Exciting finishes and upsets in Sail Melbourne medal races

[Source: Sail Melbourne] The opening round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, Sail Melbourne, has come to an end with close finishes and a number of upsets on the final day of racing.

The best laid plans went astray for the New Zealand 49er crew of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. They took a three point lead over Delle Nico and Nickolaus Resche into the double-points medal race, meaning the Austrians had to beat them by at least two places to win the gold medal.

The New Zealanders put their rivals into trouble early, forcing them into a pre-start infringement and the consequent 720 penalty turn. This pushed the Austrians to the right hand side of the course and with the wind tracking left, that appeared to be the unfavoured side. If they had any ideas of coming back onto starboard, those hopes were dashed when the Australians, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen nailed the start and forced them further to the right. Meanwhile, the Kiwis had decided that the extreme left was the place to be.

From nowhere, a big right-hand shift came down the course, the Austrians lifted and the race was effectively over. Outteridge and Jensen came back later in the race to finish 4th, but the Kiwis, furiously “going troppo” in the hope of a favourable shift, finished ninth.

“It was a really tough race,” Nickolaus Resche said. “We had a small incident with the Kiwis and then we were lucky to get a good right shift. Then we just had to stay in the fleet. We are really happy that we won.”

The Kiwis, though obviously disappointed, finished in second place in the regatta. “We had to play catch up the whole race,” said Peter Burling. “Everything we did didn't work. We'll learn from it though.”

Nathan Outteridge reported that the wind shifts were swinging through 55 degrees at various times during the race.

Highlights from the closing day of Sail Melbourne. Melbourne, 18 December 2010. Video copyright Sail Melbourne

The second class away was the Finn, the heavyweight dinghy that features the big men of sailing, and triple Olympic Gold medalist and current World Match Racing champion Ben Ainslie was the one to beat. Ainslie went into the medal race six points ahead of compatriot Giles Scott who in turn was one point clear of Ed Wright. Frenchmen Jonathan Lobert and Thomas Le Breton and American Zach Railey could technically still win, but a British victory was much more likely.

Dutchman Pieter Postma upset the British party by leaping to an early lead. As the British covered each other, Postma raced away to an easy win. However, this was all about final points and the master strategist Ben Ainslie had it under control.

“Ed was going right and Giles was going left,” said Ainslie. He had to choose: “I went with Giles. It (the wind) was slowly clocking left but there was a big right hand shift which lifted Ed.”

Wright, the World Champion, took advantage of the lift to finish second, ahead of Scott and Ainslie. This allowed him to leapfrog Scott in the overall standings, leaving Great Britain with all three podium positions.

The 470 crews were made to work for their medals. After a postponement, the first race was called off during the second lap, with World Champions Mat Belcher and Mal Page leading by a considerable margin.

Belcher and Page went into the race in third place overall, but only two points off first. Among the top three whoever finished in front would win.

After the restart, it appeared that Belcher and Page were to be dealt a cruel blow. They went right while the Americans went left, and a huge wind shift favoured the left. Belcher and Page were back in sixth and a long way behind.

However, you never write off true champions. Working back up to the fleet, they used superior speed downwind to hit the front and were never headed. Sam Kivell and Will Ryan managed third in the medal race, which put them into third overall.

A relieved Malcolm Page described the tactical dilemma that faced the Australians. “We would have liked to stay a bit further left, but two of our main rivals went right and one went left so we played the percentages. We managed to close the gauge, got on the back of the top five. Then we hooked some good waves and got to the front.”

The women's 470 was also wide open going into the medal race, with five crews having a chance to win. With no Australian crews in with a chance, a German crew was the local favourite as it featured Mat Belcher's wife Rike Belcher.

Belcher and her skipper Katherin Kadelbach needed to finish ahead of the Austrians, Sylvia Vogl and Carolina Flatscher, and hold off challenges from compatriots Wagner and Steinherr and two Chinese crews.

Ultimately, Feng Hui min Huang and Li zhu Huang won the race from Kadelbach and Belcher, with the Austrians third. This meant the German pair won the title on a countback, the closest result of the regatta.

