win major competitions following her gold medal at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, the Olympic Test event, in August.

The ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship defending champion Lucy Macgregor (GBR) is back to defend the title she claimed at Newport, Rhode Island, USA last year. The World #3 comes into the regatta without the pressure of having to qualify Great Britain for the Olympic Games after she was awarded the quota place in September.

Twenty seven crews have been confirmed, and competition will be fast and fierce with nine of the top ten Women's Match Racers registered. The final champion will be crowned on Friday 16 December.

The Laser Radial, Men's 470, Women's RS:X and Finn will be the first fleets to set sail on Monday 5 December with the Medal Races scheduled for 11 December.

Marit Bouwmeester (NED) and Evi Van Acker (BEL) have dominated the Laser Radial in recent months with the former comprehensively sealing gold at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta and moving to the World #1 spot. But with over 100 entries in the Laser Radial the opening stages will be crucial.

China's Lijia Xu took the first ISAF Sailing World Cup Regatta at Sail Melbourne in her preparations for Perth. The Chinese sailor and World #60 finished ahead of an experienced field that featured World #6 Krystal Weir (AUS), World #7 Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) and Annalise Murphy (IRL). All will sail in Perth to stake their claim for World Championship glory and an Olympic spot.

The Finn class have 77 expected entries from 33 nations, with the strongest and deepest fleet assembled in recent years. In all there are 22 former Olympians, four Olympic medallists and four former world champions.

During the 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup the Finn was dominated by British sailors. At all seven regattas either Giles Scott, Ben Ainslie or Ed Wright topped the podium. In the end it was Ainslie who came out on top, claiming the title by nine points ahead of Wright.

The trio will all be in contention throughout the regatta however the likes of Zach Railey (USA), Rafa Trujillo (ESP), Dan Slater (NZL), Jonathan Lobert (FRA) and Ivan Kjlakovic Gaspic (CRO) are all capable of causing an upset and will feature heavily during the regatta.

Sixty seven entries have been confirmed in the Women's RS:X and 19 of the world's top 20 will sail in Perth. Among the entries is 2010 Women's RS:X World Champion, 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion and current World #1 Blanca Manchon (ESP), the experienced Jessica Crisp (AUS) and four time Olympic gold medallist Alessandra Sensini (ITA). Add in the on form Marina Alabau (ESP), Zofia Klepacka (POL) and Bryony Shaw (GBR) and the scene is set for a gripping competition.

Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) have prepared for Perth 2011 in fine fashion. The World #1 470 duo finished second at Sail Melbourne but at the 470 Australian Nationals in Perth they sent out a message to the strong field by blowing all the competition away to win by 17 points.

The Australians took the 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup title ahead of Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis (GRE) and Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos (FRA). The World #2 Greek pair will be worth a watch but the Australians main rivalry could come from the French pair. Leboucher and Garos have had the better of the Australians in 2011 finishing ahead of them in three World Cup regattas and winning the Olympic Test Event. Belcher and Page will want to stamp their authority on the chasing pack by taking the World Championship.

The Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships website will bring you results, tracking, live updates and all the latest news both on and off the water.

More than 25 international and national broadcasters have signed up to take the television coverage of Perth 2011 and viewers will also be able to watch live coverage of all ten Medal Races on the Perth 2011 website as well as daily highlights on www.sailing.org/TV.

[MLovett]

Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships Opened By ISAF President Goran Petersson

Friday 2 December 2011

ISAF President Göran Petersson opened the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships earlier in Perth, Western Australia.

Seventy nine nations were represented at the Opening Ceremony with over 1,100 sailors set to compete for world championship glory in the ten Olympic events on show in Fremantle.

The Women’s Match Racers hit the water on 3 December followed by the Women’s RS:X, Laser Radial, Men’s 470 and Finn fleet racing on 5 December. Their Medal Races take place on 11 December, the same day the Star fleet commence. The Stars complete their racing on 17 December. The Women’s 470, 49er, Laser and Men’s RS:X start racing on 12 December and close the Championships on 18 December.

Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) come into the regatta in fine form having won gold at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, Olympic Test Event and moving to the top of the 49er ISAF World Rankings. The Australians took the title by count back after the Medal Race with the 2010 49er World Champions and ISAF Rolex World Sailors of the Year Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez (ESP) settling for silver.

With Martinez and Fernandez on Volvo Ocean Race duty the Australians will be one of the favourites. But competition in Perth will be fast, competitive and combative as the 49er sailors come head-to-head with the Fremantle Doctor and winds between 18-25 knots.

Austria’s Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch will look to upset the form book in Perth and despite dropping down the rankings to #2 in the world they know what it takes to win after placing on the podium at three of five 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup Regattas.

Outteridge and Jensen’s training partners Will and Sam Phillips (AUS) and Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) will be in contention throughout the regatta. The two teams finished behind the World #1 duo at the first 2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Regatta, Sail Melbourne and will be out to cause a stir.

The Star class features some of the most experienced sailors in the world with seven world champions amongst the fleet.

Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) have shown the Star sailors that they are the team to beat following their 20 point victory at the Olympic Test Event and four regatta wins in the 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup.

Star European Championship winners Diego Negri and Enrico Voltolini (ITA) will be hotly fancied as will Great Britain’s Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson and with world champions in abundance it’ll be a tense week for the 40 registered boats.

All of the world’s top ten Men’s RS:X sailors will be in Perth fighting for World Championship glory. Amongst them is Nick Dempsey (GBR) and Dorian van Rijsselberge (NED). The sailors enjoyed a remarkable battle during the Olympic Test Event that saw the overall lead change hands on multiple occasions. The Medal Race was full of drama and excitement but the Dutchman came out with the gold medal.

