– can take early WIM Series title, but will have to work hard for it

Just a month after her World Championship gold in Sheboygan, USA, Swedish skipper Anna Östling is now travelling eastwards, aiming to tick her next goal box for this year. The Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race, sailed in the South Korean city next week, is a great opportunity for Östling & Co. to conquer the 2016 Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) in advance of the last event:
“There are two events to go this year, and we know our chances are very good, but we’ll certainly have to work hard to make it” she comments.

Östling and her crew have had nothing but a marvellous year so far. This summer they began the WIM Series season with a victory in the inaugural Helsinki Women’s Match in Finland, defeating Pauline Courtois of France in the final. In August they broke five years of Danish dominance in Lysekil Women’s Match, as titleholder Camilla Ulrikkeholm Klinkby finished fourth, to let Östling rule her home waters over American Stephanie Roble in their photo finish deciding match:
“To win in front of the cheering crowds in Lysekil has been our dream since we began sailing. We’ve been so close before, but this year we finally nailed it. It was awesome” she states.

The Swedes’ winning streak continued at the Buddy Melges Challenge in Sheboygan, USA, a month ago. In exciting final matches against Anne-Claire Le Berre of France, Östling managed to get not only her third consecutive WIM Series victory. As the event was also elevated in status and name to become the World Championship, Team Anna went home with gold medals around their necks:
“We raced 29 matches in just three days, as the weather delayed the program. I don’t think I’ve ever been so exhausted after a regatta. To be honest, we haven’t really recovered until now, when it’s time to cast off for next week’s event in Korea” she smiles.

With three event victories out of three possible, Anna Östling stands on maximum 75 points on the 2016 WIM Series leader board:
“Never before has one team won three events in one season, and by no means have these wins been easy” comments WIM Series Manager Liz Baylis.

Östling’s fellow club member of the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club, Caroline Sylvan, sits on third with 48 points, the same score as runner-up Pauline Courtois. Behind them are Stephanie Roble and Dutch Renée Groeneveld tied on 40 points, with Camilla Ulrikkeholm Klinkby on 6th place and 38 points:
“These teams are all in the running for the top spot, but Team Anna is definitely in control of their own destiny” Baylis explains.

With the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race next week, and the Carlos Aguilar Match Race as the ultimate 2016 WIM Series event in US Virgin Islands in December, Liz Baylis has read the Terms of Series thoroughly to run the numbers. Here is her complete analysis:

• If Team Anna Östling finishes 6th or worse in both of the remaining events, they would end up with a maximum of 89 points (by dropping one of their bad scores and being forced to count the other).
• A finish by Team Anna Östling on 5th or better in any of the remaining events, would give them 91 points, and no one could catch them.
• Either Matchrace Team Netherlands (Groeneveld) or Epic Racing (Roble) could end up on 90 points if one of them won both events, but would need Team Anna to falter to take the title.
• Team Ulrikkeholm Klinkby could take the WIM Series title by winning both remaining events and having Team Anna finish 7th or worse in both.
• Match in Pink (Courtois) could win by winning both events and having Team Anna finish 8th or worse in both.
• Finally the New Sweden Match Racing Team (Sylvan) could be the 2016 WIM Series Champion by winning both and having Team Anna finish 11th or worse in both.

Obviously Anna Östling has a great chance to lead her team to their first WIM Series title, claiming the prestigious Terry J Kohler perpetual trophy. But to not be dependent on other teams’ results, they’ll have to finish no worse than 5th place in Busan. Looking back at this year it certainly seems very realistic, but last year Anna Östling didn’t finish better than 7th in the Korean event:
“We can’t allow ourselves to think that we have an advantage, having sailed very well so far. We have to take one match at a time, and do everything as well as we can. Then we can reach very far” the Swedish skipper concludes.

The Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race in Busan, South Korea, will kick off the round-robin racing on Tuesday the 25th of October, with final races, prize giving and closing ceremony on Saturday the 30th of October.

For the rest of the story… and current standings.

Wins World Championship to stretch WIM Series lead

Anna Östling with crew Annie and Linnea Wennergren are the 2016 Women’s Match Racing World Champions. In the Buddy Melges Challenge, the third event of the 2016 WIM Series, the Swedes defeated Anne-Claire Le Berre, Mathilde Geron and Alice Ponsar of France, in a thrilling final over five exciting matches on Lake Michigan.