On paper, the Laser was going to be the easiest result to pick. Englishman Nick Thompson had a nine point lead over Australian Tom Burton and could win from seventh position. The real battle was going to be between Burton and another Australian, world champion Tom Slingsby. Burton had to finish second to advance from the Australian Development Squad to the Australian Sailing Team, and with only one Olympic place for each country, Slingsby naturally preferred to be the only Laser sailor in the team.

However, wind shifts, re-laid courses and general recalls in other classes meant that by the time the Lasers got onto the course the wind had died and there were holes all over the course. Shortly after the start, it was obvious that Thompson was in trouble. He was back in ninth place and in danger of losing his lead.

Fortunately for him, the two Toms were engaging in their own match race and were also near the back of the fleet. Ultimately, Dutchmen Roelof Bouwmeester and Rutger Schaardenburg were the first two home, ahead of Josh Junior from New Zealand.

“It wasn't the nicest position,” said Thompson, referring to his ninth place. “I started at the unfavoured end and sailed into a huge hole. But I could see a couple of minutes out that Slingsby and Burton were going at each other so the tactic was to stay as close as I could. I was OK from a points aspect.”

From Burton's point of view, Thompson was too far in front on points so his objective was to finish second overall – which meant beating Slingsby. “I didn't want to let him get too far away. Pretty much from start to finish it was on.”

Burton finished sixth and Slingsby eighth and the World Champion was philosophical about the defeat. When asked how Burton had been able to beat him, he replied: “Technique. I've been out of the boat a bit long and he had the edge in speed.”

In the Laser Radial, the top positions were much closer to the script. Zhang Dong Shuang of China was the overnight leader and although being beaten into third place in the medal race she was a comfortable overall winner. Nathalie Brugger of Switzerland won the medal race and moved ahead of world number one Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands for the silver medal.

By the time the RS:X sailboards hit the course there was almost no wind. They have endured pumping races all week, with only one day when they could get up and plane, and the finals were no different.

Three Hong Kong and two Chinese men had been swapping positions throughout the event. Ultimately, Chan King Yin of Hong Kong prevailed over Aichen Wang of China, with Cheng Kwok Fai of Hong Kong third.

In the women's event, Australian veteran Jessica Crisp took a three point lead into the final and had the chance to break the Asian stranglehold. She finished in second place behind Hualz Zhu of China and thought that this was enough to take the gold medal. In a cruel twist, she was judged to be OCS (over the start line) and dropped to fifth overall.

Sail Melbourne was a difficult regatta from a wind perspective, but the challenging conditions created an exciting final day. The Sandringham clubhouse was packed and visitors could view the races live on the course or follow them on the tracker.

The live blog was well supported, with nearly 4000 participants from all round the world. Anna Tunnicliffe the 2009 ISAF Female Sailor of the Year sent in a message of support to her USA teammates and an insomniac Austrian enquired regularly about the progress of his countrymen and women, who performed extremely well in the regatta.

The ISAF Sailing World Cup now moves to Miami at the end of January.

Multihulls, mixed sailing and more..

The ISAF council have voted in the Events Committees provisional events slate for the 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition, which is:

Men’s Board or kite board – evaluation
Women’s board or kite board – evaluation
Men’s one person dinghy – laser
Women’s one person dinghy – laser radial
Men’s 2nd one person dinghy – Finn
Men’s skiff – 49er
Women’s skiff – evaluation
Women’s keelboat – Elliott 6m
Mixed multihull – evaluation
Mixed two person dinghy (spinnaker) – 470

This is a provisional list of event and subject to final confirmation in the ISAF mid year meeting next May

Mixed multihull in, men’s keelboat out

[Source: IASF] It was the most packed session we have had this week to hear the Events Committee’s recommendation on the provisional Olympic events and equipment for 2016.

