Close Racing at the Second Day of China International Women’s Match Race
The second day of racing at the 2019 China International Women’s Match Race on Dishui Lake in Shanghai showed light breeze and shifty conditions. The race committee, led by French International Race Officer Anne Malledant set up a course close to the shoreline and the spectators on the docks of the Shanghai Sailing Club.
The tricky conditions put high pressure on the teams and the racing showed that good tactical decisions could make a huge difference. The matches were tight with many lead changes in the first flights of the day. After flight 13 Swedish Skipper Johanna Bergqvist came into the dock with a smile on her face, still unbeaten after her 8 matches. She commented: ”It has been a good day for us today in the tricky conditions. The girls have done an amazing job with the tactics and boat handling. And we are really enjoying the racing on the lake!”
French Skipper Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink by Normadiy Elite Team continued to sail with self-confidence, good speed, precise boat handling and excellent tactical calls on the course. With eight wins and no losses, she has already secured her spot into the quarterfinals together with Johanna Bergqvist’s team.
Russian Skipper Ekaterina Chashchina and her Seven Feet Team from Vladivostok found their boat speed and came off the water with five wins today and a total of six wins and five losses in the round robin and can now follow tomorrow’s last three flights of stage one from ashore and see where that score will take them.
For the lower ranked teams it was a new challenge to adapt from yesterday’s breeze to today’s lighter conditions. Local Chinese Skipper Yuting Lu shared her thoughts on her first WIM Series experience after today’s racing: “We enjoyed the racing very much and would like to do it again. The team has learned a lot by racing against the best teams. It was a great experience! We now need to improve our match racing skills and help match racing grow in China.”
Both Yuting Lu and Korean Skipper Eunjin Kim were eliminated from further racing finding themselves in places 11 and 12 as they finished stage one. Despite being knocked out, Kim reflected positively on the event: “It was a long tiring day, but a great experience. It is our second match racing event and our first time in these boats. We appreciate the opportunity to be invited and for having us, we feel grateful. If we get the chance, we look forward to participate in WIM Series again.”
The more experienced local skipper Xiaowen Ni showed their progress and made it into the repechage stage tomorrow. The team had tight races and showed the excitement of the sport to the spectators at the dock cheering for their local heroes.
Tomorrow’s racing starts at 9:30 with the completion of the last three flights in Stage One, with the top four teams advancing straight to the quarter finals. The teams placed 5-10 will battle for the last four spots to the quarterfinals in the repechage round robin.
Results in the 2019 China International Women’s Match Race, the final event of the 2019 WIM Series, after day two of the round-robin (skipper, team name, nationality, wins – losses, points):
Pauline Courtois, Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 8-0, 8, 100%
Johanna Bergqvist, Team Bergqvist Match Racing, SWE, 8-0, 8, 100%
Margot Riou, APCC Women Sailing Team, FRA, 7-1, 7, 88%
Celia Willison, Edge Racing, NZL, 6-2, 6, 75%
Margot Vennin, Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team, FRA, 5-3, 5, 63%
Ekaterina Chashchina, Seven Feet Team, RUS, 6-5, 6, 55%
Lea Richter Vogelius, Team Kattnakken, DEN, 6-5, 6, 55%
Clare Costanzo, Fusion Australia, AUS, 4-4, 4, 50%
Megan Thomson, 2.0 Women’s Racing, NZL, 4-7, 4, 36%
Xiaowen Ni, Team Fareast Ladies, CHN, 2-9, 2, 18%
Eunjin Kim, Team Ladies, KOR, 1-10, 1, 9%
Yuting Lu, Team Joinsailing Ladies, CHN, 0-11, 0, 0%
To see the complete scorecard, please visit www.wimseries.com/results/2019-shanghai-results which will be updated live as racing progresses.