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Credit: Four exhilarating and extremely close matches today in the finals at the ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championships in Perth, though unfortunately luck was not on GBR’s side. The title has passed to the USA — congratulations to Anna, Molly and Deb on becoming the 2011 World Champions! Claire Leroy (FRA) won the petit final to take bronze, with Ekaterina Skudina (RUS) in 4th.
Today’s finals held in the harbour right in front of the packed grandstand provided a thrilling afternoon’s spectacle as the Women’s finalists battled for the title, demonstrating once again how match racing is an an exciting spectator sport for both sailing enthusiasts and non-sailors alike.
The Match Race Girls have been in Perth for about a month, cumulating in an intense two weeks of competition which has seen them compete in more than 40 individual matches. Coming ashore the girls commented “It’s been a great two weeks, but hard work. We’re really pleased with the way we’re sailing at the moment and our performance at this regatta, we’re quick, but today we made some mistakes in getting penalties which is quite frustrating. Without them we’d have been looking very strong today and the scoreline could have looked quite different. We’re looking forward to building on this and competing next year at the Olympics.”
Read more about the day’s racing at the Skandia Team GBR and Perth2011 sites, and there’s also been considerable interest in the news. Video highlights and a full report from the girls to follow later… for now there’s some celebrating to be done :)