This is how the voting went. The Events Committee recommends:

- Board or kite-board for men and women – equipment evaluation
- One person dinghy men – Laser Standard
- One person dinghy women – Laser Radial
- Two person dinghy (skiff) men – 49er
- Two person dinghy (skiff) women – equipment evaluation
- Second one person dinghy men – Finn
- Two person mixed multihull – equipment evaluation
- Two person mixed dinghy with spinnaker – 470
- Women’s keelboat – Elliott 6m

In so doing the committee’s voting recommends taking out the men’s keelboat. The second one person dinghy for women was the other option not to be selected.

The Committee’s recommendations are of course just that. They will go to the ISAF Council for consideration this weekend. After Council vote they are then subject to confirmation at the ISAF Mid-Year meeting in May 2011.

Lucy MacGregor Wins ISAF Women's Match Racing Worlds

[Source: ISAF] It went down to the very final race at the 2010 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship with Lucy MacGregor (GBR) taking on double world champion Sally Barkow (USA). Lucy MacGregor took the final win to take the title for Great Britain for the first time.

If Lucy MacGregor and her British team felt pressure in her semi-finals match against Claire Leroy (FRA), it was nothing compared to the emotions she felt coming from behind to win her first ISAF Match Racing World Championship.

Macgregor defeated two-time world champion Leroy in the semi-final then faced the American team led by Sally Barkow, also a two-time world champion. Barkow led the British team 2-1 by consistently gaining the advantage to the right side of the course as the lead changed almost each leg.

The final two races Barkow was able to pull even but MacGregor was just a little faster and crisper on the beats. In the fourth race, the British team passed Barkow while giving the Americans a penalty they could not overcome.

"We were gaining all the time," said a beaming MacGregor with her teammates Annie Lush, Kate Macgregor and Mary Rook. "We just wanted to keep it close."

And close it was. But it was the final start that predicted gold for the British. "The time on distance was hard, and we were on our back foot the whole prestart," said Kate Macgregor, Lucy's sister. "With the current going up wind we just made it." MacGregor's team, coached by ISAF Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams, won the right side that paid so well for the Americans and kept the slimmest of leads all the way around the course.

For Barkow, though her team of Elizabeth Kratzig, Alana O'reilly and Susanne Leech, did not win, their second place qualifies them for the top level of funding for the US Sailing Team Alpha Graphics in 2011. They join only one other team in the U.S. with this distinction, Paige Railey in the Laser Radial.

Petit-Final

The petit-final match up to decide the bronze medal also went to the maximum, three races. Leroy won the first match against Nicky Souter and then her Australian team gave the French a foul in the second; it was enough to win the race.

In the third and final race, with the boats nearly overlapped all the way around the course, Souter received a penalty on the final run in a wild broach and luff. The Australian team came out ahead then was able to hook the French and sailed them upwind 200 yards until they were able to clear their penalty with a tack and perfect set to win the series.

This world championship will certainly go down as one of the most competitive in history and Barkow's coach, national match race champion Dave Perry, put the state of women's match racing in perspective. "This regatta indicates that anyone of eight or more teams can win a gold medal in Weymouth in 2012," said Perry. "In the gold fleet round robin, four of the six teams were tied with three wins. All this shows is nobody has put it all together yet. There are no breakaways."

The rest of the teams not sailing watching from the 100-foot schooner Meteor, teams cheered and watch pensively as the boats raced around as if they were tied to each other. Whether they won or finished the regatta in the repechage series, all the sailors were hungry to carry on with their campaigns and set their sites on the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The 2011 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Champion will be decided at the Perth2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship in Perth, Australia.

Final Results
1 Lucy MacGregor (GBR)
2 Sally Barkow (USA)
3 Nicky Souter (AUS)
4 Claire Leroy (FRA)
5 Genevieve Tulloch (USA)
6 Ekaterina Skudina (RUS)
7 Renee Groeneveld (NED
8 Katie Spithill (AUS)

Lucy Mcgregor undefeated in round robin of ISAF Women’s Match Race World Championship

[Source: New York Yacht Club] It was not the spectacular sun lit day with a smoldering southerly that highlighted the second day of the ISAF Women’s Match Race World Championship at the New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court. Nor was it the multiples of surfing photo finishes. Instead, today the sailors illustrated the term they use to describe the pinnacle of match race maneuvering: surgical execution.