“They had us under extreme pressure during four fierce fights, and it wasn’t until the very last match we were allowed to breathe, but then just a bit,” Östling said.

Their room to breathe a little came in handy in the fifth match, when they managed to force the French over early to the course side of the starting line. Le Berre had to turn back behind the line, and the Swedes took advantage of that situation to gain a lead they would keep throughout the match.

“I’m exhausted right now, but very, very happy. We’ve been fighting so hard for this the last few days, it’s been really crazy. When we woke up this morning we felt very strong,” Östling said.

Anna Östling took her first World Championship gold in Cork, Ireland, in 2014, and this year’s medal is a milestone in a very successful year so far. Her Sheboygan triumph is her third consecutive WIM Series victory, after winning earlier in Helsinki, Finland, as well as in Lysekil, Sweden. With this result Team Anna stretches their WIM Series lead further, as only the regattas in Busan, South Korea, and St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, remain.

“Our World Championship gold is one more step towards this year’s big goal for us; to win the WIM Series,” Östling said. “This year we’ve found calm and focus in our crew as never before, so we’re definitely prepared for becoming the overall winners.”

After a maternity leave of almost one year, Anne-Claire Le Berre came back to the WIM Series just for this World Championship, aiming for the final and for a medal to put around her neck. This time it’s silver, but the gold wasn’t very far away.

“My girls did a very good job to keep the speed up, and I’m not sure more advance practise would have helped us today. We made a few more mistakes than Anna, and that cost. Now we’re looking forward to the next event in South Korea,” Le Berre said.

The petite final saw the two top teams from the round-robin stage battling it out for third place and the Women’s Match Racing World Championship bronze medals. After three incredibly tight matches, with schoolbook match racing containing several lead changes, spectacular mark roundings and stunning manoeuvres, Renée Groeneveld proved to be the strongest skipper at the end. Her Dutch team of Lobke Berkhout and Mijke Lievens beat American Epic Racing, with skipper Stephanie Roble and crew Maggie Shea and Janel Zarkowsky, 2 – 1.

“We had a couple of split starts where we got away very good, allowing us to play our game,” Groeneveld said. “We crossed to the right side and defended it, but today it was really hard to stay in front while leading.”

Roble & Co won the round-robin stage 14 – 2, looking very strong up until the final day of racing on their home waters of Lake Michigan. Fourth place in the regatta was certainly not what the reigning WIM Series champion had hoped for, but Stephanie Roble concealed her disappointment well.

“We had really close racing all day, and I’m pretty sure all of the four teams could have won. It was a tough day and everyone raced very well, but unfortunately we made more mistakes than the others,” she said.

Results of the Buddy Melges Challenge in Sheboygan, USA, the 3^rd event of the 2016 WIM Series and also the Women’s World Match Racing Championship (skipper, crew, country, WIM Series points, prize money):
1. Anna Östling, Annie Wennergren, Linnea Wennergren, SWE, 25, 2 600 USD
2. Anne-Claire Le Berre, Mathilde Geron, Alice Ponsar, FRA, 22, 1 600 USD
3. Renée Groeneveld, Lobke Berkhout, Mijke Lievens, NED, 20, 1 300 USD
4. Stephanie Roble, Maggie Shea, Janel Zarkowsky, USA, 18, 1 100 USD
5. Caroline Sylvan, Louise Kruuse af Verchou, Frida Langenius, SWE, 16, 1 000 USD
6. Samantha Norman, Carla Holgate, Taylor Holland, NZL, 14, 900 USD
7. Pauline Courtois, Jeanne Courtois, Juliette Le Friec, FRA, 12, 800 USD
8. Nicole Breault, Molly Carapiet, Karen Loutzenheiser, USA, 10, 700 USD
9. Elizabeth Shaw, Madeline Gill, Malin Holmberg, CAN, 8, 0 USD

Results in the final:
Anna Östling, SWE – Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 3 – 2

Results in the petite final:
Renée Groeneveld, NED – Stephanie Roble, USA, 2 – 1

Semi final results:
Stephanie Roble, USA – Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 1 – 3
Anna Östling, SWE – Renée Groeneveld, NED, 3 – 1