The two will renew their rivalry in Perth and it will be a contest to keep an eye on but World #1 and defending RS:X World Champion Piotr Myszka (POL), Beijing 2008 RS:X gold medallist Tom Ashley (NZL) and the rest of the fleet will all be fighting for top spot.

Great Britain’s Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR) head into their first Women’s 470 World Championships together and after they were awarded a quota spot for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition the pressure on them is off. The pair sailed an excellent regatta at the Olympic Test Event finishing second to Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata (JPN). Both teams will be competing for top honours alongside World #1 Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Farrar-Kinsolving (USA), local girls Belinda Stowell and Elise Rechichi (AUS), 2010 World Champions Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout and a string of other experienced and up and coming Women’s 470 sailors.

With 140 registered boats, the Laser is the largest fleet at the Perth 2011 ISAF Worlds. Tom Slingsby (AUS) and Paul Goodison (GBR) are two of the favourites but with such a large fleet anything is possible on any given day.

The Women’s Match Racing competition opens the regatta on 3 December at 10:00 local time.

The Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships website will bring you results, tracking, live updates and all the latest news both on and off the water.

More than 25 international and national broadcasters have signed up to take the television coverage of Perth 2011 and viewers will also be able to watch live coverage of all ten Medal Races on the Perth 2011 website as well as daily highlights on www.sailing.org/TV.

[shauna@perthwrite.com]

A mention for US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics sailors Stu McNay and Graham Biehl. They took 1st at Sail Melbourne this last month (Nov 2011) and have been in Perth training. Stu and Graham are going to have close racing with Matthew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) taking 1st at the 2011 Zhik Australian 470 Championships a couple weeks later in Fremantle (Perth).

US Sailing has put good effort into their coaching and made Romain Bonnaud a full-time 470 coach in September. Coach Romain - a French 470 Champion, left racing in 2007 and has been traveling with the US Teams for over a year. He made a big decision to leave his home in France and move to Florida for the US Sailing position. His coaching efforts are paying off.

Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar, USSTAG 470 Women's crew, mentioned the boats are taking a beating with all this travel. Erin Maxwell and Isabell Kinsolving Farrar's boat had multiple broken ribs in the bow by the time it reached Perth a couple weeks ago. Isabelle commented that the trip from Weymouth Portland to Melbourne to heavy-air sailing in Perth was more than enough for the boat. The top USSTAG Women's 470 team had to drop out of day 3 and 4 of the 2011 Zhik 470 Australian Championships to get their boat repaired.

- Shauna McGee Kinney in Perth

[MLovett]

Thanks for the 470 updates, Shauna. I also enjoyed your recent interview with Anna Tunnicliffe. Keep up the good work, and keep us posted!

Mike

[MLovett]

Transitioning From America's Cup To Perth 2011

Sunday 4 December 2011

In 1987 the America’s Cup hit the shores of Fremantle, Western Australia where the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships currently host the 1,200 sailors from 79 nations.

And a little bit of the America’s Cup is brought to Fremantle at Perth 2011 as sailors such as Ed Wright (GBR), Tom Slingsby (AUS) and Iain Percy (GBR), who have recently been campaigning in the America’s Cup World Series, continue their Olympic and World Championship aspirations in their respective classes.

Unlike Wright, Slingsby and Percy, Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) is at the helm of Green Comm Racing. But like the three sailors he has a vast knowledge of Olympic Sailing after claiming a bronze medal at Athens 2004 and silver at Beijing 2008 in the Laser. And now Zbogar has taken a break from his America’s Cup duty and is back in dinghies, this time the Finn, for Perth 2011.

On the switch Zbogar said, “I would lie if I said the transition back into the Finn from the AC45 was easy as they’re completely different boats. It is completely different sailing.

“In the Finn I’ve sailed for two years, so I am used to it and to have a few days off is not a big change, but sailing in the America’s Cup, I have to practice a little bit more. The multihull is a bit different.”

Whilst Zbogar is yet to place on the podium at an ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta, the progression he has made has been noticeable having moved from World #102 to World #6 in just 19 months. But with his last competitive Finn event at the Open Europeans it’ll be interesting to see how he moves back to the competitive nature of Olympic Sailing.

Zbogar faces tough competition from compatriot Gasper Vincec. The former World #1 has sailed at two Olympic Games and with both sailors with bags of experience, Zbogar knows that even if he qualifies Slovenia for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition, he may not necessarily go, therefore he has a choice on his hands. “I have to improve in both but the Finn is more important, especially for this event,” said Zbogar. “Afterwards I will see how it goes and at the end of the year I have to choose America’s Cup or Finn.

“I am very light and the main problem in the two boats is that in the America’s Cup you only have to be around 88kgs and with the Finn you should be around 100kg, especially for this event which will be very windy. I am one of the lightest sailors in the Finn. I will try to do my best but another winter will be a big help and another step forward in the Finn class.”

With Zbogar, Slingsby, Wright and Percy in attendance they need to look no further than Perth 2011 Event Director John Longley to hear stories of America’s Cup success. Longley was part of the Australia II crew that won the America’s Cup in 1983. The cup was brought to Fremantle in 1987 where Stars and Stripes 87 defeated Kookaburra II 4-0 to take the trophy back to American waters.

After a lengthy delay the eyes of the sailing world are back on Perth and Fremantle, and Longley is proud to be hosting an event of the ISAF Worlds size and stature, “It’s so important because it is ten championships in one and at the same time the athletes earn the right to go to the Olympics. To bring an event of this size to one of the great places in the world to sail a boat is very special.

“1987 was an extraordinary time in Fremantle with the whole world focused on Fremantle and what is fantastic about Perth 2011 is that we have a different section of sailing.”