For the top seeded sailors after the nine flights of Stage 1, today was a day of comebacks and last minute passes. The precision with which Claire Le Roy used to up end a confident Ekaterina Skudina in broaching whitewater luff was inspiring as the two boats sailed within feet of each other in 17 knots of breeze and three-foot waves. All starts, roundings and finishes were within inches and penalties pushed the umpires to the limit.

Some of the competitors used today to settle into a winning routine. “It wasn’t just one thing,” said Finnish skipper Silja Lehtenin, “it was more like 20 things.” Lehtenin won most of her races this morning and said that her new team was finally clicking.

Though often sailing with a new team, American Sally Barkow is leading the blue group with a tie-breaker over Le Roy at eight wins. Nicky Souter is close behind with seven wins and Ekaterina Skudina and Anna Tunnicliffe both have six wins.

Tomorrow competitors are split into a gold fleet and repechage. The top two competitors from the repechage will meet the gold fleet of six for a quarter finals.

Another sunny day is forecast and as teams like the Finnish begin to hone their sailing on Narragansett Bay, the stakes will be getting higher.

Footage from the opening day of the ISAF Women’s Match Race World Championship. Newport, 21 September 2010. Video copyright New York Yacht Club

Gold Fleet for 9/23/10
(From Red Group with seed)
1 Lucy Mcgregor GBR
2 Katie Spithill AUS
3 Genny Tulloch USA

(From Blue Group with seed)
1 Sally Barkow USA
2 Claire Le Roy FRA
3 Nicky Souter AUS

Adam Minoprio holds on to top spot at match racing rankings

[Source: ISAF] The leaders of the current ISAF World Match Race Rankings remain unchanged in the current release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings. Current Open World Match Race Champion Adam Minoprio (NZL) continues to lead the Open Match Race Rankings.

There have been very few Open Match Race regattas since the last rankings release and hence very few changes to the top order. Adam Minoprio (NZL) completes his tenth consecutive release in the world number one position followed by Ben Ainslie (GBR) who is currently racing for Team Origin against BMW Oracle Racing for the 1851 Cup in Cowes.


The only major change in the top order is the change of places of Torvar Mirsky (AUS) and Mathieu Richard (FRA). Mirsky moves to the third spot, dropping Richard to fourth. Eugeniy Neugodnikov (RUS) currently in eight position is putting pressure on Bjorn Hansen (SWE) with a third position in the Manu Minard Trophy, Match Racing regatta in Pornichet. Both Sébastien Col and Damien Iehl of France drop out of the top ten.

Pierre-Antoine Morvan of France has moved into the top 10 with a win at the Manu Minard Trophy in Pornichet. Another sailor steadily rising up the rankings is Reuben Corbett (NZL) who jumps from #25 to #18 aided by his second placing in Pornichet.

Kristine Roug, "Yoda" of young sailors in the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship

While it is highly imperative to criticize all that is wrong in the sport of sailing it is equally fundamental to praise all actions that help promote the sport, especially when they concern young sailors coming from developing sailing countries. One such initiative is the Athletes Participation Programme (APP), introduced by ISAF in 2002, and assists those young sailors with the costs associated with attending an event. The athletes participating in APP are entitled to a coach, if they don't have one, travel subsidy and entry fee subsidy.

I wasn't able to find any data concerning 2010 but in 2009 the countries that benefited from APP funding during the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship were Botswana, Nigeria, Andorra, Angola, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Netherlands Antilles, Paraguay, Peru, Samoa, Serbia and South Africa.

Each year a different coach is designated and in 2010 it is Olympic gold medallist and three time Europe Class World Champion, Kristine Roug from Denmark. Roug is busy in Istanbul providing the teenage sailors with comprehensive coaching support that includes self preparation, boat preparation, race strategy and, equally important, video debriefs after the races. Experience has shown that for many of the sailors it was the first time ever they were able to watch themselves racing. Watch the interesting video where Roug explains her role and see why one of the athletes calls her "My Yoda".