Standings in the 2016 WIM Series after three events out of five (skipper, country, WIM Series points):
1. Anna Östling, SWE, 75
2. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 48
3. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 48
4. Stephanie Roble, USA, 40
5. Renée Groeneveld, NED, 40
6. Camilla Ulrikkeholm Klinkby, DEN, 38
7. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 22
8. Marinella Laaksonen, FIN, 21
9. Lotte Meldgaard, DEN, 18
10. Samantha Norman, NZL, 14
11. Sanna Häger, SWE, 14
12. Alexa Bezel, SUI, 12
13. Rikst Dijkstra, NED, 12
14. Nicole Breault, USA, 10
15. Johanna Bergqvist, SWE, 10
16. Antonia Degerlund, FIN, 10
17. Elizabeth Shaw, CAN, 8
18. Susanna Kukkonen FIN, 8
19. Diana Kissane, IRL, 7
20. Sanna Mattsson, SWE, 5

The next event on the 2016 WIM Series is the Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race in Busan, South Korea, October 25 – 29.

Round-robin and quarters wrapped up in Sheboygan, USA

Stephanie Roble and her Epic Racing kept their firm grip of the Buddy Melges Challenge, the 3^rd event of the 2016 WIM Series and also the Women’s World Match Racing Championship, through Saturday’s racing. The US team won the round-robin stage 14 – 2, and then their quarter final against compatriot Nicole Breault 3 – 0.

“We had some really even starts, but our speed and boat handling was the advantage we could capitalize on today,” Roble said.

Renée Groeneveld, NED, Anna Östling, SWE, and Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, all won their quarters 3 – 1. One of them will be picked by the Americans for the semis.

Saturday’s racing, on the waters just outside Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan, offered the sailors sunshine from a partly cloudy sky, and a quite stable south-easterly breeze of 10 – 12 knots, slowly decreasing throughout the day. In relatively flat waters this would have been the most easily managed conditions any sailor could have asked for, but a lot of swell during all eight hours of racing completely changed the impression.

“It was really tricky, tough and frustrating out there today, ” Stephanie Roble admitted, giving her crew Maggie Shea and Janel Zarkowsky a lot of credit. “They kept me into the game, no doubt about that.”

Fellow semi finalist Renée Groeneveld, who finished runner-up in the round-robin stage on a 13 – 3 record, backs the American skipper in her opinion on the sailing conditions.

“It was a long day on the water, and we fought hard to keep our speed up. Sometimes the boat went sideways in the steep and choppy sea. We made a few mistakes but are generally happy,” the Dutch skipper said.

Groeneveld and her crew Lobke Berkhout and Mijke Lievens raced Pauline Courtois of France, in a tough quarter final round that went to four matches and finished 3 – 1 in the Dutch team’s favour. They are now looking forward to Sunday’s racing, and strong breezes over Lake Michigan are predicted.

“We like heavy wind, but it’s going to be tough as the others know that well too,” Groeneveld said.

Despite somewhat upset stomachs during the last few days, Swedish twin sisters Annie and Linnea Wennergren managed to help their skipper, World #1 Anna Östling, to finish the round-robin on third place with a 12 – 4 score. Then Kiwi Samantha Norman gave the Swedes a hard time in their quarter final, narrowly winning the first match.

“We gave away that one as we got the spinnaker under our boat when rounding the mark. The boat stopped completely, and that’s a mistake you simply can’t afford in this competition,” Annie Wennergren said. “In the following matches we found some patches of better pressure, enough to gain momentum and avoid the worse stops in the swell.”.

Being back on the WIM Series after her maternity leave, French skipper Anne-Claire Le Berre came to Sheboygan with her crew Mathilde Geron and Alice Ponsar, determined to make a top result. After fourth place in the round-robin and their 3 – 1 win over Swedish Caroline Sylvan in the quarter final, they’re now well on their way to reach their goal.

“We’re here to sail the final” Le Berre said. “We know these boats very well, and we’re also used to the new rules, as we sailed under them before our break.”

The semi finals and the final will be decided Sunday.

Quarter final results of the Buddy Melges Challenge in Sheboygan, USA, the 3^rd event of the 2016 WIM Series and also the Women’s World Match Racing Championship:
Stephanie Roble, USA – Nicole Breault, USA, 3 – 0
Renée Groeneveld, NED – Pauline Courtois, FRA, 3 – 1
Anna Östling, SWE – Samantha Norman, NZL, 3 – 1
Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA – Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 3 – 1

A view of the 2016 Women’s Blind Match Racing Championship quarterfinals from South Pier and King Park in Sheboygan.