Danish Olympic gold medallist Kristine Roug is this year's designated "Yoda" for the young sailors. Istanbul, 16 July 2010. Video copyright Volvo Youth Worlds

Valencia Sailing goes to Korea Match Cup

Greetings from sunny Valencia. Valencia Sailing will become Korea Sailing for a week as we go to the Jeonggok Marina in the region of Gyeonggi in South Korea in order to cover the Korea Match Cup, 3rd event of the 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Championship. Unless there is something absolutely extraordinary, there will probably be no updates until Tuesday afternoon (Valencia time).

ISAF Race Officials Committee Report On The 33rd America's Cup Released

Related PDF documents

ISAF Race Officials Committee Report On The 33rd America's Cup

[Source: ISAF] On 15 April the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) referred to the ISAF Race Officials Committee (ROC) reports from the ISAF-appointed International Jury Chairman and the ISAF-appointed Principal Race Officer for the 33rd America's Cup.
Yesterday 27 May, ISAF sent the Findings and Report of the ISAF Race Officials Committee with regard to the 33rd America's Cup together with all attachments referred to in the Report to the Société Nautique de Genève and the Golden Gate Yacht Club.

The completion of Regatta Report Forms is a standard requirement of Principal Race Officers, International Jury Chairmen and Chief Umpires at international or major events.

The purpose of the report system is to provide an assessment of the ISAF appointed officials and to learn from incidents or exceptional situations that happened during an event. Several changes to The Racing Rules of Sailing and changes in the ISAF Race Official Manuals have been made as a result of situations described in Regatta Report Forms.

The report includes clear recommendations and the ISAF Executive Committee will appoint the necessary working parties to determine whether and what changes may be needed to be made to the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing and the ISAF Regulations in light of the findings of the report.

ISAF Confirms Receipt of 33rd America's Cup Report Forms

[Source: ISAF] The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) today confirmed the receipt of the Regatta Report Forms from the ISAF Race Officials appointed to the 33rd America's Cup Match.

The Regatta Report Forms were received from the ISAF appointed Principal Race Officer Harold Bennett and the Chairman of the International Jury David Tillett. They will be sent to the ISAF Race Officials Committee who will review the contents and make recommendations if deemed necessary.

The completion of Regatta Report Forms is a standard requirement of Principal Race Officers, International Jury Chairman and Chief Umpires at international or major events.

The purpose of the report system is to provide an assessment of the ISAF appointed officials and to learn from incidents or exceptional situations that happened during an event. Several changes to The Racing Rules of Sailing and changes in the ISAF Race Official Manuals have been made as a result of situations described in Regatta Report Forms.

The 33rd America’s Cup Match was sailed last month off the coast of Valencia and decided in two matches between Société Nautique de Genève defending the Cup with team Alinghi against Golden Gate Yacht Club, and their racing team BMW Oracle Racing. Team BMW Oracle Racing won the Match 2–0.

ISAF appointed the Race Officials team to the 33rd America’s Cup Match to ensure fair play on the water.

ISAF thanks Principal Race Officer Harold Bennett for carrying out his duties under very difficult conditions; ISAF supports all his decisions, likewise the Jury under the chairmanship of David Tillett and the Umpire team led by Bill Edgerton. All those involved should be congratulated for maintaining their independence and the high ISAF standard of race management and adjudication.

ISAF congratulates Larry Ellison, Russell Coutts and the entire BMW Oracle Racing team from the Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco, USA on winning the 33rd America's Cup. ISAF looks forward to working with the Defender and the Challengers involved in the 34th America's Cup.

Adam Minoprio holds on to #1 world match racing spot

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] Adam Minoprio holds on to world #1 spot for the fifth consecutive release of the Open Rankings and there are no changes to the next eight positions below him. Shooting back into the top ten at #10 is Paolo Cian who moves up from #22 after claiming the bronze medal a the V Trofeo Match Race Puerto Calero in the Canary Islands, the only grade 1 event logging results to this rankings release.

So with no change to the top nine, World Championship silver medallist Torvar Mirsky (AUS) stays in the world #2 spot, whilst 2009 ISAF Nations Cup winner Damien Iehl (FRA) holds on to his career best position of #3. Completing the world top five is another French skipper, former world #1 Mathieu Richard, and 2007 and 2008 World Champion, Ian Williams of Great Britain.

The big mover in the top 20 is winner of the V Trofeo Match Race Puerto Calero, Eugeniy Neugodnikov of Russia, competing at his first graded event since August 2009 and moving up 21 places from #41. Philippe Presti (ITA) completed the podium in Lanzarote and he moves up five places to #13.

Results counting for this release include a flurry of ISAF Grade 3 national championships. Jon Brecelj claimed his first national match racing title in Slovenia to climb seven places up to #85 whilst multiple 470 wold champion and double Olympic medallist Sofia Bekatorou saw off the boys to win the Hellenic Champonship on the Saronic Gulf and move up to #270 on the open rankings. In December the Portuguese and Brazilian titles both went to 2008 470 Olympians with Portugal's Álvaro Marinho staying just inside the top 20 at #19 whilst Brazilian Samuel Albrecht climbs 228 places to #261.

ISAF Announces Umpire Team For The 33rd America's Cup Match

[Source: ISAF] The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) today announced the Umpire team who will officiate the races on the water of the 33rd America's Cup Match.

The 33rd America's Cup Match is scheduled to be held in Valencia, Spain in February 2010 between the Société Nautique Genève of Switzerland and the Golden Gate Yacht Club of the USA. The best-of-three race Match is scheduled to commence on 8 February.

The Umpire team for the 33rd America’s Cup will follow the racing on the water and immediately adjudicate in a racing rule infringement raised by one of the teams. The role of the Umpires during the race and their consistent application of The Racing Rules of Sailing is of crucial importance.

The four-person International Umpire Team will be:

Bill Edgerton (Great Britain), Chief Umpire

Bill has been an ISAF International Umpire since 1997 and an ISAF International Judge since 2001. He was an Umpire at both the 2007 and 2000 America’s Cup.

Bill grew up and started sailing in Sydney, Australia, before moving to Great Britain where his focus turned to coaching and umpiring. He was National Keelboat Coach for Britain at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games and during this time also became increasingly involved in Umpiring at the top level, becoming an ISAF International Umpire in 1997. He now splits his time between his farm in France and officiating at the top sailing events around the world.

Bill has been a Chief Umpire on the World Match Racing Tour, the annual series which decides the winner of the ISAF Match Racing World Championship, since 2006 and last year was appointed as the Tour Umpire responsible for overseeing the umpiring across all nine of the annual World Tour events. In addition he has been heavily involved with the Volvo Ocean Race, acted as an Umpire at editions of ISAF Match Racing World Championship from 1999-2005 and as Chief Umpire at the 2007 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship, 2008 iShares Cup and at the Auckland and Nice editions of the Louis Vuitton Trophy.

Gerard Bosse (France)

Gerard has been an ISAF International Umpire since 1990 and an ISAF International Judge since 1989. He was a member of the International Jury at the 1992 America’s Cup and has been an Umpire at 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2007 Cups.

Now retired, Gerard was formerly the National Sailing Training Centre Director for the French Sports Ministry. As well as his involved with the America’s Cup, Gerard was a member of both the International Jury and the Umpire team at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. He was Chief Umpire at the 1999 and 2005 ISAF Match Racing World Championship.

John Standley (Australia)

John has been an ISAF International Umpire since 1997 and an ISAF International Judge since 1999. He was a member of the International Jury and Umpire team at the 2000 and 2003 America’s Cup and was an Umpire throughout the entire 32nd America’s Cup cycle, including the Louis Vuitton Acts, Louis Vuitton Cup and 32nd America’s Cup Match.

A construction manager based in Perth, Australia, John has acted on the Umpire teams and International Juries across a wide-range of the sailing world’s top events. This includes the World Match Racing Tour (appointments as both Umpire and Chief Umpire), the ISAF Match Racing World Championship, the Louis Vuitton Trophy, the ISAF Team Racing World Championship, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship.

Roger Wood (New Zealand)

Roger has been an ISAF International Umpire since 2003. He was a member of the Umpire team at the 2007 Louis Vuttion Cup and 32nd America’s Cup Match in Valencia.

A member of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Roger has been Chief Umpire at numerous top match racing events in New Zealand. He has been an Umpire on the World Match Racing Tour since 2006 and was also a member of the Umpire team at the 2009 Louis Vuitton Trophy events.

Minoprio holds on to #1 in world match racing rankings; Ben Ainslie skyrockets to 8th

[Source: ISAF] Newly crowned ISAF Match Racing World Champion Adam Minoprio of New Zealand maintains his hold on the top spot in the latest release of the Open ISAF World Match Race Rankings, as France's Claire Leroy extends her four and half year unbroken run at #1 in the Women's Rankings.

Adam Minoprio (NZL) holds on to world #1 spot for the four consecutive release of the Open Rankings, no surprise after the young Kiwi skipper swept to victory at the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia, in the process securing the title of 2009 ISAF Match Racing World Champion. With three World Tour wins this year (the others came in Marseille and St Moritz), the World Championship title and the world #1 ranking, the 24 year old skipper of ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing ends 2009 at the very summit of the match racing world.

BlackMatch Racing are now the brand new world match racing champions. Kuala Terengganu, 5 December 2009. Video copyright The Visual Collective / BlackMatch

Behind Minorprio, World Championship silver medallist Torvar Mirsky (AUS) stays in the world #2 spot, whilst 2009 ISAF Nations Cup winner Damien Iehl (FRA) climbs up two places to a career-best ranking at #3. Completing the world top five is another French skipper, former world #1 Mathieu Richard, and 2007 and 2008 World Champion, Ian Williams of Great Britain.

The big mover at the top in this Ranking release is British triple Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie (GBR). After finishing as runner up in both the Monsoon Cup and Sunseeker Australia Cup (losing the finals to Minoprio and Mirsky respectively), the TeamOrigin skipper climbs 11 places in this Ranking release to enter the world top 10 for the first time at a career-best Match Race Ranking of #8. Just ahead of Ainslie is Bjorn Hansen of Sweden, who stays at #7 after scoring an impressive win at the ISAF Grade 1 Berlin Match Race.

Also on winning form is young Australian Keith Swinton, whose outstanding season continued with victory in Italy at the ISAF Grade 2 Trapani Match Cup. As a result, Swinton climbs five places to break into the world top 20 at #16 in this Ranking release.

At the ISAF Grade 2 Mumbai International Match Race, Mahesh Ramchandran (IND) showed why he’s his country’s top ranked skipper by scoring overall victory ahead of Farokh Tarapore (IND). The win helps Ramchandran climb from #45 to #33 in this Ranking release, putting him just behind Brazilian skipper Henrique Haddad.

Statement from Tom Ehman, GGYC Spokesman

[Source: BMW Oracle] We welcome the news that ISAF has appointed the International Jury for the 33rd America’s Cup. The panel is highly qualified.

We are pleased that it includes the members of the Expert Panel to which Justice Kornreich referred the five technical questions. The Panel’s recommendations were confirmed by Justice Kornreich in her recent decision.

With the Jury’s appointment we expect that the remaining rules issues, including revision of the SNG-ISAF agreement and the draft Notice of Race, will be quickly resolved consistent with the Court’s decisions and orders, and in accordance with normal – and fair – yacht racing rules and procedures.

ISAF Announces Approval Of International Jury For The 33rd America's Cup

[Source: ISAF] The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) today announced the ISAF approval for the appointment of the International Jury for the 33rd America's Cup.

The 33rd America's Cup Match is scheduled to be held in Valencia, Spain in February 2010 between the Société Nautique Genève of Switzerland and the Golden Gate Yacht Club of the United States of America.

The five-person International Jury will be:

David Tillett (Australia) Chairman

A lawyer in Australia, David has been an International Judge for 20 years and is the current Chairman of the ISAF Racing Rules Committee. He has been a juror at the 31st and 32nd America's Cup's as well as an Umpire at the 28th and 29th America's Cups. He has also been a Jury Member at four Olympic Games, and Chairman in 2004 and 2008.

John Doerr (Great Britain)

An Arbitrator specialising in the engineering field. John has been an International Judge since 1987 and an International Umpire since 1980. A past Chairman of the ISAF Race Officials Committee. He was a Jury member and Chief Umpire for the 29th America's Cup and a Jury Member and Chief Umpire at the last four Olympic Games.

Josje Hofland (The Netherlands)

Josje has a Doctorate in English Literature and Linguistics. An International Judge since 1992 and an International Umpire between 1992 and 2000. A past Chairman of various ISAF Race Officials Committees and a member of the Racing Rules Committee between 1995 and 2008. She was a Jury member in the 29th America's Cup and filled the role of Chief Umpire in the Challenger Finals and Deputy Chief Umpire in the America's Cup match. Josje has also been a member of the Jury in three Olympic Games.

Graham McKenzie (New Zealand)

A distinguished Barrister at Law and a solicitor in New Zealand. Graham is a competing sailor in keelboats. A member of the ISAF Constitution Committee. He was a Jury member for the 32nd America's Cup.

Bryan Willis (Great Britain)

An Arbitration specialist and a Magistrate in the lower criminal court in Great Britain. Bryan has been an International judge since 1976 and an International Umpire between 1980 and 2004. He was an integral member of the ISAF Racing Rules Committee for 20 years between 1980 and 2000. Bryan was a Jury member and Chief Umpire in the 28th America's Cup, Chairman of the Jury and Chief Umpire in the 30th and 31st America's Cup and Chairman of the Jury and Arbitration Panel for the 32nd America's Cup. Jury Chairman of the 2000 Olympic Games and Jury Chairman for the last three Volvo Ocean Races.

Statement from Tom Ehman, GGYC Spokesperson

Related PDF Documents

- Russell Coutts' Letter to ISAF President, dated 24 August 2009

- Unredacted Brief, dated 24 August 2009

[Source: BMW Oracle] San Diego, CA, September 18, 2009 – We were compelled to make a motion in the New York court to force SNG to disclose its secret June 5, 2009 agreement with ISAF.

In response to that motion, on September 17,2009, SNG waived its claim of confidentiality over the agreement.

As a result, we are now able to post the complete court papers on the current motion to compel compliance with the Deed and Judgment, as well as Russell Coutts'letter to ISAF on the secret agreement.

ISAF to file amicus brief; publishes agreement with Alinghi

Related PDF Documents

- ISAF - SNG Agreement for the 33rd America's Cup

- SNG Clarification Letter

- ISAF - ACM Agreement for the 32nd America's Cup

[Source: ISAF] The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) today asked the New York Supreme Court for permission to file an Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) brief in the litigation between the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) and the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) regarding the 33rd America's Cup.

A copy of the brief was submitted with the request. The purpose of the brief is to advise the Court concerning ISAF’s role in the administration of the sport of sailing world-wide and its relevant rules, regulations and practices. ISAF also stated to the Court it takes no position in the matters presently pending

ISAF has also advised the Court that it has no objections to release of the agreement between ISAF and SNG, which was summarized in a press release of 17 July 2009 on the ISAF website:

“The International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the world governing body of the sport, and the Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG), the trustee and holder of the America's Cup, are pleased to announce that the 33rd America's Cup Match will be conducted under the Deed of Gift provisions, the SNG rules, the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing and ISAF Regulations as required by the Deed of Gift.

“Any changes to the ISAF Rules and Regulations not already covered by provisions within the ISAF Rules and Regulations will require sanction from ISAF.

“The Principal Race Officer, International Jury members and International Umpires (if Appendix C is used), will be suitably qualified personnel and will be independently appointed by ISAF. The process of which has already begun.”

SNG has subsequently executed a letter acknowledging and clarifying its understanding concerning several matters referenced in the agreement and accepting its publication